Half the margin for the same bet
Kraken announced that a trader holding a $1M Bitcoin position on Kraken Prop used to lock $200,000 of account margin. That requirement now sits at $100,000 for the same bet Kraken announcement.
Kraken announced maximum leverage of 10x on Bitcoin, the Nasdaq 100, and the S&P 500, doubling the crypto pair from 5x Kraken Prop Kraken announcement. The S&P 500 notional cap moves with it, from $1M to $2M, so buying power doubles at every account size Kraken support. Smaller pairs moved as well: SOL now runs at 5x and HYPE at 3x.
What the extra room doesn’t change
What stays the same is the part that actually hurts. Kraken described the change as “a capital-efficiency upgrade, not a rules change.” Profit splits hold at 80–90%, payouts still clear within 24 hours, and the maximum drawdown limit still applies Kraken announcement. Open evaluations keep their original terms.
The trap underneath the leverage
Concerns about leverage traps remain for newer traders. Kraken Prop is an unregulated program run by Payward Oceanic Ltd, and the firm describes the evaluation as intentionally rigorous — built to verify risk-management skill before any proprietary capital is allocated Kraken Prop. Kraken sets no consistency rules and no time limits on its challenges, a structure left untouched in this update. Most applicants do not pass on their first attempt, the firm states. The positions are simulated; only the payouts are real.
Kraken has been widening its funded-trading lineup, most recently bringing the Nasdaq 100 to Kraken Prop Kraken Prop Brings the Nasdaq 100 to Funded Trading.
For the traders who clear the evaluation, the thinner margin is real money kept in pocket. For the ones who don’t, the extra leverage is just more rope.
