Kraken Prop raises BTC, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 leverage to 10x

Illustration: a gauge pushed past 5x to 10x above BTC, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 badges

Kraken Prop, Kraken's funded trading programme, now allows up to 10x leverage on bitcoin, the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500, up from 5x. Kraken announced the change on its blog on August 18, 2026 and set it out to affiliates, including nReferral, on October 16, describing it as higher leverage across multiple markets. Kraken's affiliate dashboard lists this promotion as running until August 18, 2030; Kraken has not said that the higher leverage will end then.

What has changed

Kraken sums up the change as "same position, half the margin". A $1 million bitcoin position that needed $200,000 of account margin at 5x now needs $100,000. The notional cap per trader stays at $1 million for bitcoin and the Nasdaq 100, while the S&P 500 cap has doubled from $1 million to $2 million, so buying power on that index doubles at every account size. Kraken also lists SOL at up to 5x with a $500,000 cap and HYPE at up to 3x with a $200,000 cap, and says leverage has gone up in more markets without naming them. It says these limits are under review and can change.

What stays the same

Kraken presents this as a gain in capital efficiency, not a rule change. Positions opened before the change keep their original leverage until closed, and evaluations already under way continue on their original terms. Evaluation prices, drawdown rules, the 80% to 90% profit split and payouts, typically within 24 hours to a Kraken account, are unchanged, and there are still no time limits or consistency rules. Evaluations start at $20 for a $5,000 Advanced plan and go up to $200,000 accounts.

Conflicting figures

Kraken's pages do not all match. Its support page on equity indices, last updated August 18, 2026, lists 10x for the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 with caps of $1 million and $2 million. When we checked on November 7, 2026, the main Kraken Prop page still showed up to 5x on every plan, and Kraken's October 10 affiliate update on the Nasdaq 100 also gave 5x. Leverage is applied automatically, so check the figure shown under Instrument info in the Kraken Prop platform before you trade.

Risks and what nReferral earns

Less margin per position does not loosen the loss limits. On a $50,000 Advanced account, the maximum daily loss is $1,500; with the full 10x, a $500,000 position, a 0.3% move against you uses all of it. Kraken Prop is an unregulated service: positions are simulated and payouts are based on simulated performance. Kraken says most applicants do not pass on their first attempt and that evaluation fees are non-refundable once trading begins. Kraken Prop is not available to users in India or Canada. Entering the referral code 83yhwjdj at Kraken Prop checkout gives Kraken's 2% discount on the evaluation fee, and nReferral, as a Kraken affiliate, earns Kraken's standard 25% commission on each referred buyer's first evaluation fee.

Sources

KRAKEN REFERRAL CODE 2026

Product	Trading Rebate
Spot Trading	20%
Margin Trading	20%
Futures	20%
Tokenized Equity	20%
PTL Trading	20%
Prop, first purchase	20%
Rollover	20%
Options	20%

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