Kraken Trading Journal - Import Crypto Trades

Kraken traders can import spot, margin, and futures trade history directly into JournalPlus using CSV exports from Kraken’s account history page. The integration handles both the Trades CSV (fill-level data) and the Ledgers CSV (staking rewards, margin settlements, fees) to produce a complete and accurate trade record. For a platform with Kraken’s complexity — non-standard asset codes, multi-row margin accounting, and a separate Futures sub-account — a structured import workflow is essential to avoid P&L errors.

Key Features

Dual CSV Import — Ledgers and Trades

Kraken provides two distinct export types, and each serves a different purpose. The Trades CSV (columns: txid, ordertxid, pair, time, type, ordertype, price, cost, fee, vol, margin, misc, ledgers) contains one row per fill and is the primary source for trade P&L. The Ledgers CSV (columns: txid, refid, time, type, subtype, aclass, asset, amount, fee, balance) adds every credit and debit to your account, including staking rewards, margin open/close rows, rollover fees, and deposits. Importing both files together gives JournalPlus the data needed to compute net position P&L rather than raw fill P&L.

Automatic Asset Code Mapping

Kraken uses ISO 4217-style prefixes throughout its exports: XXBT for Bitcoin, XETH for Ethereum, ZUSD for US Dollar, XXRP for Ripple. Importing these codes into a generic journal without remapping produces mismatched symbols and broken analytics. JournalPlus applies a built-in translation table on ingest, so every asset resolves to its standard ticker. Pairs like XXBTZUSD become BTC/USD in your journal without any manual editing.

Staking Reward Classification

Staking entries appear in the Ledger CSV with type set to “staking” and the staked asset coded as a derivative symbol — ETH2.S for staked Ether, for example. Kraken’s staking APY ranges from roughly 3–7% on ETH, 5–7% on SOL, and 10–12% on DOT. A trader staking 10 ETH for a year at 5% APY accumulates approximately 0.5 ETH in rewards — enough to meaningfully distort trade count and average P&L if rows are misclassified as trades. JournalPlus routes all “staking” type rows to an income ledger, keeping them out of your trade statistics.

Margin Trade Reconciliation

Kraken spot margin supports up to 5x leverage on BTC/USD and ETH/USD pairs, with rollover fees charged every 4 hours the position remains open. A single 3-day margin trade generates at minimum 4 ledger rows: the opening trade fill, an intermediate margin row, the settle row when closed, and 18 rollover fee rows (3 days x 24 hours / 4-hour interval). Without reconciliation, the settle row alone can double-count the full position P&L. JournalPlus matches these rows by the shared refid field, sums fees across all rollover entries, and produces a single net P&L entry per position.

Kraken Futures Support

Kraken Futures — acquired from Crypto Facilities in 2019 and regulated by the FCA in the UK — is a fully separate trading environment at futures.kraken.com with its own account, margin, and CSV export format. The Futures CSV schema differs from spot in column naming and contract specifications (e.g., PI_XBTUSD for the BTC perpetual inverse contract). Importing these alongside spot data in the same session causes column mismatches. JournalPlus accepts Futures exports as a distinct asset class, letting you analyze perpetual and dated contract performance separately from spot activity.

How to Connect Kraken

Step 1: Export Your Trades CSV

Log in to Kraken and navigate to History > Trades. Set the date range to cover the period you want to import, click Export, and download the CSV. This file is your primary P&L source — each row represents one executed fill with price, volume, cost, and fee.

Step 2: Export Your Ledgers CSV

Still in the History section, switch to the Ledgers tab and export the same date range. The Ledgers CSV captures everything the Trades file omits: staking rewards, margin settlement rows, 4-hour rollover fees, and deposits. Both files are needed for a complete import.

Step 3: Export Kraken Futures (If Applicable)

Log in to your Futures sub-account at futures.kraken.com, navigate to Account > Transaction History, and export a separate CSV for the same period. Keep this file separate from your spot exports — do not combine them into a single upload.

Step 4: Verify Timezone Settings

Kraken timestamps are UTC ISO 8601 (e.g., 2026-04-15 14:32:05). Check your JournalPlus account timezone before importing. If you trade in US Eastern time and your journal is set to UTC, overnight trades shift to the wrong calendar day in your daily P&L reports.

Step 5: Upload to JournalPlus

Go to Import > Broker CSV in JournalPlus and select Kraken. Upload the Trades CSV first, then the Ledgers CSV in the same session. The importer cross-references txid values between the two files to link fills to ledger entries and reconcile margin rows. For Futures, start a new import session and select Kraken Futures as the broker.

Step 6: Review Staking Income Classification

After import, check the Income section to confirm all staking entries were classified correctly. Each “staking” type row from the Ledger CSV should appear here, not in your trade log. Verify totals against your Kraken staking history before running P&L reports.

What Gets Imported

Data Field	Description
Trade Date and Time	UTC timestamp from Kraken, converted to your journal timezone
Trading Pair	e.g., BTC/USD (mapped from XXBTZUSD)
Side	Buy / Sell / Short
Volume	Number of units executed (from vol column)
Execution Price	Fill price per unit
Cost Basis	Total cost of the fill (price x volume)
Commissions	Broker fee per fill from the fee column
Margin	Margin used for leveraged positions
Staking Rewards	Classified as income, not trades
Rollover Fees	Aggregated per margin position from Ledgers

Fields that require manual entry after import include trade rationale, setup tags, emotional state, and screenshots. These are not available in any Kraken CSV export.

Analytics and Insights

Once Kraken data is imported, JournalPlus calculates net realized P&L per trade using execution price, volume, and total fees. For margin trades, the reconciled net P&L per position — after subtracting all rollover fees across the holding period — feeds directly into your win rate, average winner, and average loser metrics. A trader who ran 50 margin trades over a quarter with an average hold of 2 days would accumulate roughly 24 rollover fee events per trade; without including those fees, reported P&L would be meaningfully overstated.

Staking income appears in a separate income summary alongside your trading P&L. This matters for tax reporting: in most jurisdictions, staking rewards are taxed as ordinary income at the time of receipt, not as capital gains. Keeping them separate from trade P&L ensures your journal reflects both categories accurately.

For Kraken Futures traders, performance is tracked by contract type — perpetual vs. dated, and by underlying (BTC, ETH, SOL). You can compare your futures performance against your spot trading in the same period to see where edge is concentrated. The crypto trading journal analytics page explains which metrics apply specifically to derivatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does JournalPlus support Kraken trading journal imports?

Yes. JournalPlus imports both the Trades CSV and Ledgers CSV from Kraken’s account history page. Spot trades, margin positions, and staking rewards are all handled. Kraken Futures can be imported as a separate session. For details on the general CSV upload process, see the import guide.

How do I import Kraken trades into a trading journal?

Navigate to Kraken’s History section, export the Trades CSV and Ledgers CSV for your date range, then upload both to JournalPlus under Import > Broker CSV with Kraken selected. The importer maps XXBT to BTC, XETH to ETH, and ZUSD to USD automatically.

Why does Kraken use XXBT instead of BTC?

Kraken follows the ISO 4217 convention, which prefixes commodity currencies with X and national currencies with Z. Bitcoin becomes XXBT, Ethereum becomes XETH, and US Dollar becomes ZUSD. JournalPlus applies a built-in mapping on import; your journal displays BTC, ETH, and USD regardless of how Kraken labels them in the export file.

How are Kraken staking rewards handled in JournalPlus?

Staking rewards from ETH2.S, DOT, SOL, and other staked assets appear as type “staking” in the Ledger CSV. JournalPlus classifies these as income events rather than trades, keeping them out of your trade count, win rate, and realized P&L calculations. They appear in a separate income summary with the date and quantity of each reward.

Can I import Kraken Futures trades into JournalPlus?

Yes. Kraken Futures — BTC perpetual (PI_XBTUSD), ETH perpetual (PI_ETHUSD), SOL-PERP, and dated contracts — uses a separate sub-account with a different CSV schema. Export from futures.kraken.com and import as a distinct Kraken Futures session in JournalPlus. This keeps your derivatives analytics separate from spot performance. For comparison, see how Bybit handles perpetual futures imports.