Update 10/28/25: Rakuten is back down to $100/10,000 now.
Update 10/25/25: Rakuten is up to $150/15,000. Some might prefer that to $220 from Capital One Shopping.
The Offer
Note: Kraken is a crypto app and is not FDIC/SPIC insured. Do what you’re comfortable with.
- Rakuten is offering $100 (or 10,000 points) when you signup for Kraken and trade $200.
- Topcashback is offering $100 when you signup for Kraken and trade $100.
- We’re hearing multiple reports out there that the $220 offer from Capital One is around again (you’ll have to poke around a lot to get this and possibly still won’t get it). Update: the $220 is very widespread, just poke around in Capital One and do some click, etc.
Separately, there is a referral bonus of up to $75 for referrer and $75 for the new member when the new members signs up and trades. You can signup on the web or in the mobile app. Don’t forget to input the code during the signup process. Bonus details:
- Trade $100 and get $15
- Trade $300 and get $20 ($35 total)
- Trade $500 and get $40 ($75 total)
Reports indicate that you can do one $500 trade and get all $75 ($15+$20+$40). No need to do three separate trades.
Some people are seeing a referral link with an additional tier – on top of the above mentioned tiers – of $75 when trading $5,000 ($150 total). Many referral links don’t show this additional component. A lot people won’t want the risk of trading an extra $4,500 in crypto for the $75 bonus, and so for most people there probably isn’t a difference which link you use.
If you signup and add any referral code and then trade $500 in crypto within 30 days you should get the $75 BTC referral bonus, regardless of which referral link you use. Opt in to Kraken+ free trial for 30 days to save a few dollars on the trade fees (1%).
If you want to trade $5k in crypto for the extra $75 referral bonus, you’ll have to find a referral bonus from a friend since we don’t share amounts in the DoC referral thread in order to keep everything uniform. And so you won’t know if the code you use has the extra $75 option. A reader suggested that it might be possible to deposit a lower amount and keep cycling a crypto purchase to meet the $5k requirement. E.g. deposit $1k and buy $1k in Bitcoin, then sell it, then buy again $1k in Bitcoin and then sell it, then buy again $1k Bitcoin and then sell it, etc. I’m not sure if this will work since it might need to be a single $5k trade; if anyone gets this to work let us know. Opt-in for the Kraken+ trial to save the 1% fees on trading crypto.
The Fine Print
- You need to trade actual crypto to be eligible for the referral bonus whereas for the portal bonus you can trade stablecoin, far as I can tell.
- Both the referral and the portal bonuses require the trade be done in the first 30 days.
- The Kraken Referral Program is available only in the United States (excluding Maine, Washington and New York), Canada, Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, Italy, Belgium, and Ireland.
- (Editor’s note: A reader points out that presumably the shopping portal component should work even in the excluded states; just the referral bonus won’t work.)
Our Verdict
We reported on a similar deal for $85 from Topcashback a few months ago. A lot of people value Rakuten points highly and so the deal is now more interesting at $100 or 10,000 Rakuten points.
Myself and others were able to get the portal to stack with a referral code by clicking through the portal and then entering a referral code.
If you click through Rakuten, apply a referral code during signup, and then trade $500 in crypto within 30 days, you should end up with 10,000 points from Rakuten and with the $75 referral bonus from Kraken.
I bought Bitcoin and sold it a couple of minutes later. I lost $6 in the process, presumably due to market fluctuation.
You can also ‘Spin to win’ once per day for the first 30 days, and you should end up with another $20-$30 from that.
You can find referral codes and links in this dedicated thread. Do not under any circumstance put your referral in the comments below. I opened up the referral thread for now, we’ll probably close it again soon.
