Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange which was started in China but recently moved their headquarters to the crypto-friendly Island of Malta in the EU. Binance is popular for its crypto to crypto exchange services. While the company is still fairly new on the market ( it launched last year ), it has managed to gain a lot of popularity thanks to its impressive number of Initial Coin Offering listings, professional attitude and friendly CEO and also due to its low trading fees.
In our review, we will attempt to outline everything that you must know about Binance, including how it works, the crypto pairs that you can exchange, trading fees/limits, security aspects, and customer support.
Pros
- 100+ cryptocurrencies
- Multi-language support
- High liquidity
- Backed by an established team
- Low transaction and withdrawal fees
- Bounty and reward programs
Cons
- Possible Android mobile app bugs
- Delays when withdrawing certain coins
- Unknown future impact of unstable Chinese regulatory climate
- 2FA for Chinese phone numbers only
- Some user data logged
Table of contents:
What is Binance?
Binance is a digital asset exchange service. Basically it’s an online platform that allows people to buy cryptocurrencies using Bitcoin. Learning how to trade on Binance will get you in the cryptocurrency game and give the ability to trade basically any coin on the market. Best of all, unlike some other exchanges, Binance offers a truly staggering number of cryptocurrencies for you to buy and sell so you are very likely to find the coins you are looking for on the Binance platform.
It is a centralized exchange but a reliable one because despite handling the volume it does on a regular basis, there have been no reports of it being hacked or going down.
Binance, being a centralized exchange like Bittrex and Poloniex, adopted a unique way of funding themselves through the ICO, which concluded in July 2017. And with the money raised, Binance has to an extent and continues to solve the pain points of centralized exchanges that they had identified and elucidated in their white paper.
Where is Binance Located?
Binance coin exchange is a Chinese based company, and because of this the website supports multiple languages. Binance exchange has recieved a ton of growth and investment. Binance has recieved over 10 million dollars in investment funding from various Chinese venture capital groups. Binance is, at the time of writing, one of the largest and most legit exchanges based out of China and this is a huge advantage. It seems likely that more and more cryptocurrency investment will continue to be driven from China so trading on a Chinese based exchange has some advantages.
Binance being located in China has its own set of pros and cons, but we’ll get over that in just a minute.
Binance Supported Countries
The Binance exchange is accessible to users all around the world. However, there are certain parts of the world that have a high concentration of their user base:
Binance Coin
Binance Coin is the main coin used to interact with the Binance exchange. Binance Coin was distributed through an ICO in 2017. There will only ever be 200 million BNB, and this number will decrease over time as the Binance exchange buy’s back and destroys the circulating supply.
Binance Coin’s token economics are extremely well thought out. The coin can be used to save big on trading fees, purchase exchange listing, and it’s own trading pairs.
Why Binance is the Best Trade Platform for Cryptocurrency
Truth be told, there are a ton of platforms to trade cryptocurrency on.
Some of the more popular ones are Bittrex, Bitfinex, Kraken, and Poloniex – but there are hundreds of others. Each has their own unique set of pros and cons and many exchanges have now stopped taking on new members due to exploding in popularity.
Binance Exchange is one of the few, well regarded and trusted, exchanges remaining that still takes on new members.
I trade on several exchanges but in the past few weeks, Binance has become my go-to and I am now trading almost exclusively on the Binance platform. This is for a few reasons…
Binance Fees
Here are some of the notable Binance fees you need to know about:
Deposits: Free
Trading: 0.1% trading fee (if you have BNB, you can choose BNB to deduct a 50% trading fee temporarily)
- BNB Withdrawals: 0.1 BNB
- BTC Withdrawals: 0.0005 BTC
- ETH Withdrawals: 0.005 ETH
- LTC Withdrawals: 0.001 LTC
- NEO Withdrawals: Free
- QTUM Withdrawals: 0.1 QTUM
- SNT Withdrawals: 1 SNT
- EOS Withdrawals: 0.1 EOS
- GAS Withdrawals: Free
- BTM Withdrawals: 1 BTM
- BCC/BCH Withdrawals: To be confirmed
Compatible with:
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- HTML5
- PC client
Available Cryptocurrencies
Binance has a vast selection of coins with pairings to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and Tether. Some of the available coins are:
- Ark
- Bitcoin Cash
- Dash
- EOS
- Ethereum Classic
- IOTA
- Litecoin
- Neo
- OmiseGo
- Over 100 more coins
Many investors like Binance because they offer coins like IOTA and Waltonchain that often aren’t listed on many other exchanges.
Transfer Limits
Binance is strictly a cryptocurrency exchange, so you’re not able to fund your account with fiat currency.
You can only deposit cryptocurrency funds, but there’s no limit on the amount that you can deposit. There are also no fees on any of your deposits.
The amount that you can withdraw each day is determined by your verification tier. Without submitting any verification details, you’re placed at Level 1 and can withdraw up to 2 BTC worth of cryptocurrency a day.
To be classified as Level 2, you need to enable either two-factor authentication or Google Authenticator. Following that, you need to provide information for KYC purposes including:
- First name
- Last name
- Address
- Photo ID
With Level 2 verification, your daily withdrawal limit increases to 100 BTC. If you’re looking to withdrawal more than this amount in one day, you need to contact the customer support team.
Pros of Binance
- Great reputation
The most important thing about the best cryptocurrency trading platforms is their reputation. The reviews for Binance are through the roof as it is easy to use and most importantly – SECURE! The team behind Binance has a proven record in both cryptocurrency and finance in general. Personally, I’ve had no problems with Binance thus far and when I did open a support request I found the team to be super fast and helpful at getting back to me.
- Good for newbies and pros
The interface is easy for beginners to use, and advanced enough for pros to really crush it.
- Access to hundreds of cryptocurrencies
The main reason I’ve now started trading almost exclusively on Binance is because of the massive range of coins available. Many exchanges don’t offer more than 20 or so coins, Binance offers hundreds. Binance focuses on hosting newer alt coins before other exchanges so often the cheapest place to buy certain cryptocurrencies anywhere online is on Binance, this can give you a massive edge if you pick up coins that are only listed in a couple of places and those coins then go on to do very well and get listed elsewhere; this will push up the price and you’ll make a killing just for entering early.
- Low fees on transactions and withdrawals
One of the biggest draws to Binance is the super cheap transaction fees. Since Binance are in the startup phase, the fees really are some of the least expensive out there. Binance charge nothing for new deposits of coins onto the platform and just 0.1% on the value of trades. To put this in perspective – if you were to use your Bitcoin to buy $100 of Ethereum, Binance would charge you 10 cents.
- Capable of processing 1.4 million transactions per second
Knowing exactly what this means is unimportant. Just know that Binance is fast, and fast is good. I’ve had some real issues with lag on some trading exchanges, especially Poloniex, and sometimes this lag has cost me serious money on trades. I haven’t had this problem occur on Binance.
- Support is available in many languages
Good if you are bilingual!
- Great reward and affiliate programs
You can then use your own account to invite friends and family and earn a small commission yourself.
Cons of Binance
While Binance is my favourite platform for exchanging cryptocurrency, it’s not without its flaws. My experience has mostly been positive but I’ve noticed a few complaints online….
- Difficulty with Android version of app
I actually haven’t used the app yet, as I conduct most of my business on my laptop.
- Delays with certain coins
I haven’t had any problems but some users on Reddit have expressed frustration at coins taking a long time to turn up in Binance wallets. In my experience though, this is a recurring issue across all exchanges and the coins do always eventually turn up – assuming you haven’t fucked it up!
- Binance does collect and store some user data, such as logging IP addresses
But so does Bittrex and the other major trading platforms.
Binance App Review
Binance has created its own app where users can trade, send and receive cryptocurrency from the comfort of their smartphone.
Recently, the Binance app was added to the app store increasing the number of people who have access to it. Previously, a workaround had to be done to install it on iOS.
The app is completely trustworthy and has never had a security breach yet. The app is really helpful for checking balances and sending transactions on the go. The interface is also really nice, making it easy to navigate and see whats going on in the app.
Download links:
How do I buy bitcoin with Binance?
Binance currently deals only with cryptocurrencies and does not offer fiat/cryptocurrency pairings. To buy bitcoin or another cryptocurrency with US dollars, euros, or another fiat currency, you will need to go elsewhere.
There are a number of exchanges that allow fiat/crypto trades, but Binance has announced that it does not plan to incorporate support for fiat trades.
How do I make a trade on Binance?
You can view the markets on Binance without registering for an account, but to actually make a trade, you will need to sign up and log in.
- Simply select “Register” from the main website and follow the steps to create a new account. You will likely need to verify your email address to activate your account.
- Once your account is confirmed, you can log in to Binance using your email address/userID and password. To prevent phishing attacks, be sure to double-check that the URL is correct and uses the httpss protocol.
- To deposit funds into your account, navigate to the “Funds” tab and choose “Deposits/Withdrawals”. From there you will see a list of supported currencies. Find the currency you wish to deposit (bitcoin is typically near the top) and click the “Deposit” button.
- You will be shown the deposit address for the currency of your choice. You can either copy the alphanumeric code or use the provided QR code. This is the address you will want to send your funds to.
- Whether you’re keeping your funds on another exchange or a third-party wallet, just go there and send the funds to your Binance deposit address, either by pasting in the code or via QR.
- Once you have confirmed the transaction, it will typically take a few minutes to process. You may not see the transfer register immediately in your available Binance balance. When a transaction is in the process of being confirmed, it may appear in the “In Order” tab.
- When the funds appear in your “Available Balance” tab, you can proceed with trading. To make a trade, visit the “Exchange” tab and choose either “Basic” or “Advanced”. For new traders, the “Basic” view may be easier to navigate.
- Choose the trade you want to make from the trading pairs tab. If you have deposited bitcoin to your account, you will have the option to buy many different cryptocurrencies with bitcoin. Binance also supports some trading pairs that use Ethereum as a base currency. If you want to take advantage of the BNB token for reduced fees on Binance transactions, you can buy BNB with either bitcoin or Ethereum.
- Once you’ve selected your desired trading pair, simply enter the desired amount of currency you want to purchase and set the price you’re willing to pay for it. Once you’ve confirmed the details, hit the “Buy” button to complete the transaction.
- When you’ve purchased a new currency on Binance, your funds will show up in that currency’s designated wallet in your account’s “Funds” area. To withdraw funds from Binance, you may need to take further steps towards account verification.
How to use Binance?
If you have read this Binance review all the way through, you should now have a better understanding of what Binance is, what they do, and the advantages and disadvantages of using their exchange. We are now going to show you how to use Binance! First, I’ll explain how you can open a new account!
How to Open an Account at Binance
- Visit the Binance homepage and then click on.
- You will need to enter your email address and choose a strong password. Don’t forget it!
- Finally, you need to confirm your email address. You now have a Binance account!
- When you log in for the first time, a notification will ask you if you want to set up two-factor authentication. Remember how we explained earlier that this protects your account?
So, enter your mobile number and complete the set up.
How to Deposit Funds at Binance
Our Binance review explained earlier that the exchange does not allow customers to deposit using popular payment methods, such as a debit or credit card. This means that you will need to deposit with a cryptocurrency. The easiest way to do this is with Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), as there are other exchanges that allow you to buy them easily with fiat money.
- Move your mouse over Funds and then click on Deposits.
- Click on the Select Deposits Coin and type in If you want to deposit using a different cryptocurrency, simply enter its code. For example, if you wanted to deposit with Ethereum, you would enter ETH.
- You will now be shown your unique deposit address.
Important: Each cryptocurrency has a different deposit address! For example, if you try to send Ethereum (ETH) to your Bitcoin (BTC) address, you could risk losing your Ethereum! - You now need to copy the deposit address. The easiest way to do this is to click on Copy Address.
- Now you need to go to your cryptocurrency wallet and transfer the number of Bitcoins you want to send to your Binance account. It is very important that you send the coins to the correct Binance deposit address. Make sure you double check the address after copy and pasting it.
- Once you send the coins, your Binance account should receive them within 10 minutes. To check that they have arrived, move you mouse over Funds and click on Balances.
- Once your deposit has been confirmed by Binance, your Total and Available balances will be updated.
- Congratulations, you have now funded your Binance exchange account! I will now show you how to make your first trade!
How to Trade on Binance
Now that I have shown you how to add crypto to your Binance account, I will now show you how to make your first trade. There are over 100 different cryptocurrencies to choose from, but in this example, I will show you how to buy Litecoin (LTC). Don’t worry, if you want to buy a different coin, the steps are the same, just replace Litecoin with the cryptocurrency you want to buy!
- Move your mouse over Exchange and then click on Basic.
- So, this stage can be a little frightening for beginners… but don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Just follow the steps…
- On the right of the page, look for the Favorites Here you will need to select the cryptocurrency that you deposited in to your Binance account. In our example, we have selected Bitcoin (BTC). If you deposited Ether, then click ETH.
- Now you need to enter the currency code for the cryptocurrency you want to buy. As I am demonstrating how to buy Litecoin (LTC), I will enter LTC.
- Once you click on the currency pairing (LTC/BTC for our example), you will be taken to the trading screen.
- Those scary graphs will now display the market information of your chosen pairing. Scroll down and look for the Green Buy Make sure you click on Market.
Why Market and not Limit? Selecting Market will allow you to buy your cryptocurreny for the current market price. This will offer you the best price that’s currently available.If you select Limit, this will allow you to enter the exact price you would like to buy at. This is the best option for more experienced, short-term investors. - To complete your trade, you need to enter the amount of coins you want to buy. You have two options:
Option 1: Enter the specific amount of coins you want to buy. In our example, we want to buy 10 Litecoin (LTC), so we have entered that in to the below box.Option 2: You can choose a percentage of your Binance balance. For example, if you deposited 0.05 Bitcoin (BTC) in to your account, and you want to exchange all of this in to Litecoin (LTC), you can just select 100%. - Finally, to complete your trade, click on the green BUY LTC As you selected Market, your order should complete within a few seconds!
- If you want to make sure that your trade was successful, you can go back to the Funds > Balances section.
- Congratulations, you just did your first crypto-for-crypto exchange!
How to Withdraw from Binance
At this stage of our Binance review, you will now know how deposit funds into Binance and buy your first coin! But, what if you want to withdraw your funds? Well, let’s show you how to do that too!
- At the top of the page, move your mouse over Funds and click on Withdrawals.
- If you have not set up two-factor authentication, Binance will not let you proceed until you do.
- Click on “Select Withdrawal Coin” and enter the cryptocurrency you would like to withdraw. Remember, you need to enter the currency code, like BTC or ETH.
- Now, enter the wallet address that you want to send your coins to.
- Finally, enter the amount of coins you want to withdraw, and click on the orange Submit
- Binance withdrawals are normally quick and usually take no longer than 30 minutes to reach your destination wallet. However, if the network is busy, it could take longer.
Company Trust
Binance has grown into one of the most trusted exchanges in the industry. The company raised around $15 million in an ICO in July 2017 and immediately acquired 20,000 registered users as part of the raise. Since then, the platform has grown to house over nine million users and is expecting to bring in close to a billion dollars of profit in 2018.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, has an impressive resume with years of experience in cryptocurrency. He was the Head of Development at Blockchain, Co-founder and CTO of OKCoin, and the Founder and CEO of BijieTech before working on Binance.
Fund Security
Although the exact details of how Binance keeps funds secure is missing from the website, the company has proven time and again that your coins are in good hands.
In early 2018, the platform came under a phishing and API attack in which thieves began exchanging users’ coins for Viacoin (VIA) without their consent. As the price of Viacoin rose due to the increased demand, the attackers sold their VIA supply to make a substantial profit. As soon as the Binance team realized the malicious behavior, they disabled withdrawals and froze the affected funds. After some investigating they were able to identify the malicious parties, obtain the stolen coins, and revert the funds back to the appropriate people.
Customer Support
Binance has improved their customer support area significantly in the last year. It includes a list of FAQs covering everything from depositing coins to preventing phishing attacks as well as a space for important announcements.
Both the exchange and the support site are available in numerous languages including English, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese
If you can’t find what you’re looking for online, you can submit a support ticket through an online form and get a response via email.
Binance supports the following languages:
- English
- Chinese
- 한국어 (Korean)
- русский (Portuguese)
- Español
- Français
- Deutsch
- Vietnamese
Binance Security Review
Binance is one of the most secure exchanges in the world. There have only been two minor security incidents that were handled extremely well by Binance.
In the first incident,
A fake website imitated Binance and managed to collect users logins. After collecting logins and waiting for over a month, the hackers logged into Binance sold the currency of the compromised accounts into VIA and attempted to move the VIA off the exchange.
Binance’s automated security system detected this, stopped outgoing transactions and caused the hackers to lose everything.
Well played Binance.
In the second incident, two accounts fully verified accounts login were compromised. Because the hacked account was fully verified, it has no withdrawal limit allowing the hacker to move stolen funds off the exchange.
It is not recommended to leave lots of cryptocurrency on exchanges.
Binance allows users to set up two-factor authentication to add additional layers of security to their account.
After both of the incidents, Binance announced the implementation of SAFU, the Secure Asset Fund for Users. This funds takes 10% of all Binance trading fees and sets them aside in the event any users funds are lost. Binance also offers reduced ot zero fee trading when events like this happen, proving their dedication to their users.
Binance is not FDIC ensured as it is not based in the USA.
Conclusion: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Bitcoin and Altcoins
Keeping all these facts in mind and my experience, I can confidently say that no exchange even comes close to Binance in terms of security, volume, and community initiatives.
Also, as I said, their mobile apps are an absolute delight to use.
Even during the crypto mad rush in December 2017 when exchanges like Bittrex and Bitfinex closed their doors, Binance was the last exchange that stopped taking new registrations.
I’d say, to conclude, if you have not use Binance yet, you should start right away.
Binance Ratings
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Binance Decentralized?
Binance is not currently decentralized. However, they have announced Binance Chain a public decentralized exchange that will support nearly every single cryptocurrency.
Binance Chain will focus on performance, ease-of-use, and liquidity. Binance Coin (BNB) will be updated to exist on its own blockchain mainnet, ultimately being a native coin.
Binance plans to transition from being a company to a community.
Does Binance Work with ERC20 Tokens?
Yes, many of the coins traded on Binance are ERC20 tokens. Binance fully supports deposits and withdrawals for all of these tokens.
Is Binance FDIC Insured?
No, Binance is not FDIC insured. They are not based in the USA.
Is Binance Hacked or Going to Close?
There were rumors Binance was hacked in March 2018. However, they actually were not hacked.
What happened was a 3rd party app was requesting API keys from users to make trades for the users. The 3rd party app then abused this privelege by market buying a Viacoin and pumping the price.
Binance ended up reversing all the trades and paying its users back, so not a single user lost any money in this incident.
How to Get the Binance iOS App
The Binance iOS app may be the biggest reason for Binance’s explosion to becoming the #1 cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
The iOS app has a great interface and is very easy to use and install.
Check out Binance’s site for info on how to download and set it up.
How to Get the Binance Android App
The Binance app is available for free download in the Google Play Store.
Is Binance Moving to Malta?
Yes, Binance is moving to Malta. The Prime Minister of Malta posted on Twitter to welcome Binance:
Welcome to #Malta ?? @binance. We aim to be the global trailblazers in the regulation of blockchain-based businesses and the jurisdiction of quality and choice for world class fintech companies -JM @SilvioSchembri httpss://t.co/3qtAQjOpuQ
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) 23 марта 2018 г.
Is Binance Open To New Registrations?
Binance has briefly paused new user registrations in January 2018, but now they are 100% open again.
Is Binance Publicly Traded?
No, Binance is a privately held company. It has received millions in funding from investors but is not publicly traded on any exchange. A public offering for Binance would likely receive lots of attention considering the exchange is pulling in billions in profits.
Is Binance Regulated by the SEC?
Binance is not registered in the USA so it is not registered with the SEC. The NY Attorney General recently sent an inquiry to Binance and ten other cryptocurrency exchanges. This, however, does not mean Binance did anything wrong but simply means the NY General would like more info on the practices that Binance uses for its customers.
Is Binance Taxable?
Tax law depends on your residency, although it’s very likely that using Binance will cause you to owe cryptocurrency taxes. It is best to consult a tax professional to better understand how using Binaince for cryptocurrency trading may affect your tax liability.
Is Binance Wallet a Smart Contract?
No, right now Binance is not a wallet and does not run with smart contracts. You should not treat Binance like a wallet but instead store your coins in a wallet you control like the Ledger Nano S.
Can You Use a Credit Card on Binance?
No, you cannot buy any coins on Binance using a credit card. You can only fund your account using cryptocurrency.
The best option is to buy bitcoins, litecoin or ether with your credit card and then deposit into Binance. Once you have bitcoin, litecoin or ether on Binance you can easily convert it into any of the other smaller coins.
Are there Binance Accounts for Sale?
No, Binance does not allow users to sell their Binance accounts.