Anyone involved in cryptocurrencies has likely heard the name Binance already. It’s the leading global cryptocurrency exchange, plus as you’ll soon learn a whole lot more besides. Since its inception in 2017 it has been led by its founder Changpeng Zhao, and has continued to feature low trading fees, and the innovation that has made it so popular in the crypto community.
In the short time Binance has been around it has launch a mountain of new features, and it also enjoys a vibrant and active community of traders. From adding support for fiat currencies to launching its own Binance Chain and Binance Coin, the exchange is always looking for new ways to bring value to its clients. It’s even talked about morphing into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in the future, which would leave its governance to the traders who use it.
As the largest volume cryptocurrency exchange Binance is capable of handling a massive number of trades without seeing a slowdown in its transaction times, however it is also known for some common issues, such as unexpected maintenance and the occasional security vulnerability. Despite these things it remains one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges.
Binance Key Features
Led by the charismatic Changpeng Zhao (or simply CZ), Binance has been running for nearly four years as of the writing of this review. In that short time it has established itself as a dominant force in the universe of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency trading. Thanks to its innovation there’s little you can’t do at Binance in connection with crypto trading, investing, or savings.
Below is a listing of the many features you can find at Binance. The list may not be exhaustive, and I’ll only cover some of these in more detail in the following review, but I thought it important for you to know about as many Binance features as possible. If there’s anything you’d like to know more about that hasn’t been covered in the review feel free to leave a comment at the end of the review.
- Trade over 280 cryptocurrencies on Binance. Binance has one of the largest selections of quality altcoins available to trade. In addition, there are almost 1,000 pairs available to trade.
- Binance Fiat Gateway. The Binance Fiat Gateway was an excellent addition, allowing users to purchase over two dozen popular cryptocurrencies with over 40 fiat currencies using bank cards and other methods. It also supports selling crypto for fiat.
- Low trading fees. The trading fees at Binance are some of the lowest you’ll find.
- Multi-platform support. Binance can be accessed through its web-based platform, via desktop clients for Windows and macOS machines, or through its mobile apps for Android and iOS. There’s also a Binance API available.
- Binance Futures with 125x leverage and margin trading with up to 3x leverage. Supercharge your trading with the available leverage offered by Binance.
- Around the clock customer support. Customer support is often lacking at cryptocurrency exchanges, but Binance has a dedicated help center, where you can reach out to the support team anytime. There’s also a wealth of written information that includes beginner guides and explanations of all sorts of exchange functions.
- Binance Launchpad. The Binance Launchpad was created as an alternative initial listing venue to the ICO model. All of the clients at Binance can take part in the IEOs on Launchpad, and they have become some of the most anticipated and profitable coin launches in the crypto industry.
- Binance Finance. Binance Finance gives crypto holders other ways to earn from their coins, such as crypto lending and staking, along with other methods for earning a passive income from crypto holdings.
As you can see Binance has involved itself in all aspects of the crypto ecosystem. It’s innovation has made it one of the most used cryptocurrency platforms, and the work of developers and community members at Binance ensures that the platform is continually improving. It has become an excellent place for beginning cryptocurrency traders and for experienced cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Note: Binance.com does not allow registration from USA. However, if you are from USA Binance has created an alternative platform at Binance.us and you can use this for trading.
Binance Background and History
With less than four years of history Binance remains quite new, yet it is likely the best known global cryptocurrency exchange. It was created with the goal of providing traders with a cryptocurrency trading interface that is fast, simple, robust, and intuitive. Many would agree that it has succeeded.
Binance was launched in July 2017 by its founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He in China. Both the founders previously worked for the OKCoin exchange, and Changpeng was a member of the Blockchain.com wallet team since 2013.
Binance may have been destined for greatness. Besides creating one of the most successful cryptocurrency exchanges they also started out with one of the most successful ICOs in the cryptoverse. In July 2017, from the 1st to the 20th, the exchange raised $15 million in an ICO for its newly minted ERC-20 Binance Coin (BNB) tokens. The selling price for those tokens was $0.115 each. As of March 2021 the BNB token (which has been migrated to the native Binance Chain) is worth $238.84 and is the fourth largest altcoin by market cap.
Given the success of the ICO it might come as no surprise that the exchange itself has been just as successful. Ever since its launch it has been one of the largest global exchanges in terms of trading volume. It achieved this in just six months from its launch, which is quite an impressive feat. And nearly four years later it remains at the top thanks to its low fees, ease of use, robust ability to handle massive transaction volumes, and its global approach to its business (the platform is available in over two dozen languages).
Binance doesn’t release user figures, but based on various interviews given by CZ there are now over 15 million Binance users. In addition, the exchange settles roughly $4 billion a day, with the busiest days seeing over $20 billion in trading volume. In addition it has also created a huge suite of related products which include the following:
- Binance Academy –An open-access learning hub for blockchain and crypto education resources.
- Binance Card –A crypto payment card that can be used as a payment option for everyday purchases just like a regular bank card.
- Binance Chain and Binance Coin (BNB) –Community-driven blockchain ecosystem with its own native token (BNB) and decentralized exchange (DEX).
- Binance Charity –A not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advancing blockchain philanthropy and sustainable global development.
- Binance Cloud –Enterprise cryptocurrency exchange solutions for cryptocurrency ventures.
- Binance Crypto Loans –A feature allowing its users to take out crypto loans secured by your cryptocurrency assets.
- Binance DEX –Binance’s decentralized exchange built on the Binance Chain.
- Binance Fiat Gateway –A fiat gateway that lets you purchase cryptocurrencies using various fiat currencies (currently supports nearly 40 fiat currencies.)
- Binance Futures –Binance’s crypto-derivative platform that lets you trade futures with up to 125x leverage.
- Binance Info –An open-source crypto encyclopedia.
- Binance Jersey –A European fiat-to-crypto cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), binance coin (BNB), and bitcoin cash (BCH) trades for euros (EUR) and pound sterlings (GBP).
- Binance JEX –Binance’s cryptocurrency futures and options trading platform.
- Binance Labs –Binance’s infrastructure impact fund and initiative to empower blockchain projects.
- Binance Launchpad –Binance’s crypto crowdfunding platform for launching initial exchange offerings (IEOs). Binance innovation made Launchpad the first crowdfunding platform for IEO’s in the industry.
- Binance OTC – Over-the-counter trading desk for whales and other large-volume traders.
- include Ark, EOS, ARPA, TROY, Lisk, LOOM, Tezos, KAVA, THETA, and more.
- Binance P2P trading –A peer-to-peer crypto trading platform like LocalBitcoins or LocalCryptos that supports payments via WeChat, AliPay, Bank Transfers, and QIWI.
- Binance Research –Institutional-grade research platform conducting analysis for investors in the crypto space.
- Binance Savings –Ability to employ your crypto assets by lending them out to earn interest. You can withdraw your funds anytime.
- Binance Staking –Binance staking feature lets you stake certain cryptocurrencies and reap up to 16% annual yield. Supported cryptocurrencies.
- Binance US and other localized versions of Binance exchange –Regulated versions of Binance exchange dedicated to certain markets based on their specific legal and regulatory requirements.
- Binance USD (BUSD) and Binance GBP stablecoin –Binance’s regulated stablecoins, released in partnership with Paxos Trust Company.
- Trust Wallet –An official, secure, and decentralized wallet of Binance. Over 5 million users.
Many of the features were developed by Binance, but they have also made a large number of acquisitions to help bootstrap their growth. Some of the largest were the acquisition of WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange, DappReview, a Chinese dApp analytics platform, and Coinmarketcap, the cryptocurrency market data aggregator.
Future plans include morphing the Binance exchange into a decentralized autonomous organization that will be governed by the community.
Binance Locations
Even though Binance was founded in China, it didn’t stay there for very long. Just a couple months after its founding it moved its headquarters from China to Japan to avoid upcoming regulatory changes banning cryptocurrencies in China. A year later in 2018 Binance opened offices in Taiwan and announced it was moving to the island of Malta, where cryptocurrency exchanges are more welcomed.
Even though the headquarters for Binance are located in Malta, it is incorporated in the Seychelles and Cayman Islands.
In addition, there are a number of other offices located all around the globe including those in California (United States), London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), Moscow (Russia), Istanbul (Turkey), Singapore, New Delhi (India), Kampala (Uganda), Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Jersey, and several other locations across Asia. In total, the Binance team operates from over 40 countries.
Supported Countries and Verification
Besides having offices in over 40 different countries around the world, the exchange and other business units operate in over 180 countries around the world. There are very few countries it doesn’t operate in, and those are the countries that are on economic sanctions lists, or on the “Denied Persons List” of the U.S. Commerce Department.
While U.S. citizens are blocked from using the primary exchange at Binance.com, they do have access to a secondary platform at Binance.us. There are several other jurisdictions with localized versions of the Binance platform which include Binance Jersey, Binance Singapore, and Binance Uganda.
Any verification procedures or requirements are based on the jurisdiction of the trader. First time customers will go through the typical Know-your-Customer (KYC) verification process which requires the new client to submit the following documents:
- Government ID document (passport, ID or driver’s license)
- Residential address document (utility bill)
The verification process is nothing to worry about. It is quite straight-forward and typically is completed quickly. Of course it is possible that delays can occur during very busy times for the Binance staff. Patience may be necessary in some cases. Also, if you’ve ever taken a selfie while holding your ID and another piece of paper you know how tricky it can be to get an accurate shot, so don’t be surprised if you get a request for a re-do on your selfie.
If you choose not to verify your profile you can still make withdrawals, but will be limited to 2 BTC per day. Those who verify their profile can withdraw up to 100 BTC per day. Yes, it really is a huge difference. And those who are unverified may find that the security algorithms at Binance get triggered for mandatory ID verification when trying to withdraw for the first time.
Is it Safe?
With the need for ID verification it’s normal to wonder if Binance is a safe exchange. As one of the largest exchanges in the world Binance has taken the time, effort, and money to harden their security.
As of March 2021 they have artificial intelligence risk control solutions that are state of the art and use both identity and facial recognition. In addition they also use big data analytics and cyber forensic investigations to monitor each transaction taking place on the exchange. All of this helps to identify any suspicious or irregular activity occurring on the exchange.
Thanks to all this security it’s been some time since any hacking attempts at Binance have been successful. In fact, the last successful hack at Binance was in May 2019 when hackers were able to use an attack that relied on phishing, breaking the 2-FA, and accessing a Binance hot wallet. Roughly 7,000 BTC worth $40 million at the time were taken, but you can be sure that Binance learned a lot from the hack. And they also made sure to reimburse any lost funds to their clients.
They were able to do so because in July 2018 they opened a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). 10% of all the trading revenue generated gets deposited to this account, and it is used to cover any losses from hacking attempts.
All in all, Binance is a secure exchange, but security is not its hallmark. Even so, it has seemingly taken the time and effort to fix any security holes, and as of March 2021 is likely one of the safest exchanges out there.
Binance Regulation
Tying into the safety concerns at Binance are obviously questions regarding the regulatory status of the exchange. Traders feel much safer when there’s some third-party regulation ensuring a safe trading environment and no bad behavior on the part of the exchange. And when cryptocurrencies are concerned we know that most exchanges operate without any regulation.
In the case of Binance the question of regulation is a murky one. For years there’s been the idea that Binance is licensed and regulated in the jurisdiction of Malta. However in February 2020 the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) released a statement that said Binance is not regulated in Malta by the MFSA.
Once that was clear it was also clear that the parent company Binance is not regulated by any specific regulatory agency, nor are they licensed in any jurisdiction. However, some of the subsidiaries of the parent company are regulated by the specific country in which they operate. For example, in the U.S. Binance.us is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It is also licensed to operate in most (not all) U.S. states.
Binance UK is operated by Binance Markets Limited, and is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Binance Singapore has applied for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore after being granted a six-month exemption from the January 2020 passage of the Payment Services Act. It is unclear if that license has been granted, or how the process might be going.
So, while Binance does claim to work in compliance with local laws, in few cases are they actually licensed or regulated. That said, as far as we can tell Binance does actually work in compliance with the local laws of all the jurisdictions where they operate.
Coin Support
One of the most popular features of Binance that have attracted so many traders is the wide variety of coins they support. There are currently (March 2021) nearly 300 coins supported, and nearly 1,000 trading pairs. So, not only can you trade BTC and other cryptocurrencies against the USD, you can also trade it against the Euro, the British Pound, Tether, and BNB.
There are also a good number of tokens offered on the Binance platform, and the IEOs from Launchpad make it to the Binance exchange immediately following their release. Binance is also pretty quick to add new coins immediately following their initial offering on other platforms. That means traders can often buy newly issued tokens at low prices and make easy profits.
Fiat Support
Purchasing cryptocurrencies on Binance is limited to certain jurisdictions, but the number of countries allowing this is growing. Binance has two platforms that can be used for fiat purchases (and sales) – Binance Jersey for the EU and UK, and the Binance Fiat-to-Crypto Gateway for a number of other countries around the world.
Users who have access to buy cryptocurrencies through Binance will see the “Buy Crypto” link at the top of their account page when logged in. Clicking it will take you to the fiat-to-crypto service page.
Fees (and how to reduce them)
Binance charges no fees at all for deposits, but the same can’t be said for actual trades and for withdrawals. Even so, the fees at Binance remain some of the lowest in the crypto industry, plus there are ways to make them even lower still.
On each trade you make with Binance there’s a 0.1% fee. That’s actually one of the cheapest fees you’ll find at a crypto exchange. As an example, at Coinbase Pro you’ll be charged 0.5% per trade, and Bittrex has a 0.2% trading fee.
One exchange that does match Binance’s fee is KuCoin, while another popular exchange, HitBTC charges 0.1% for market makers, but 0.2% for market takers. Other exchanges such as Kraken and Poloniex are also more expensive, with 0.15-0.16% maker fees and 0.25-0.26% taker fees.
To sweeten things even more, it’s possible to get a significant discount (up to 25%) on your trading fees if you use Binance Coin (BNB) to pay the fees. You can get another significant discount (up to 25%) for referring your friends to Binance. That means you can cut the already low 0.1% trading fee to an 0.05% trading fee. That’s really very little.
Binance futures continues the theme of low fess with a 0.02% maker fee and a 0.04% taker fee. Those are the highest fees you will pay, but they can be lowered even further.
Another key factor to look at when evaluating Binance’s fees is futures funding rate and margin position daily interest rate. These tend to change based on market conditions, and there are no fixed rates, but you can check them at Binance’s website here and here.
Then there are the withdrawal fees to consider. With withdrawals, Binance offers remarkably good value for money. Note that fees do vary from cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency, but that’s hardly unusual. A small sample of the fees for some of the more popular coins is shown below:
As you can see, Binance lets its users withdraw either regular or BEP2 versions of their assets. BEP2 withdrawals are based on Binance Chain and use not an actual crypto asset, but a pegged BEP2 version of it.
To give some perspective on these fees, Kraken and Bittrex each charge a 0.0005 BTC withdrawal fee, while Bitfinex and HitBTC charge 0.0004 BTC and 0.001 BTC respectively.
There are also fees to consider if you’re using the Binance Fiat gateway, and these aren’t inconsequential. While you can buy over two dozen cryptocurrencies with over 40 different fiat currencies through the Binance Fiat Gateway, the fees you pay are going to vary based on the payment method used, and on the floating exchange rate charged by whichever payment processor is used.
As a rough guide, these fiat-to-crypto gateway fees range from 1% to 7% depending on the payment method and processor. Note that bank card transactions tend to be the most expensive.
Overall you’ll find that Binance has some of the lowest fees in the undustry, which is quite refreshing, and is probably another reason why they were able to become so popular and grow so quickly. After all, who wants to pay more in fees when they don’t have to? Certainly not me.
Registration and KYC
You are required to create an account to use the Binance exchange, but the process is pretty simple and straight-forward. Also, there is no requirement to verify a level 1 account, which allows for withdrawals of as much as 2 BTC daily.
If you expect to withdraw more than that you will need to verify your identity in accordance with Know Your Customer rules. That requires uploading a government issued photo ID and proof of residence, but it allows for withdrawals of up to 100 BTC daily.
The approval process typically takes less than 24 hours, but can take longer if the support team at Binance is extremely busy for any reason. It’s also possible to increase limits beyond 100 BTC per day, but you’ll need to contact Binance support directly to arrange for this.
Because approvals can be delayed at times be sure to plan appropriately if you are going to deposit and trade large sums at Binance.
Once any registration and KYC requirements are taken care of you can go ahead and make a deposit to fund your account and begin trading. Binance will accept a large number of digital currencies as deposits, but it is usually best to stick with their big four – BTC, ETH, USDT, or BNB.
Deposits / Withdrawals (Fiat & Crypto)
Because the Binance exchange only accepts cryptocurrency all the deposits and withdrawals from the exchange involve the movement of your funds between the internal Binance wallet and your own external crypto wallets.
Deposits
Funding an account at Binance is as easy as logging into your account, and clicking through the “Funds” > “Deposits / Withdrawals” link at the top of the site. You can then search for the currency you are planning to deposit and when you click the “Deposit” button you’ll be given the appropriate wallet address.
Once you have the internal wallet address you can begin transferring cryptocurrency onto the platform to trade with. Note that network fees and transfer times will depend on which cryptocurrency you’re sending since each blockchain does have different block times and different network costs.
Once you’ve transferred some coins and Binance has received them you can go right ahead and begin trading any of the nearly 1,000 cryptocurrency pairs offered on the exchange.
Withdrawals
As fast as deposits are, withdrawals are just as fast. In this case you’ll once again visit the “Funds” link in your account, and then go to “Withdrawal”. This is where you’ll be able to choose the coin you are withdrawing, fill in the amount you’d like to withdraw, and then provide the external wallet address that the funds should be delivered to. Click the “Withdrawal” button and then all you need to do is wait for the transaction to be verified on the blockchain to show up in your wallet.
Crypto withdrawals are a speedy process on Binance. To withdraw your crypto holdings, hover over the “Funds” dropdown menu, click the “Deposits” option, for example, and then type in the desired cryptocurrency to receive a Binance wallet address into which they can deposit it.
Binance Fiat-to-Crypto Gateway
Binance fiat-to-crypto gateway currently lets you buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via a bank card using 65 traditional currencies. In many cases you can also sell your cryptocurrencies to withdraw the fiat currency of your choice. Here are the supported fiat currencies:
Buy Only | Buy and Sell |
United States Dollar (USD) | Euro (EUR) |
United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) | British Pound (GBP) |
Bulgarian Lev (BGN) | Australian Dollar (AUD) |
Swiss Franc (CHF) | Chinese Yuan (CNY) |
Czech Koruna (CZK) | Canadian Dollar (CAD) |
Danish Krone (DKK) | Argentine Peso (ARS) |
Croatian Kuna (HRK) | Brazilian Real (BRL) |
Hungarian Forint (HUF) | Colombian Peso (COP) |
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) | Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) |
Israeli New Shekel (ILS) | Indian Rupee (INR) |
Japanese Yen (JPY) | Kenyan Shilling (KES) |
South Korean Won (KRW) | Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT) |
Norwegian Krone (NOK) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
New Zealand Dollar (NZD) | Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) |
Poland Zloty (PLN) | Nigerian Naira (NGN) |
Romanian Lei (RON) | Peruvian Sol (PEN) |
Swedish Kronar (SEK) | Russian Ruble (RUB) |
Thai Baht (THB) | Turkish Lira (TRY) |
Taiwan Dollar (TWD) | Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) |
Azerbaijani Manat (AZN) | Vietnamese Dong (VND) |
Icelandic Kronur (ISK) | South African Rand (ZAR) |
Costa Rican Colon (CRC) | Sovereign Bolivar (VES) |
Dominican Peso (DOP) | Ghanian Cedi (GHS) |
Moldovan Leu (MDL) | Bolivian Boliviano (BOB) |
Namibian Dollar (NAD) | Chilean Peso (CLP) |
Qatar Riyal (QAR) | Egyptian Pound (EGP) |
Uzbekistani Sum (UZS) | Georgian Lari (GEL) |
Lebanese Pound (LBP) | |
Moroccan Dirham (MAD) | |
Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) | |
Philippine Peso (PHP) | |
Pakistan Rupees (PKR) | |
Paraguayan Guarani (PYG) | |
Panamanian Balboa (PAB) | |
Saudi Riyal (SAR) | |
Singapore Dollar (SGD) | |
Uganda Shilling (UGX) | |
Uruguay Peso (UYU) |
Anyone involved in cryptocurrencies has likely heard the name Binance already. It’s the leading global cryptocurrency exchange, plus as you’ll soon learn a whole lot more besides. Since its inception in 2017 it has been led by its founder Changpeng Zhao, and has continued to feature low trading fees, and the innovation that has made it so popular in the crypto community.
In the short time Binance has been around it has launch a mountain of new features, and it also enjoys a vibrant and active community of traders. From adding support for fiat currencies to launching its own Binance Chain and Binance Coin, the exchange is always looking for new ways to bring value to its clients. It’s even talked about morphing into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in the future, which would leave its governance to the traders who use it.
As the largest volume cryptocurrency exchange Binance is capable of handling a massive number of trades without seeing a slowdown in its transaction times, however it is also known for some common issues, such as unexpected maintenance and the occasional security vulnerability. Despite these things it remains one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges.
Binance Key Features
Led by the charismatic Changpeng Zhao (or simply CZ), Binance has been running for nearly four years as of the writing of this review. In that short time it has established itself as a dominant force in the universe of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency trading. Thanks to its innovation there’s little you can’t do at Binance in connection with crypto trading, investing, or savings.
Below is a listing of the many features you can find at Binance. The list may not be exhaustive, and I’ll only cover some of these in more detail in the following review, but I thought it important for you to know about as many Binance features as possible. If there’s anything you’d like to know more about that hasn’t been covered in the review feel free to leave a comment at the end of the review.
- Trade over 280 cryptocurrencies on Binance. Binance has one of the largest selections of quality altcoins available to trade. In addition, there are almost 1,000 pairs available to trade.
- Binance Fiat Gateway. The Binance Fiat Gateway was an excellent addition, allowing users to purchase over two dozen popular cryptocurrencies with over 40 fiat currencies using bank cards and other methods. It also supports selling crypto for fiat.
- Low trading fees. The trading fees at Binance are some of the lowest you’ll find.
- Multi-platform support. Binance can be accessed through its web-based platform, via desktop clients for Windows and macOS machines, or through its mobile apps for Android and iOS. There’s also a Binance API available.
- Binance Futures with 125x leverage and margin trading with up to 3x leverage. Supercharge your trading with the available leverage offered by Binance.
- Around the clock customer support. Customer support is often lacking at cryptocurrency exchanges, but Binance has a dedicated help center, where you can reach out to the support team anytime. There’s also a wealth of written information that includes beginner guides and explanations of all sorts of exchange functions.
- Binance Launchpad. The Binance Launchpad was created as an alternative initial listing venue to the ICO model. All of the clients at Binance can take part in the IEOs on Launchpad, and they have become some of the most anticipated and profitable coin launches in the crypto industry.
- Binance Finance. Binance Finance gives crypto holders other ways to earn from their coins, such as crypto lending and staking, along with other methods for earning a passive income from crypto holdings.
As you can see Binance has involved itself in all aspects of the crypto ecosystem. It’s innovation has made it one of the most used cryptocurrency platforms, and the work of developers and community members at Binance ensures that the platform is continually improving. It has become an excellent place for beginning cryptocurrency traders and for experienced cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Note: Binance.com does not allow registration from USA. However, if you are from USA Binance has created an alternative platform at Binance.us and you can use this for trading.
Now let’s get on to the review.
Binance Background and History
With less than four years of history Binance remains quite new, yet it is likely the best known global cryptocurrency exchange. It was created with the goal of providing traders with a cryptocurrency trading interface that is fast, simple, robust, and intuitive. Many would agree that it has succeeded.
Binance was launched in July 2017 by its founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He in China. Both the founders previously worked for the OKCoin exchange, and Changpeng was a member of the Blockchain.com wallet team since 2013.
Binance may have been destined for greatness. Besides creating one of the most successful cryptocurrency exchanges they also started out with one of the most successful ICOs in the cryptoverse. In July 2017, from the 1st to the 20th, the exchange raised $15 million in an ICO for its newly minted ERC-20 Binance Coin (BNB) tokens. The selling price for those tokens was $0.115 each. As of March 2021 the BNB token (which has been migrated to the native Binance Chain) is worth $238.84 and is the fourth largest altcoin by market cap.
Given the success of the ICO it might come as no surprise that the exchange itself has been just as successful. Ever since its launch it has been one of the largest global exchanges in terms of trading volume. It achieved this in just six months from its launch, which is quite an impressive feat. And nearly four years later it remains at the top thanks to its low fees, ease of use, robust ability to handle massive transaction volumes, and its global approach to its business (the platform is available in over two dozen languages).
Binance doesn’t release user figures, but based on various interviews given by CZ there are now over 15 million Binance users. In addition, the exchange settles roughly $4 billion a day, with the busiest days seeing over $20 billion in trading volume. In addition it has also created a huge suite of related products which include the following:
- Binance Academy –An open-access learning hub for blockchain and crypto education resources.
- Binance Card –A crypto payment card that can be used as a payment option for everyday purchases just like a regular bank card.
- Binance Chain and Binance Coin (BNB) –Community-driven blockchain ecosystem with its own native token (BNB) and decentralized exchange (DEX).
- Binance Charity –A not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advancing blockchain philanthropy and sustainable global development.
- Binance Cloud –Enterprise cryptocurrency exchange solutions for cryptocurrency ventures.
- Binance Crypto Loans –A feature allowing its users to take out crypto loans secured by your cryptocurrency assets.
- Binance DEX –Binance’s decentralized exchange built on the Binance Chain.
- Binance Fiat Gateway –A fiat gateway that lets you purchase cryptocurrencies using various fiat currencies (currently supports nearly 40 fiat currencies.)
- Binance Futures –Binance’s crypto-derivative platform that lets you trade futures with up to 125x leverage.
- Binance Info –An open-source crypto encyclopedia.
- Binance Jersey –A European fiat-to-crypto cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), binance coin (BNB), and bitcoin cash (BCH) trades for euros (EUR) and pound sterlings (GBP).
- Binance JEX –Binance’s cryptocurrency futures and options trading platform.
- Binance Labs –Binance’s infrastructure impact fund and initiative to empower blockchain projects.
- Binance Launchpad –Binance’s crypto crowdfunding platform for launching initial exchange offerings (IEOs). Binance innovation made Launchpad the first crowdfunding platform for IEO’s in the industry.
- Binance OTC – Over-the-counter trading desk for whales and other large-volume traders.
- include Ark, EOS, ARPA, TROY, Lisk, LOOM, Tezos, KAVA, THETA, and more.
- Binance P2P trading –A peer-to-peer crypto trading platform like LocalBitcoins or LocalCryptos that supports payments via WeChat, AliPay, Bank Transfers, and QIWI.
- Binance Research –Institutional-grade research platform conducting analysis for investors in the crypto space.
- Binance Savings –Ability to employ your crypto assets by lending them out to earn interest. You can withdraw your funds anytime.
- Binance Staking –Binance staking feature lets you stake certain cryptocurrencies and reap up to 16% annual yield. Supported cryptocurrencies.
- Binance US and other localized versions of Binance exchange –Regulated versions of Binance exchange dedicated to certain markets based on their specific legal and regulatory requirements.
- Binance USD (BUSD) and Binance GBP stablecoin –Binance’s regulated stablecoins, released in partnership with Paxos Trust Company.
- Trust Wallet –An official, secure, and decentralized wallet of Binance. Over 5 million users.
Many of the features were developed by Binance, but they have also made a large number of acquisitions to help bootstrap their growth. Some of the largest were the acquisition of WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange, DappReview, a Chinese dApp analytics platform, and Coinmarketcap, the cryptocurrency market data aggregator.
Future plans include morphing the Binance exchange into a decentralized autonomous organization that will be governed by the community.
Binance Locations
Even though Binance was founded in China, it didn’t stay there for very long. Just a couple months after its founding it moved its headquarters from China to Japan to avoid upcoming regulatory changes banning cryptocurrencies in China. A year later in 2018 Binance opened offices in Taiwan and announced it was moving to the island of Malta, where cryptocurrency exchanges are more welcomed.
Even though the headquarters for Binance are located in Malta, it is incorporated in the Seychelles and Cayman Islands.
In addition, there are a number of other offices located all around the globe including those in California (United States), London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), Moscow (Russia), Istanbul (Turkey), Singapore, New Delhi (India), Kampala (Uganda), Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Jersey, and several other locations across Asia. In total, the Binance team operates from over 40 countries.
Supported Countries and Verification
Besides having offices in over 40 different countries around the world, the exchange and other business units operate in over 180 countries around the world. There are very few countries it doesn’t operate in, and those are the countries that are on economic sanctions lists, or on the “Denied Persons List” of the U.S. Commerce Department.
While U.S. citizens are blocked from using the primary exchange at Binance.com, they do have access to a secondary platform at Binance.us. There are several other jurisdictions with localized versions of the Binance platform which include Binance Jersey, Binance Singapore, and Binance Uganda.
Any verification procedures or requirements are based on the jurisdiction of the trader. First time customers will go through the typical Know-your-Customer (KYC) verification process which requires the new client to submit the following documents:
- Government ID document (passport, ID or driver’s license)
- Residential address document (utility bill)
The verification process is nothing to worry about. It is quite straight-forward and typically is completed quickly. Of course it is possible that delays can occur during very busy times for the Binance staff. Patience may be necessary in some cases. Also, if you’ve ever taken a selfie while holding your ID and another piece of paper you know how tricky it can be to get an accurate shot, so don’t be surprised if you get a request for a re-do on your selfie.
If you choose not to verify your profile you can still make withdrawals, but will be limited to 2 BTC per day. Those who verify their profile can withdraw up to 100 BTC per day. Yes, it really is a huge difference. And those who are unverified may find that the security algorithms at Binance get triggered for mandatory ID verification when trying to withdraw for the first time.
Is it Safe?
With the need for ID verification it’s normal to wonder if Binance is a safe exchange. As one of the largest exchanges in the world Binance has taken the time, effort, and money to harden their security.
As of March 2021 they have artificial intelligence risk control solutions that are state of the art and use both identity and facial recognition. In addition they also use big data analytics and cyber forensic investigations to monitor each transaction taking place on the exchange. All of this helps to identify any suspicious or irregular activity occurring on the exchange.
Thanks to all this security it’s been some time since any hacking attempts at Binance have been successful. In fact, the last successful hack at Binance was in May 2019 when hackers were able to use an attack that relied on phishing, breaking the 2-FA, and accessing a Binance hot wallet. Roughly 7,000 BTC worth $40 million at the time were taken, but you can be sure that Binance learned a lot from the hack. And they also made sure to reimburse any lost funds to their clients.
They were able to do so because in July 2018 they opened a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). 10% of all the trading revenue generated gets deposited to this account, and it is used to cover any losses from hacking attempts.
All in all, Binance is a secure exchange, but security is not its hallmark. Even so, it has seemingly taken the time and effort to fix any security holes, and as of March 2021 is likely one of the safest exchanges out there.
Binance Regulation
Tying into the safety concerns at Binance are obviously questions regarding the regulatory status of the exchange. Traders feel much safer when there’s some third-party regulation ensuring a safe trading environment and no bad behavior on the part of the exchange. And when cryptocurrencies are concerned we know that most exchanges operate without any regulation.
In the case of Binance the question of regulation is a murky one. For years there’s been the idea that Binance is licensed and regulated in the jurisdiction of Malta. However in February 2020 the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) released a statement that said Binance is not regulated in Malta by the MFSA.
Once that was clear it was also clear that the parent company Binance is not regulated by any specific regulatory agency, nor are they licensed in any jurisdiction. However, some of the subsidiaries of the parent company are regulated by the specific country in which they operate. For example, in the U.S. Binance.us is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It is also licensed to operate in most (not all) U.S. states.
Binance UK is operated by Binance Markets Limited, and is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Binance Singapore has applied for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore after being granted a six-month exemption from the January 2020 passage of the Payment Services Act. It is unclear if that license has been granted, or how the process might be going.
So, while Binance does claim to work in compliance with local laws, in few cases are they actually licensed or regulated. That said, as far as we can tell Binance does actually work in compliance with the local laws of all the jurisdictions where they operate.
Coin Support
One of the most popular features of Binance that have attracted so many traders is the wide variety of coins they support. There are currently (March 2021) nearly 300 coins supported, and nearly 1,000 trading pairs. So, not only can you trade BTC and other cryptocurrencies against the USD, you can also trade it against the Euro, the British Pound, Tether, and BNB.
There are also a good number of tokens offered on the Binance platform, and the IEOs from Launchpad make it to the Binance exchange immediately following their release. Binance is also pretty quick to add new coins immediately following their initial offering on other platforms. That means traders can often buy newly issued tokens at low prices and make easy profits.
Fiat Support
Purchasing cryptocurrencies on Binance is limited to certain jurisdictions, but the number of countries allowing this is growing. Binance has two platforms that can be used for fiat purchases (and sales) – Binance Jersey for the EU and UK, and the Binance Fiat-to-Crypto Gateway for a number of other countries around the world.
Users who have access to buy cryptocurrencies through Binance will see the “Buy Crypto” link at the top of their account page when logged in. Clicking it will take you to the fiat-to-crypto service page.
Users of Binance Jersey are also able to convert crypto to fiat and withdraw fiat currencies directly. For more detailed information regarding Binance’s fiat support visit this page.
Fees (and how to reduce them)
Binance charges no fees at all for deposits, but the same can’t be said for actual trades and for withdrawals. Even so, the fees at Binance remain some of the lowest in the crypto industry, plus there are ways to make them even lower still.
On each trade you make with Binance there’s a 0.1% fee. That’s actually one of the cheapest fees you’ll find at a crypto exchange. As an example, at Coinbase Pro you’ll be charged 0.5% per trade, and Bittrex has a 0.2% trading fee.
One exchange that does match Binance’s fee is KuCoin, while another popular exchange, HitBTC charges 0.1% for market makers, but 0.2% for market takers. Other exchanges such as Kraken and Poloniex are also more expensive, with 0.15-0.16% maker fees and 0.25-0.26% taker fees.
To sweeten things even more, it’s possible to get a significant discount (up to 25%) on your trading fees if you use Binance Coin (BNB) to pay the fees. You can get another significant discount (up to 25%) for referring your friends to Binance. That means you can cut the already low 0.1% trading fee to an 0.05% trading fee. That’s really very little.
Binance futures continues the theme of low fess with a 0.02% maker fee and a 0.04% taker fee. Those are the highest fees you will pay, but they can be lowered even further.
Another key factor to look at when evaluating Binance’s fees is futures funding rate and margin position daily interest rate. These tend to change based on market conditions, and there are no fixed rates, but you can check them at Binance’s website here and here.
Then there are the withdrawal fees to consider. With withdrawals, Binance offers remarkably good value for money. Note that fees do vary from cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency, but that’s hardly unusual. A small sample of the fees for some of the more popular coins is shown below:
As you can see, Binance lets its users withdraw either regular or BEP2 versions of their assets. BEP2 withdrawals are based on Binance Chain and use not an actual crypto asset, but a pegged BEP2 version of it.
To give some perspective on these fees, Kraken and Bittrex each charge a 0.0005 BTC withdrawal fee, while Bitfinex and HitBTC charge 0.0004 BTC and 0.001 BTC respectively.
There are also fees to consider if you’re using the Binance Fiat gateway, and these aren’t inconsequential. While you can buy over two dozen cryptocurrencies with over 40 different fiat currencies through the Binance Fiat Gateway, the fees you pay are going to vary based on the payment method used, and on the floating exchange rate charged by whichever payment processor is used.
As a rough guide, these fiat-to-crypto gateway fees range from 1% to 7% depending on the payment method and processor. Note that bank card transactions tend to be the most expensive.
Overall you’ll find that Binance has some of the lowest fees in the undustry, which is quite refreshing, and is probably another reason why they were able to become so popular and grow so quickly. After all, who wants to pay more in fees when they don’t have to? Certainly not me.
Registration and KYC
You are required to create an account to use the Binance exchange, but the process is pretty simple and straight-forward. Also, there is no requirement to verify a level 1 account, which allows for withdrawals of as much as 2 BTC daily.
If you expect to withdraw more than that you will need to verify your identity in accordance with Know Your Customer rules. That requires uploading a government issued photo ID and proof of residence, but it allows for withdrawals of up to 100 BTC daily.
The approval process typically takes less than 24 hours, but can take longer if the support team at Binance is extremely busy for any reason. It’s also possible to increase limits beyond 100 BTC per day, but you’ll need to contact Binance support directly to arrange for this.
Because approvals can be delayed at times be sure to plan appropriately if you are going to deposit and trade large sums at Binance.
Once any registration and KYC requirements are taken care of you can go ahead and make a deposit to fund your account and begin trading. Binance will accept a large number of digital currencies as deposits, but it is usually best to stick with their big four – BTC, ETH, USDT, or BNB.
Deposits / Withdrawals (Fiat & Crypto)
Because the Binance exchange only accepts cryptocurrency all the deposits and withdrawals from the exchange involve the movement of your funds between the internal Binance wallet and your own external crypto wallets.
Deposits
Funding an account at Binance is as easy as logging into your account, and clicking through the “Funds” > “Deposits / Withdrawals” link at the top of the site. You can then search for the currency you are planning to deposit and when you click the “Deposit” button you’ll be given the appropriate wallet address.
Once you have the internal wallet address you can begin transferring cryptocurrency onto the platform to trade with. Note that network fees and transfer times will depend on which cryptocurrency you’re sending since each blockchain does have different block times and different network costs.
Once you’ve transferred some coins and Binance has received them you can go right ahead and begin trading any of the nearly 1,000 cryptocurrency pairs offered on the exchange.
Withdrawals
As fast as deposits are, withdrawals are just as fast. In this case you’ll once again visit the “Funds” link in your account, and then go to “Withdrawal”. This is where you’ll be able to choose the coin you are withdrawing, fill in the amount you’d like to withdraw, and then provide the external wallet address that the funds should be delivered to. Click the “Withdrawal” button and then all you need to do is wait for the transaction to be verified on the blockchain to show up in your wallet.
Crypto withdrawals are a speedy process on Binance. To withdraw your crypto holdings, hover over the “Funds” dropdown menu, click the “Deposits” option, for example, and then type in the desired cryptocurrency to receive a Binance wallet address into which they can deposit it.
Binance Fiat-to-Crypto Gateway
Binance fiat-to-crypto gateway currently lets you buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via a bank card using 65 traditional currencies. In many cases you can also sell your cryptocurrencies to withdraw the fiat currency of your choice. Here are the supported fiat currencies:
Buy Only | Buy and Sell |
United States Dollar (USD) | Euro (EUR) |
United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) | British Pound (GBP) |
Bulgarian Lev (BGN) | Australian Dollar (AUD) |
Swiss Franc (CHF) | Chinese Yuan (CNY) |
Czech Koruna (CZK) | Canadian Dollar (CAD) |
Danish Krone (DKK) | Argentine Peso (ARS) |
Croatian Kuna (HRK) | Brazilian Real (BRL) |
Hungarian Forint (HUF) | Colombian Peso (COP) |
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) | Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) |
Israeli New Shekel (ILS) | Indian Rupee (INR) |
Japanese Yen (JPY) | Kenyan Shilling (KES) |
South Korean Won (KRW) | Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT) |
Norwegian Krone (NOK) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
New Zealand Dollar (NZD) | Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) |
Poland Zloty (PLN) | Nigerian Naira (NGN) |
Romanian Lei (RON) | Peruvian Sol (PEN) |
Swedish Kronar (SEK) | Russian Ruble (RUB) |
Thai Baht (THB) | Turkish Lira (TRY) |
Taiwan Dollar (TWD) | Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) |
Azerbaijani Manat (AZN) | Vietnamese Dong (VND) |
Icelandic Kronur (ISK) | South African Rand (ZAR) |
Costa Rican Colon (CRC) | Sovereign Bolivar (VES) |
Dominican Peso (DOP) | Ghanian Cedi (GHS) |
Moldovan Leu (MDL) | Bolivian Boliviano (BOB) |
Namibian Dollar (NAD) | Chilean Peso (CLP) |
Qatar Riyal (QAR) | Egyptian Pound (EGP) |
Uzbekistani Sum (UZS) | Georgian Lari (GEL) |
Lebanese Pound (LBP) | |
Moroccan Dirham (MAD) | |
Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) | |
Philippine Peso (PHP) | |
Pakistan Rupees (PKR) | |
Paraguayan Guarani (PYG) | |
Panamanian Balboa (PAB) | |
Saudi Riyal (SAR) | |
Singapore Dollar (SGD) | |
Uganda Shilling (UGX) | |
Uruguay Peso (UYU) |
With the currencies listed above you can purchase any of the following 31 cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Basic Attention Token (BAT), BitTorrent (BTT), Compound (COMP), Cosmos (ATOM), Chiliz (CHZ), Chainlink (LINK), Coti (COTI), Dash (DASH), Doge (DOGE), EOS (EOS), Fio Protocol (FIO), Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), Litecoin (LTC), Maker (MKR), NANO (NANO), PancakeSwap (CAKE), Polkadot (DOT), Polygon (MATIC), Paxos Standard (PAX), Qtum (QTUM), Stellar Lumens (XLM) Tether (USDT), VeChain (VET), and Zilliqa (ZIL).
The Binance Fiat Gateway was made possible through the growing number of third-party partnerships that Binance is involved in. A few of the partners that have made it possible for Binance to offer the Fiat Gateway include Simplex, Paxos, SEPA, and TrustToken.
Note that payment options differ based on the jurisdiction you are resident in, and because Binance is constantly making new partnerships their offerings change over time. Even if a particular payment provider isn’t supported in your jurisdiction now, it could be in the future.
Customers who wish to trade in the supported fiat currencies will need to carry out the necessary KYC procedures by uploading their government issued ID documents such as passport and driving license.
Wei Zhou, Binance’s CFO released this statement at the launch of the Binance Fiat Gateway in July 2020:
We are pleased to introduce this new fiat gateway through Etana Custody. The integration helps make access to digital assets more effortless for people across the European, Asian, North American and Oceanian markets. At Binance, we are committed to furthering global digital assets adoption by launching multiple fiat-to-digital assets gateways. Binance’s fiat gateways covers over 170 countries and regions in the world and we are continuing to add more to make crypto more available across the globe.
Binance Trading Platform
One of the features of Binance is the simple and intuitive trading platform they’ve created. It is very easy to determine the steps needed for trading, and there is a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and pairs to choose from. Besides simply trading BTC or ETH pairs it is also possible to trade in USDT, BUSD, XRP, and TRX pairs. Plus European traders can access a small variety of EUR, GBP, and TRY pairs on the most popular cryptocurrencies.
The platform makes several trading options available and users can choose which one to use based on how much effort they are putting into the trade.
The most basic trading interface is the “Convert” platform. Here the trader simply chooses the cryptocurrency input and the desired output currency and makes the trade. There are no charts, or order books, or fees.
This is an over-the-counter market. There is a spread between buying and selling prices, but this is pretty tight for most popular pairs that have good trading volume. In addition to the 48 cryptocurrencies available in the Convert platform there are also five fiat currencies to choose from – EUR, GBP, BRL, TRY, and AUD.
The “Classic” trading platform is the original charting and volume display. It gives traders a good deal more information about the activity in the pair they are planning on trading. It also gives full access to all of the cryptocurrencies and trading pairs available on Binance. New traders could be overwhelmed when they first access this platform, but once they use it a few times it becomes easy to see what information is being presented, and how to use the platform most efficiently.
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