TL;DR
- Synthetic pairs on KrakenPro allow traders to execute altcoin-to-altcoin or cross-asset exchanges in a single atomic transactionthereby eliminating the need for manual two-hop routing through an intermediary asset such as USD or USDT.
- All synthetic trades on Kraken Pro are executed with a consolidated single policyholder feesruler atomically inside Kraken’s matching engineand recorded as an entry into the history of commercewith a “S” indicator displayed next to the synthetic pairs in the interface.
- Kraken Synthetic Pairs Coverage Over 10,000 trading pairs built on 478 USD spot pairswith the support of 21 listing assets covering fiat currencies (GBP, AUD, EUR), stablecoins (USDT, USDC, DAI, PYUSD, USDG, EURC, PAXG, USD1), and crypto quotes (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, and more), with Market Price Protection (MPP) applied to all market orders.
A simple solution to a common problem
Active traders, you know the scenario: you want to switch from one altcoin to another, or trade to a local fiat pair that doesn’t have significant native liquidity. So you do what you’ve always done: split it into two trades, deal with the leg gap, and pay twice the fee for the privilege. That works. It’s simply inefficient, and this inefficiency has a real cost.
Synthetic pairs on Kraken Pro change that.
The two-hop routing problem
When native order books are restricted or absent altogether, traders still rely on an intermediary (usually USD, USDT, or another liquid asset) to get where they need to go. Two orders, two execution windows, two fees.
Operational overheads are manageable. Execution risk is not. Between the first and second stages, the market evolves. Sliding compounds. And the trader absorbs the cost of a structural gap that shouldn’t exist.
This is not a niche problem. Altcoin-to-altcoin conversions, AUD corridors, local fiat pairs with low liquidity: these are daily routing challenges for active traders operating outside of USD deep books.
What do synthetic pairs do
Synthetic pairs route both sides of the trade through Kraken’s deepest underlying order books and execute them atomically in the matching engine. From the trader’s perspective, it looks and behaves like a single native transaction: one order, one execution, one position, one fee.
Routing, sequencing, and aggregation of liquidity happens behind the scenes. Traders interact with a unified market surface; no change of assets, no intermediate positions, no second confirmation.
An “S” indicator appears next to any pair drawn from a synthetic market, and each synthetic trade is recorded as a unique entry in the account history.
How it works in practice
Let’s say you want to trade SOL for DOGE. There is no native SOL/DOGE order book with significant depth. With synthetic pairs, Kraken routes the order through SOL/USD and DOGE/USD (the two deepest underlying books) and settles it in a single SOL/DOGE transaction. You see an exchange. You pay only one tax.
Feature Breakdown
| Functionality | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total synthetic pairs | 10,000+ |
| Core assets | 478 USD spot pairs |
| Quote assets | 21 assets in fiat, stablecoins and crypto |
| Fiat supported | GBP, AUD, EUR (quoted via USD) |
| Supported stablecoins | USDT, USDC, DAI, PYUSD, USD1, PAXG, USDG, EURC |
| Supported Crypto Quotes | BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, LINK, ADA, BNB, LTC, ZEC |
| Order Types | Market and limit orders |
| Pricing structure | Consolidated single policyholder fees |
| Execution | Atomic, inside Kraken’s matching engine |
| Market price protection | Same MPP threshold as the native pair of the base asset |
| UX indicator | “S” tag on synthetic pairs in the interface |
| Business history | Recorded as a single transaction per synthetic order |
Order Types and Price Protection
Synthetic pairs support market and limit orders.
Market orders benefit from the same market price protection (MPP) as the base asset’s native pair. If you trade BTC/AUD synthetically, the same MPP threshold applies to that of BTC/USD; your order will not be executed above this threshold, protecting you from excessive price impact in volatile conditions.
Limit orders work differently from native pairs: synthetic limit orders do not remain in the order book. Instead, the engine continuously monitors the underlying books and executes them when there is enough depth to fill them at your limit price or better.
Trade smarter, with fewer routes
Synthetic pairs are now available on Kraken Pro.* Active traders who regularly navigate fragmented liquidity (whether in altcoin corridors, local fiat markets, or cross-asset conversions) now have a structurally cleaner way to execute.
An exchange. Only one fee. No manual routing required.
*Synthetic pairs not yet available in Canada
