Kraken’s EEA wallet can expose spot funds to futures losses

Kraken made its Unified Wallet available to eligible European Economic Area users on Oct. 16, 2026. The feature is offered through Kraken Pro and combines eligible spot, margin, Earn and futures balances.

Users must activate the wallet in their account settings and enable futures trading. Once activated, eligible balances are pooled, removing the need to transfer collateral to a separate futures wallet.

In cross-margin mode, Kraken calculates margin across the eligible pool. A loss on a futures position can therefore draw on spot assets and qualifying Earn holdings that would remain separate under the exchange’s standard wallet setup.

Kraken has not listed every Earn product that qualifies. Its wallet guide distinguishes active staking and other Earn strategies held in an Earn wallet from Auto Earn balances held in the Main wallet.

More than 40 cryptocurrencies, along with U.S. dollars, euros and gold, can serve as collateral. Asset-specific valuation ratios and regional rules limit the amount that counts. Kraken’s introductory ratios value bitcoin and ether at 99% of market value for cross margin, while U.S. dollars and euros receive a 100% ratio. The exchange can change these ratios.

For EEA users, USDT and DAI receive no collateral value because of a 100% haircut. Coin-M, or inverse, derivatives balances and U.S. traditional-finance futures remain outside the Unified Wallet.

Isolated margin remains available for linear Multi-M futures contracts. It assigns collateral to one position, limiting that position’s potential losses to the amount allocated to it.

Users can activate the Unified Wallet without closing open positions. To return to separate wallets, they must first close all derivatives positions and active orders. Afterward, balances remain in the Main wallet, and users must manually transfer funds to the separate derivatives wallet before opening new positions there.

EEA futures users must meet Kraken’s account requirements, including verification. New futures clients may also need to complete a knowledge-and-experience questionnaire and provide a tax identification number.