US Exchange Sign-Up Bonuses, Compared

Verified against primary sources: August 12, 2026. How we verify.

Every major US exchange bonus is on this page, with the requirements that decide whether you actually get paid: the deposits, the trade minimums, the qualification windows, and the caps.

Quick verdict

• Biggest bonuses for active traders: Crypto.com and Kraken. Both reach $75 per side of a referral, and both require real trading volume to qualify.

• Simplest offer: Gemini's. Both sides earn $50 when the new user trades $100 within 30 days — fewer strings than anything else in this set.

• In New York: Coinbase and Gemini. Kraken and OKX do not serve NY, and Crypto.com's app is largely unavailable there.

• If you refer regularly rather than occasionally, these per-head bonuses are not the ceiling. The ongoing-commission tracks are compared on our affiliate programs page.

At a glance

Kraken

• The offer: up to $75 for each side, served as account-specific variants. The variant on a live account we checked on August 12: $40 each, capped at 10 referrals ($400 total).

• To qualify (as displayed on that variant): the new user creates and verifies an account, deposits at least $200, and trades at least $200.

• Payout: in BTC, within 14 days.

• Worth knowing: your dashboard's numbers govern. Kraken serves different amounts, caps, and requirements to different accounts, and the public "up to $75" is the ceiling, not a promise. The program's eligible-region list includes Puerto Rico and excludes Maine and New York, matching Kraken's state availability, and Kraken's published terms exclude stablecoin trades from qualification.

• Verified: public terms 2026-08-02 · live dashboard variant 2026-08-12.

Gemini

• The offer: $50 for each side when the new user trades $100 within 30 days — currently carrying a "limited time" tag in the app.

• To qualify: trades counting toward the $100 include buy, sell, convert, OTC, ActiveTrader, and perpetuals in eligible jurisdictions. Deposits, withdrawals, stablecoin transactions, and tokenized-stock trades do not count.

• Payout: 32 days after the referred account is created, in the cryptocurrency of your choice (BTC by default). Gemini requires ID verification before releasing referral payouts.

• Worth knowing: the flat $50 is only the first tier. Gemini's Referral Club adds consumer revenue share: if your referral trades $5,000, you both earn 15% of their trading fees for a year, and at $50,000 that becomes 25% — economics that used to live only in affiliate programs, now attached to an ordinary referral link. A separate credit-card track pays $50 per approved card plus a $250 bonus per 5 approvals.

• Verified: 2026-08-12, in-app and at Gemini's public referral page.

Crypto.com

• Offer: up to $75 each, milestone-based — US users sit in the top-value country tier.

• To qualify: the new user's trading volume within 30 days of KYC approval hits milestones: $5 each at $100 · $15 at $500 · $25 at $1K · $75 at $5K. Note the clock starts at KYC approval, not signup.

• Caps: $75 maximum each per referral.

• States: 49 states; NY historically limited.

• Worth knowing: +$25 each on top if the new user stakes CRO or reserves a metal Visa card.

• Verified: 2026-08-02.

Coinbase

• The offer: $20 for each side, as served to a US account we checked on August 12. Coinbase publishes no fixed figure — the number in your app governs, under an "up to $200 in BTC" umbrella.

• To qualify: the new user makes a first trade of $15 or more. New customers only, up to 10 referrals total, and multiple accounts are prohibited.

• Payout: in BTC, roughly 36 hours after the qualifying trade.

• Worth knowing: Washington residents are excluded from referral links sent by text message — Coinbase's terms are that specific about the channel. For the ongoing-commission track, see the Coinbase Advanced card below.

• Verified: dashboard 2026-08-12.

Coinbase Advanced

• The offer: 30% of a referral's spot trading fees, paid in USDC — with no time limit stated in the program agreement. Coinbase can change rates or end the program at any time, but unlike its standard affiliate program's 3-month window, no clock runs on this share.

• To qualify: the referral trades on Coinbase Advanced. The agreement counts both new users and existing Coinbase customers who are new to Advanced — clicking your link and trading is what triggers it.

• Payout: accrues in USDC as your referrals' orders fill; the fee base for US referrals is spot volume (the agreement expressly excludes US futures contracts).

• Worth knowing: referrals based in the United Kingdom, Philippines, Turkey, or Canada earn nothing, and residents of those countries cannot participate at all. This is a consumer-facing program governed by a full legal agreement — trademark bidding, texts without consent, and targeted marketing at individuals are all prohibited, with fee forfeiture as the remedy.

• Verified: dashboard + program agreement, 2026-08-12.

OKX (US)

• The offer: dynamic by design — OKX's own FAQ states reward amounts "are adjusted based on market conditions and can differ between inviters." The offer served to a fresh account on August 12: $150 per friend, capped at 5 per referral period, with the period refreshing on a visible countdown.

• To qualify: tiered by what the friend does within 7 days. Buying $1 or more of non-stablecoins earns the inviter $30; a $2,000 deposit plus $20,000 in non-stablecoin purchases earns $120.

• Payout: claimed rewards are locked for 30 days before they can be used, traded, or withdrawn — and the terms add an unlock condition: the invited user must maintain a specified asset balance for 30 days within a 90-day window, or the reward is reclaimed.

• Worth knowing: the friend's side is a welcome ladder reaching roughly $400, running from $30 at a $1 deposit up to $130 at $2,000 deposited and $10,000 purchased in non-stablecoins. OKX also paid $20 in BTC for identity verification alone — no referral code, no deposit — locked from withdrawal for at least 90 days. Qualifying trades must be single transactions within the designated period, per terms updated August 11, 2026.

• Verified: in-product 2026-08-12 · US referral terms 2026-08-12.

Three things that decide whether you actually get paid

1. Offers are personalized. Kraken openly serves different bonus variants to different users, and the other platforms test their offers too. The number you see in your own app is the number that governs. What we publish is the verified range and the rules that surround it.

2. The clock starts in different places. Gemini counts 30 days from signup. Crypto.com counts from the day your identity verification is approved. Coinbase counts 90 days from the day you become eligible to trade. The same phrase, "within 30 days," can mean very different deadlines.

3. Some actions do not count. Kraken excludes stablecoin trades from qualification, and Coinbase excludes purchases made on its Advanced and Prime platforms. Qualification is specific, and these exclusions are where people lose bonuses they thought they had earned.

The no-deposit myth

Substantial no-deposit bonuses at major US exchanges essentially do not exist — but the honest accounting now has two exceptions rather than one. The first is the learn-and-earn category, where exchanges pay small amounts of crypto for completing educational modules. The second is the verification bonus: OKX paid $20 in BTC on August 12 for completing identity verification alone, no referral code and no deposit required, with the catch printed in the terms — the reward cannot be withdrawn for at least 90 days. That is the shape of every real exception: small amounts, long locks. Everything larger requires depositing, trading, or both, and if a site advertises a big no-deposit bonus at a major exchange, read the platform's own terms before believing it.

Every claim on this page was verified against each platform's own published terms on the dates shown, using the method described here. Platforms change their terms without notice, so confirm the offer in your app before acting on it. Links on this page are currently plain links, as explained in our disclosure.