Crypto exchange Kraken has launched Synthetic Pairs on Kraken Pro, giving traders access to more than 10,000 trading pairs on web and mobile.
The feature routes orders through two liquid markets that share a common currency, such as USD, and returns the result as a single execution with one consolidated taker fee, Kraken’s support documentation says. In practice, users no longer need to manually sell one asset into an intermediate currency and then buy the target asset in a separate step.
Synthetic pairs are marked with an ‘S’ badge in the Kraken Pro pair selector.
Order types and fee treatment
Both market and limit orders are supported on synthetic pairs, but neither behaves like a native resting order in fee terms. Kraken says synthetic limit orders do not rest in the order book. Instead, the platform monitors the underlying books and executes when sufficient depth exists to fill the order at the limit price or better. The user gets limit-style price control, but not maker treatment. All synthetic orders carry a taker fee regardless of order type.
Market orders on synthetic pairs are protected by the same Market Price Protection threshold applied to the base asset’s native pair.
Kraken says synthetic orders are filled in full only. Partial fills are not supported. That means traders are dependent on sufficient depth across both underlying books at the relevant price before an order will execute.
Regional restrictions still apply
The launch expands tradable combinations of assets, not jurisdictional availability. Kraken says synthetic pairs do not override regional or regulatory restrictions. If an asset is unavailable in a user’s region, it will not become accessible through a synthetic pair.
The feature covers crypto-to-crypto, crypto-to-stablecoin, and crypto-to-fiat combinations across Kraken Pro’s web and mobile platforms.
