This Binance review will provide you with an in-depth overview of the platform, its features, fees, and how to open and use an account. Additionally, we’ll reflect on what are the positive and negative sides of the exchange. Also, we’ll explain why it is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
Read also:
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- Coinrule review (crypto trading bot)
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- Uphold review (buy crypto, stocks, metals)
- CoinGate review (accept & buy crypto)
- Mercuryo Review (crypto payments & wallet)
- VirgoCX review (buy crypto in Canada)
About Binance
Binance is currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. It was founded by Changpeng Zhao (known by his initials CZ) in China in 2017. Since then, the platform has established itself as one of the most reliable players in the crypto space.
In September 2019, it launched a separate dedicated platform for its US customers, registered with FinCEN, and fully compliant with the US’s regulatory framework.
Notably, Binance is also considered as one of a handful of cryptocurrency exchanges that do not fake volume or engage in wash trading activities. The company continuously seeks to ensure transparency in its operations.
Over time, the exchange has proven itself reliable and responsible to its customers and has lived up to set standards and regulations, cementing its reputation in legitimizing cryptocurrencies as an asset class.
Overall, Binance keeps up to date by covering all significant industry advances and upgrades, having established itself as the most widely used gateway to markets of digital cryptocurrencies.
Binance’s reputation in the industry
What makes Binance particularly attractive is its extensive list of supported crypto-assets and their trading pairs, including the industry’s hallmarks like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as smaller and micro-cap tokens. Each token must fulfill Binance’s standards and criteria just to be considered for listing (and can also be de-listed for violating the terms).
In 2019 Binance exchange experienced a sophisticated cyberattack (it was hacked). Thieves stole $40 million in Bitcoins at the time, but thanks to Binance’s SAFU fund, all losses were covered by the exchange, and Binance reimbursed traders immediately. This act significantly strengthened Binance’s reputation in the cryptocurrency industry.
What is Binance’s SAFU fund? SAFU, the Secure Asset Fund for Users, is an emergency insurance fund. On the 3rd of July, 2018, Binance announced the Secure Asset Fund for Users intending to protect the investors’ funds on the exchange. Thus, Binance allocates 10% of all trading fees received into SAFU to protect users and their funds in extreme cases. All SAFU funds are stored in a separate cold wallet.
Binance’s native token BNB (Binance Coin)
Another aspect of Binance that makes it appealing is its competitive trading fees (a flat rate of 0.1%), further reduced by holding the platform’s native token, Binance Coin (BNB). The token had been issued and distributed in an ICO with the launch of the exchange (as an Ethereum ERC-20 token, the ICO itself raising ~$15 million at the time). To know more about the fees on the platform, check our Binance fees guide.
Binance offers an incentive to pay transaction fees in BNB by offering a 5% discount. The token is not just limited to that, though, as you can also use it to invest in ICOs which participate in Binance’s Launchpad program, for example.
Tip: Whenever it comes to using a crypto exchange or any asset exchange for that matter, there’s going to be some little balance left behind after trades. However, Binance has a solution to this problem. It offers a convenient option to swap your tiny balances and convert them into BNB. Here’s a guide on How to Convert Small Balance to BNB. Alternatively, watch the video below.
Watch the video: How to Convert Small Balance to BNB on Binance
How to open Binance account?
- Create account. Head over to the Binance main web page (for the US citizens here) and register with an e-mail address and a password. Remember to use common sense when choosing a password. Make sure it’s long enough and alphanumeric, including both upper and lower case letters and numbers. It is also advisable to set up two-factor authentication (2-FA) as an additional security measure, such as installing Google Authenticator on your phone for that purpose. This makes it so that each time you log in or perform any operation (requesting withdrawal of funds; read our How to Withdraw from Binance guide for more details), you will need to enter a unique number sent to you on your phone to confirm it is you.
- Confirm your personal details. Undergoing a simple Binance Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process is also required. This includes providing a full name, home address, country of residence, and date of birth. After that, you will be redirected to a third-party verification and KYC services provider (NetVerify) and be required to upload a copy of a government-issued ID (which can be an ID card, a passport, or a driver’s license). Naturally, know-your-client and anti-money-laundering procedures are crucial for obtaining regulatory approval to operate as a legitimate and trustworthy exchange in most jurisdictions worldwide. Check our in-depth step-by-step Binance Know-Your-Customer (KYC) guide for more details.
- Add funds. Fiat deposits via bank accounts [On March 7, 2022, Binance and Paysafe announced the complete reopening of EUR and GBP deposits and withdrawals through the SEPA payment network (SEPA) and Faster Payment Services (FPS), respectively, for both desktop and mobile] and/or credit/debit cards are supported in a select number of countries. Otherwise, you can also first purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum elsewhere (most commonly Coinbase) and deposit them to your Binance wallet address for that particular asset. Once having made a deposit (usually confirmed in no more than 20 minutes), you can start trading.
- Start trading and investing. Go to the ‘Exchange’ button at the top of the screen and choose between the ‘Basic’ or ‘Advanced’ trading platform interface. If you are just starting and don’t have any previous experience trading, the first option gives a quick view of the market trading pairs and it is recommended before jumping to the more advanced one.
Adding funds to your Binance account
Not until too long ago, Binance had been primarily a crypto-to-crypto exchange with no fiat on and off-ramps, meaning that you had to buy cryptocurrency Bitcoin or Ether elsewhere and then deposit it to Binance.
Over the past few years, however, limited support for bank accounts and credit/debit card deposits have been added through third-party payment processors and service provider partner companies (like Simplex in the EU or BAM for their US operations).
You can now purchase cryptocurrencies on Binance with over 60 fiat currencies and via multiple payment methods. For example, you can buy crypto with standard processing fees using a VISA or Mastercard credit card. Alternatively, Binance provides crypto purchases via bank transfer, fiat deposit, and e-wallet.
Some of the most common fees users might incur when using a credit card to buy crypto include transaction fees (up to 2%), cash advance fees, and foreign transaction fees.
Watch the video: How to buy Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies with a credit or debit card on Binance
Trading interfaces
Once you have added funds to your Binance account, you are ready to trade. Binance offers a traditional trading interface as well as Binance Convert, a beginner-friendly tool to purchase and sell crypto with just a few clicks.
Binance Convert
If you are not uncomfortable using the traditional interface, we recommend choosing Binance Convert, a means of instantly converting your crypto or fiat assets anytime with a live price based on current market conditions.
Binance Convert also powers the Convert function of the Binance app and is the primary option for buying crypto on the app’s Binance Lite mode.
Recommended video: How to use the Binance Convert & OTC Portal
Classic vs Advanced interface
The Binance trading views offer two options to set up your trading experience. Both – the Classic and Advanced – provide the same basic functionality, but the advanced UI offers a few more features. Both are also customizable, meaning you can create an exchange view that fits your preferences.
The Classic interface (previously named basic) is more straightforward and understandable for beginners who prefer a no-frills interface. However, the dashboard still gives you all the needed options to perform a buy/sell trade. It has a simple order book on the left with ‘Buy’ and ‘Sell’ buttons where one specifies the number of tokens to buy/sell or puts a price for which to buy/sell as many tokens.
The Advanced interface functions more or less identically to the classic but comes with more sophisticated charting tools and advanced order types.
Types of orders
When trading stocks or cryptocurrencies, you interact with the market by placing orders. There are two primary types: limit orders and market orders. However, these are solely qualities used to describe a variety of commands.
Watch the video: How to make the most commonly used “limit order” on Binance
What is a “limit order”? A limit order is an order with a specific “limit price,” which means that Bincance will only execute it once the market price reaches the price you set or better. Limit orders can be used to trade at lower or higher than the current market price, presuming the market reaches the price you have set. However – if you do not want to wait until the asset’s price reaches a specific level and wish that your “limit order” will be filled – you can always use a “market order” to fill your position instantly with the best current market price.
Conditional orders are only executed in the market if specific criteria are met. However, non-conditional orders, such as market orders, do not have the same restrictions.
Take full advantage of market conditions; whether in short-term or long-term setups, you might want to exercise different types of orders. Let’s look at some of the conditional orders in your arsenal on the Binance trading platform:
- Stop-limit: A way of limiting the losses you may incur trading, allowing you to set a stop and limit prices;
- One cancels the other (OCO): A tool that lets you combine two conditional orders. Once one is triggered, the other is canceled;
- Good ’til canceled (GTC): An instruction stipulating that a trade should be kept open until it’s either executed or manually canceled (typically the default on cryptocurrency platforms);
- Immediate or cancel (IOC): This order type stipulates that any part of the order that isn’t immediately filled must be canceled;
- Fill or kill (FOK): These orders are filled immediately, or they’re killed (canceled).
Watch the video: How to execute all types of trades (Limit, Market, Stop-Limit, OCO, Cross Margin, Isolated Margin) on Binance
Storing your crypto
On Binance, there is access to more than 600 trading pairs, and when a trade completes, it becomes visible in your Binance account balance. Therefore, it is generally advisable to keep funds on the exchange only when and if actively trading.
Remember, with Binance your assets are held at a custodian wallet (web wallet), i.e., your crypto is held in trust by the exchange. So while the Binance exchange is useful for buying, selling, and trading cryptoassets, your assets should not be held there long-term with no intentions to trade.
Instead, you are better off transferring your funds to an external wallet (non-costodial wallet) – ideally, for more significant amounts, a cold storage one. If you use a non-custodial wallet, you alone have complete control over your assets.
Note: Check our guide for our recommendations for the best crypto wallet.
API trading at Binance
In addition, Binance offers an API that allows you to connect your account to any programmed trading bot or application and have them trade on your behalf in automating strategies by automatically responding to signals and events (taking advantage of arbitrage opportunities across exchanges, etc.).
Please note: From August 2021, only users who have completed intermediate verification can create new API keys. Any existing API keys will be deactivated for accounts that have only completed basic verification.
Crypto trading bots that support Binance API
If you want to automate your cryptocurrency trades – we recommend trying a recognized crypto trading bot Coinrule, a modern and simple to use Binance-compatible crypto trading bot that is easy to use. To find out more about the best crypto trading bots on the market read our in-depth review by clicking the button below.
Spot trading
A spot trade is a straightforward transaction between market participants (buyers and sellers) to trade at the current market rate, i.e., the spot price for immediate delivery.
Users can prepare spot trades to trigger in advance when a specific spot price is reached, known as a limit order. You can make spot trades on Binance through their trading page interface.
Margin trading and Futures
As you become a more experienced trader, you may wish to explore the different options available to increase your trading performance. For example, you might consider leverage trading, which allows investors to trade with borrowed money to amplify trading results. Margin trading is a common leverage strategy utilized by experienced traders looking to increase their purchasing power rather than be restricted by their personal capital.
Binance Margin lets users borrow funds to engage in margin trading to increase their position size. You’ll need a Margin account to be granted access to funds from the Binance Exchange for use in leveraged trades. Experienced traders looking to increase their buying power can use the Margin trading feature to amplify potential returns on long or short positions. Customers use the BNB token as collateral against funds borrowed at a margin rate of 3:1. Binance offers up to 125x leverage.
Risk Warning: Margin trading carries a substantial risk and the possibility of both significant profits and losses. Past gains are not indicative of future returns. All of your margin balance may be liquidated in the event of extreme price movement. The information here should not be regarded as financial or investment advice from Binance. All trading strategies are used at your discretion and at your own risk. Binance will not be liable to you for any loss that might arise from your use of Margin.
Binance also offers trading futures contracts, requiring the user to open a Futures account, ensuring they fully understand the risks involved with derivative products. It is important to note that on July 26, 2021, Binance announced that it delists AUD, EUR, and GBP cross and isolated margin pairs.
Crypto futures are contracts that express the value of a specific cryptocurrency (underlying asset). You do not own the underlying cryptocurrency when you buy a futures contract. Instead, you own a contract by which you have agreed to purchase or sell a specific cryptocurrency at a predefined date. By going long, you purchase a futures contract with the expectation that it will rise in value in the future. Conversely, going short is selling a futures contract to bet on prices to decline in the future.
On the Binance Futures platform, you can go long or short with leverage to hedge against risk or seek profits in volatile markets. Both long and short leveraged positions are available on Bitcoin and Ethereum as the underlying and as paired with Tether USD (USDT) – both the required collateral and the products themselves use Tether USD price (a stablecoin pegged to the value of the US dollar as a useful fixed-value instrument in these markets).
In addition, Binance offers a variety of crypto derivative instruments. Altogether, Binance Futures gives access to four product lines:
- USDⓈ-Margined Futures Contracts: Supports perpetual and delivery contracts settled in USDT or BUSD;
- Coin-Margined Futures Contracts: Supports perpetual and delivery contracts and is settled in cryptocurrency;
- Binance Leveraged Tokens: Allows users to gain increased exposure to a particular crypto asset without worrying about liquidation risk;
- Binance Options: Simplifies options trading for retail users. With built-in leverage, users can maximize gains while minimizing risk of loss.
Binance offers the following features on its futures products:
- Cross collateral: allows users to collateralize their crypto assets to borrow against another crypto asset;
- Leaderboard: a fusion of social networking and cryptocurrency trading that lets users view and follow the positions of the leading traders on the platform;
- Battle: a gamification of cryptocurrency trading by pitting traders against each other to see who is the most profitable over a certain period.
Note: New users with registered Binance Futures accounts of less than 30 days are prohibited from opening positions with leverage exceeding 20x. Leverage limits will also concern existing clients with registered futures accounts of less than 30 days. Leverage limits for new users will gradually increase only after 60 days from registration.
Related video: Explained: What Are Binance Margin & Futures Contracts?
On June 3rd, 2021, Binance launched the ‘Cooling-off Period’ option on Binance Futures, so traders can use it to temporarily disable Futures trading to prevent compulsive trading and practice self-discipline.
Differences between crypto spot and futures trading
1. Leverage: Leverage makes futures trading especially capital-efficient, allowing users to, for example, open a 1 BTC futures position at a fraction of its actual market value. Spot trading, however, doesn’t provide leverage.
2. Available long and short positions: Holding cryptocurrencies in the spot market means benefitting from capital appreciation as the value of your asset grows over time. On the other hand, futures contracts let you profit from short-term price movements in either direction. Moreover, they can be used to hedge against unexpected risks and extreme price volatility.
3. Liquidity: With trillions of dollars in monthly volume, the crypto futures markets provide deep liquidity.
4. Futures vs. spot prices: Buyers and sellers determine cryptocurrency prices through supply and demand. The spot price is the prevailing price for all the transactions in the spot market. The futures price, however, is based on the current spot price plus the futures premium, which can be either positive or negative. A positive premium shows that the futures price is higher than the spot price. In contrast, a negative premium implies that the futures price is lower than the spot price.
Cryptocurrency staking (earn passive income)
Binance exchange also provides cryptocurrency staking services that run on a proof-of-stake consensus (such as Algorand, Tezos, Cardano, Polkadot, and Ethereum 2.0). By staking a specific cryptocurrency – you can earn passive income without any hassle.
To make things easier for you, we have even prepared a simple step-by-step guide on how to stake Ethereum 2.0 on Binance. Please note that the staking procedure is similar for all digital assets.
Cryptocurrency staking is the process of locking up a portion of your assets to qualify to earn staking rewards (interest), participate in the governance, and verify the transactions within a specific decentralized network. In some ways, this is similar to how a traditional company works. Shareholders have stakes within a company, which gives them the right to vote in the management and directorship of a company. Staking rewards can vary from 5% to 30% APR depending on which coin the user is staking. Learn more: How to stake cryptocurrencies?
Binance’s decentralized exchange (DEX)
Binance also runs a decentralized type exchange (DEX) which follows a different operational logic from the centralized counterparts. DEXes are non-custodial (users have direct control over their funds and trade directly from their wallet) and run and execute trades directly on the blockchain.
As such, they are considered more secure, much less vulnerable, and susceptible to manipulation but not as consistent in terms of transaction fees and speed of execution (due to the underlying architecture on which they run). At present, the tradable assets and pairs available tend to be limited to the ecosystem of the chain the exchange runs on and the limitations of cross-chain interoperability.
In the case of Binance’s DEX, it was launched in March of 2019 on its own dedicated Binance chain, using BNB as its native platform currency, which it migrated from its Ethereum ERC-20 token standard to a BEP-2 format on the Binance chain.
As mentioned already, there are significant structural and technical differences between centralized and decentralized exchanges. There are still hybrid constructions that centralize the order book and matching engine but keep the execution of trades and transactions on-chain, making them close to the speed and efficiency of centralized ones while maintaining the security guarantees of decentralization.
Binance NFT Marketplace
There are many applications for the revolutionary blockchain technology, which has only been around for a little over a decade, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of these use cases.
Non-fungible tokens may be used for a number of purposes, including representing content such as photographs, music, and movies, as well as representing in-game items or the ownership rights to virtual real estate. Notably, the number of NFT applications increases as the blockchain community discovers and develops more and more of them.
The Binance NFT marketplace is simple to use as it integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Binance ecosystem. In addition, it saves users the time and effort of having to open and manage several accounts for all of their cryptocurrency-related requirements.
Several features make the Binance NFT marketplace a highly recommended NFT platform. These include the ability for users to create NFTs inside their accounts and the support for Ethereum NFTs, among others.
A further consideration is that, since Binance is such a vast ecosystem, NFTs issued on the platform may have more use inside the network than NFTs minted outside of the ecosystem and later transferred to Binance.
Note: To discover more about NFTs and get a better understanding of how to mint, purchase, and sell them on the platform, including a step-by-step process; please read our in-depth Binance NFT Marketplace guide.
Customer support and communication
Binance provides various options for customer support:
- Ticket requests via the account portal;
- In-account live chat found on the bottom right corner of the support screen that can be accessed on the Binance website;
- Contacting Binance on social platforms like Twitter, Telegram group channels, and Reddit (may often provide the quickest responses).
Any important announcements are usually broadcast on the official Binance Twitter account (there is also a separate helpdesk for customer service inquiries at @BinanceHelpdesk).
Additionally, @BinanceResearch provides current institutional-grade analyses and more in-depth insights for more sophisticated traders and investors.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Binance has been busy drastically expanding its customer support (CS) team to ensure the highest service quality. According to the CEO, the platform’s CS team has recently grown 5-fold.
Educational resources
Binance offers a collection of quality, easy-to-understand content for cryptocurrency users and enthusiasts worldwide.
Users can explore Binance Academy, a one-stop guide to all things crypto, providing educational materials, tutorials, and how-to guides. So whether you’re a newbie trying to understand mining or a seasoned trader looking to delve deeper into technical analysis, Binance Academy will have you covered.
In addition, you can find the latest news, updates, and announcements on the Binance official Medium.
Finally, in March 2022, Binance realsed its new education initiative: Binance Learn and Earn, a way to encourage learning through earning crypto rewards. Through Learn and Earn, users are eligible to earn a predetermined amount of crypto after completing educational tasks, including reading articles, watching short videos, and passing quizzes.
Binance Pros & Cons
Pros
- Established industry presence;
- Great reputation;
- Safe & secure;
- Many trading options (spot, margin, P2P, stock token, and more);
- It has its own exchange token (BNB), which gives you many exclusive rights such as launchpad investing eligibility, lower trading fees, the ability to convert low [other] crypto balances into BNB, and more;
- Wide range of crypto assets and pairs;
- Many useful features;
- Ways to earn passive income;
- Numerous payment options are available;
- Active social channels;
- Great customer support.
Cons
- Perhaps not ideal for complete beginners;
- Lacking phone customer support.
Conclusion
All in all, with Binance, the pros far outweigh the cons. Its diverse offerings, low fees, and state-of-the-art trading platform ensure that the Binance exchange remains the ultimate choice for most cryptocurrency traders.
It also never stops developing and expanding its provision of services, adding to the arsenal of technical possibilities and configurations as well as keeping up with the latest industry developments and trends. It’s no wonder, then, that Binance leads the pack regarding daily trading volume, keeping its standing as the most widely used crypto exchange worldwide.
ℹ️ Not sure how to start cryptocurrency trading? Read our in-depth “Crypto Trading for Beginners” guide and make informed decisions. Good luck!
FAQs about Binance exchange
What is Binance?
Binance is a large ecosystem that comprises many segments. Its Binance exchange is the biggest crypto exchange by volume and ranks among the most recognized globally. Trust Wallet is the official wallet of Binance where users can send, receive, and store their digital assets in a secure and decentralized manner. Other segments of the ecosystem include Binance Chain, Binance Academy, Launchpad, Binance Labs, Binance Research, and Binance Charity.
Is Binance exchange a good fit for beginners?
Binance exchange is a good fit for complete beginners. The platform is user-friendly. The sign-up and registration process is straightforward enabling beginners to sign up and deposit funds quickly and easily. Moreover, it has up-to-date information and academic centers where users can refer to whenever they encounter challenges while using their platform. It also has many useful features and great 24/7 customer support.
Can US citizens trade on Binance?
Americans can trade on Binance since the crypto exchange launched its Binance.US arm. Launched on September 23, 2019, Binance.US enables American users to deposit Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Binance Coin, Litecoin, USDT, USD into the exchange. Almost all of the features available on the global platform are available on the US version. However, they are customized to ideally serve the US market.
Is Binance exchange safe and secure?
Binance exchange claims high standards of safety and security. It is designed in a multi-tier and multi-clustered architecture that offers high processing throughput with the ability to process almost 1.4 million orders per second. Also, when users log in for the first time, a pop-up appears urging them to enable the 2FA (two-factor authentication) that helps in increasing account security.
