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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

Kraken 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. The four Kraken codes
  2. Turn on Sign-in 2FA with an authenticator app
  3. Adding Funding, Trading or a Master Key
  4. Your backup is the setup key
  5. If Kraken rejects your code
  6. Changing phones
  7. If you lose your authenticator
  8. Turning 2FA off
  9. Official Kraken help

Kraken, the cryptocurrency exchange, lets you protect four things separately, each with its own authenticator entry: signing in, your Master Key, funding and trading (Kraken). For signing in, you can use passkeys or an authenticator app, and Kraken prefers passkeys because a typed code can be entered on a fake site. On some accounts 2FA isn't optional: since May 6, 2025, Kraken has required it based on balance, risk and regulatory rules, with a setup screen at sign-in you can't close (Kraken).

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Kraken steps come from Kraken's own support center, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Kraken account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

The four Kraken codes

  • Sign-in 2FA: asked for whenever you sign in with a password, Apple or Google (Kraken). It also approves changes to your 2FA settings, which Kraken calls Step-up 2FA (Kraken).
  • Master Key: required to reset your password, accepted in place of Sign-in 2FA, and able to lift the Global Settings Lock (GSL) at once (Kraken).
  • Funding 2FA: asked for on withdrawals and transfers to your Futures wallet (Kraken).
  • Trading 2FA: asked for when you place or cancel orders, but not for API keys (Kraken).

Kraken wants Sign-in 2FA in place before you add Funding or Trading 2FA.

Turn on Sign-in 2FA with an authenticator app

These website steps follow Kraken's newest article, from October 2026 (Kraken):

  1. Sign in, click your profile icon and choose Security. Kraken's pages put that icon in the bottom-left or top-right corner (Kraken).
  2. Under Sign-in Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), select Enable under Authenticator app.
  3. Kraken shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If Kraken is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  4. For the key as text, an older Kraken article points to View setup key (Kraken). In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. Kraken doesn't state the key length or code format, so scan if you can. See What is a 2FA setup key?
  5. Type the code from Novaz and click Confirm. An August 2026 article says Continue here instead.

On Kraken Pro, the setting is under the profile icon, Settings, Security, then Activate 2FA beside Sign-in (Kraken).

Adding Funding, Trading or a Master Key

In the same settings, open Advanced Settings, select Enable next to the function, choose Authenticator app, then scan and confirm (Kraken). Kraken may ask for your Sign-in 2FA first.

Each function becomes its own entry in Novaz, named after the function. Using a code from the wrong entry is one of the two usual reasons Kraken rejects one (Kraken). If you type a key by hand, put the function in the Service or Account field.

Two cautions from Kraken. For Funding 2FA, it suggests an authenticator app only if you don't have a hardware security key (Kraken). And the Master Key should live on another device: "Never keep both in the same authenticator app." (Kraken) If Novaz holds your Sign-in 2FA, Kraken's example for the Master Key is a passkey on a hardware security key.

Your backup is the setup key

Kraken doesn't hand out a list of backup codes. Its backup for an authenticator app is the setup key, which it also calls a backup code. Keep it offline like a password and never share it, not even with Kraken Support (Kraken).

Novaz copies its keys to iCloud only if you turn on iCloud backup. Leaving it off fits Kraken's advice to turn off cloud sync (Kraken), and a password-protected backup file (Export to file…) gives you an offline copy instead. With neither, a lost iPhone takes the codes with it. Save the setup key, or add a passkey or Master Key on another device now: Kraken won't let you create a Master Key after you've lost your Sign-in 2FA (Kraken).

If Kraken rejects your code

  • The clock. Turn on Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.
  • The entry. Use the code for the function Kraken is asking about. Signing in with the Master Key needs the Master Key code, not the Sign-in one (Kraken).
  • Old entries. After setting a function up again, remove the old one: in Novaz, open it and tap Remove account.

More in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Kraken won't delete your only sign-in method. To move the authenticator app, add a Cross-Device Passkey, delete the old authenticator app, enable a new one on the new phone, then remove the passkey if you like (Kraken). Funding, Trading and Master Key 2FA can be removed and set up again once you're signed in, without the old codes (Kraken).

With the GSL on, no 2FA can change until it's unlocked, which takes the waiting period you chose, 1 to 30 days, unless you use a Master Key (Kraken). If you restore Novaz on the new iPhone from an iCloud backup or backup file, your Kraken entries come with it and none of this is needed. Without a backup, start early and keep the old phone until you're done. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Kraken's options (Kraken):

  1. Sign in with another Sign-in 2FA method, such as a passkey, or choose Master Key at the 2FA prompt.
  2. Add your saved setup key to an app, sign in, and replace your 2FA right away.
  3. Otherwise, click Recover account at the 2FA prompt, or send Support a request under I can't sign in to my account and Issue with Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) (Kraken). An agent replies by email and lifts the 2FA.

Kraken may ask for an Account Recovery Photo: you holding your ID and a handwritten note worded exactly as its email says (Kraken). It gives no time frame. If the lost phone could open your email, secure that account too. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Click Delete next to a method in your security settings and confirm with Step-up 2FA (Kraken). Kraken always keeps at least one sign-in method, so its help doesn't describe switching Sign-in 2FA off entirely.

Official Kraken help

More guides: Crypto exchanges and wallets