What Is Binance?
If you're unfamiliar with the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and has grown to over 175 million users. Binance is significantly larger than its competition. For example, their trading volume is higher than many other crypto exchanges combined.
Binance has 420+ cryptocurrencies listed, zero-fee Bitcoin trading, and the highest trading volume in the world, among many other services. Overall, people enjoy the platform because of its competitive fees and wide selection of crypto assets.
Key Benefits & Features
Other Notable Features
Binance's KYC Requirements
While you used to be able to trade anonymously on Binance, today, KYC is required to open an account. All users must verify their identity by uploading a government-issued ID. Today, Binance is supported in over 100 countries but the USA and Canada are prohibited from using the platform. Sign up requirements include:
- Email address
- Name, address, date of birth
- Government-issued ID (eg. drivers license or passport)
- Facial recognition (selfie)
Trading Fees
Binance has a 0.10% spot trading fee with discounts available with increased trading volume. Crypto futures have a 0.02% maker fee and 0.04% taker fee. Whether looking at spot or futures trading, Binance has competitive fees compared to the industry average.
Deposit & Withdrawals
Binance supports at least 8 fiat currencies with trading pairs and many more for instant purchases. If Binance doesn't support your local currency, many people still use it to deposit crypto in order to access its wide selection of trading features
Fiat Trading Pairs | (8) AUD, EUR, GBP, RUB, BRL, TRY, UAH, NGN |
Credit/Debit Card | Yes (~1.80%-2.00% fees) |
P2P Exchange | Yes |
Is Binance Safe?
Binance has been operating since 2017 and has a good track record of protecting user funds. They hold the majority of assets in cold storage and have a proof of reserves that show customer funds are backed 1:1. Plus an insurance fund called SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) which holds over $1 billion of assets.
Binance was also given a 91.43/100 security score from Certik and a 9/10 trust score from CoinGecko. On an account level, you'll also find many features such as 2-factor authentication, address whitelisting, and anti-phishing measures.
One concern could be Binance's $40 million hack back in 2019. However, Binance didn't just sit back. They actually paid back everyone that was affected. Another potential concern could be their $4B lawsuit with the SEC. However, Binance has been battle-tested many times with multi-billion dollar withdrawals and passed flawlessly. Overall, Binance has proven to be a reliable platform and one of the safest crypto exchanges in the world.
Is Binance Worth It?
I think there's a reason Binance has the most trading volume in the world. It offers competitive trading fees, a wide selection of cryptocurrencies, and advanced trading tools like 300+ crypto futures with up to 100x leverage.
If it's available in your region, Binance is one of the best crypto exchanges in the world with the most trading volume and total number of features. If you want to find the best platform for you, other giant platforms you can compare it with include OKX, KuCoin and Bybit.
Downsides would be that Binance is overwhelming for beginners and has limited fiat currencies. It also requires KYC and it didn't used to before. If Binance is restricted in your region, you can try these non KYC crypto exchanges or see the best DEXs.
Pros & Cons
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BYDFi is one of the top no KYC, no VPN exchanges where anyone can sign up and trade.
