Binance

Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that provides access to hundreds of leading and emerging tokens, including Bitcoin. The platform offers an array of crypto services, from spot and derivatives trading to P2P lending, staking and liquidity farming. Our 2024 review of Binance covers login security, trading fees, mobile apps, and more. Find out how to get started today.

What Is Binance?

Company Details

Binance is a decentralized exchange (DEX) where clients can buy, sell, and manage crypto assets. The company is continuously evolving its suite of services, recently adding an NFT marketplace and crypto savings accounts. A raft of other crypto-related features are also available, with more details on individual services provided below.

The brand has been part of a number of investigations from regulatory authorities. And whilst Binance is not regulated by any reputable financial bodies, Binance does comply with requirements laid out by top-tier agencies, such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Yet despite this, authorities in multiple countries, including Japan and Hong Kong, have warned against using the digital currency exchange.

Binance has had a particularly eventful relationship with US regulators and was even banned from offering crypto trading to retail clients. Fortunately, the company has since opened Binance.US, which is subject to oversight from the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Yet even the US-regulated entity is not available to clients in all states. For example, customers from Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, New York, Texas and Vermont cannot open accounts.

History

Binance was founded in 2017 by owner and software developer, Changpeng Zhao. Despite its short history, the firm has become one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with $76 billion in daily trading volume. Millions of accounts have been opened in all major trading jurisdictions.

The company headquarters are at an address in the Cayman Islands, though Binance has opened offices in other locations too, including in the Seychelles. The digital exchange plans to continue expanding its range of crypto tokens in 2024, alongside refining its mobile applications.

Trading On Binance

Swing traders can speculate on the price of popular and emerging coins through a variety of investment vehicles:

• Convert & OTC Desk: This is the most basic trading method available. Convert allows investors to exchange one coin for another, with prices based on live exchange rates. The Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading desk facilitates the purchase and sale of large quantities of tokens in single transactions.
• Classic & Advanced: The Classic platform has been stripped back to provide key trading information and reduced technical details, making it suitable for beginners. The Advanced solution contains detailed market data, including charts and historical data that covers the 3-month price history of each coin.
• Margin: The margin platform offers leveraged crypto trading. The rates available vary between futures and other products. The isolated margin solution also features an analysis tab where customers can use calculators to work out the 7-day annual percentage yield (APY) and estimated, unrealized, cumulative, daily, and per coin profit and loss (P&L). Note, if this view is missing from the dashboard or not showing, contact the customer support team.
• P2P: Binance runs a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace with a secure escrow service. This solution is fee-free and allows traders to buy or sell coins in local currencies at agreed prices. The escrow system holds the asset and payment until both sides finalise the deal.
• Order Book Information: The crypto exchange offers trading through a variety of instant and pending order types. These include limit orders, stop-limit orders, market orders, stop-market orders and trailing stop orders. Investors can also check their transaction and order history using the Orders tab.

Coins

Customers can trade over 150 tokens, offering plenty of opportunities for aspiring swing traders. Spot trading and leveraged trading are both available, alongside futures markets on the Binance JEX system. Futures products include USDT-margined (USD-M) perpetual futures plus USD Coin-margined (Coin-M) perpetual and quarterly futures.

Established coins and emerging crypto assets are available, with notable tokens including:

• Binance Coin (BNB)
• Theta Fuel (TFUEL)
• DigitalBits (XDB)
• Shiba Inu (SHIB)
• SafeMoon (SFM)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Jasmy (JASMY)
• Hedera (HBar)
• E-yuan (DCEP)
• 1inch (1INCH)
• Kadena (KDA)
• Tether (USDT)
• Lumens (XLM)
• Monero (XMR)
• VeChain (VET)
• Coin98 (C98)
• Quant (QNT)
• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ripple (XRP)
• dForce (DF)
• Zilliqa (ZIL)
• ZCash (ZEC)

Investors can search through the cryptos offered using the Zones group. While browsing, traders can view price predictions, typical gas fees, staking opportunities, upcoming airdrops and withdrawal currencies (USD, GBP, EUR etc.).

Binance Platforms

Binance provides a desktop trading platform that is available to download from the broker’s website. The terminal is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux.

The free trading software comes with a modern interface and promises straightforward navigation. Investors can conduct technical analysis using a range of charts and drawing tools. One-click trading is also available alongside a range of instant and pending order types. The platform will meet the needs of both beginner and experienced swing traders.

Mobile App

The crypto brokerage provides a free mobile application, fitted with both Binance Lite and Pro, which you can download to iOS and Android devices. The mobile download can be initiated via a QR code which can be scanned from the company website. Contact customer support if the QR code is not working.

Note, Binance.US has its own desktop and mobile applications.

Leverage

Flexible leverage is available to Binance customers. Rates up to 10x (1:10) are offered, though users can opt for lower margin, such as 1x, 3x, 5x and so on. For futures traders, leverage up to 100x is available, though this is limited to 20x within 60 days of account opening.

If you choose to trade with 75x leverage, you can essentially put down $10 and trade with $750. But whilst this can increase winnings, it can also magnify losses, so suitable risk management alerts and tools should be utilised.

Trading Fees

Binance investing fees start at 0.1%. Charges can be reduced depending on your 30-day trading volume (24-hour volume does not factor into this) plus your BNB balance, which determines your VIP level. Additionally, clients are offered a discount when they pay using Binance Coin. USDT-margined futures fees start from 0.04%. Overall, Binance is in line with competitors.

Customers can also earn rewards through the referral program. When a friend signs up using your referral code in the UK or elsewhere, bonus credit will be applied to your account.

Payments

Deposits

Investors can deposit and withdraw using a range of fiat currencies and crypto coins. These include US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Great British Pound (GBP), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP). There are zero fees for fiat and crypto deposits and there are no transfer limits.

In the US, the UK and other key trading hubs, deposits can be made by bank transfer, debit and credit cards (Visa, Monzo, etc.), PayPal, Revolut, GCash and e-wallets. Credit and debit card deposits incur a 1.8% charge.

Customers can use the Faster Payments Bank Transfer service to buy crypto directly with local fiat currency, such as USD. This service is fee-free, though withdrawals are subject to a $1.50 charge. The typical processing time is just a few minutes.

Withdrawals

There are no withdrawal fees for most fiat currencies, including USD, EUR and GBP. There are also no minimum payment limits. Customers can make withdrawals to major global bank accounts, including Barclays, NatWest and Nationwide, as well as other online payment methods.

Crypto withdrawals come with a 0.0005 BTC fee. The 24-hour withdrawal limit for accounts that have completed basic verification is 0.06 BTC. If accounts have completed all KYC identity verification requirements, the limit increases to 100 BTC. There are no 12-hour withdrawal limits. Visit the Binance Q&A portal for a rundown on how to withdraw profits.

If the Binance withdrawal system is down or suspended, your deposit bank card has failed, or your issuing bank is not compatible, contact the US/UK customer service Zendesk.

Finance Services

Binance offers a range of extra finance features:

• Earn: The solution operates in a similar way to a standard savings account and includes Flexible Savings and Dual Savings. Flexible Savings allows customers to earn interest on deposited funds, while Dual Savings allows clients to generate returns if the value of funds increases.
• Launchpad: The launchpad is where new spark tokens are announced and initiated. Launches typically operate in a similar way to IPOs and can be a great source of information on emerging tokens. Binance also regularly releases news announcements with details of the latest launches.
• Visa Card: The debit card is available in a growing list of countries. The Visa card lets users complete transactions at participating merchants using crypto funds.
• Pool: This is the mining section of Binance. Customers can team up to complete Proof of Work and Proof of Stake mining tasks and in the process earn rewards.
• Swap: Traders can contribute or swap tokens and fiat currencies to feed into the exchange’s liquidity pool. Rewards are added directly to customer accounts.

P2P Transfers

Trading Tools

A selection of useful trading tools are also available:

• API: Investors can use APIs to automatically trade futures and other instruments. APIs can be set up and managed in languages like Python, Java and C and can help maximise revenue. Clients can also download and use trading bots created by companies like 3Commas and GitHub, or use signals provided by Killers.
• Academy: The Binance academy provides a range of educational resources that teach traders about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. There are also training materials on YouTube that can help with the learning process.
• Staking: Users can stake crypto coins to earn rewards. Coins can be staked over a range of time periods, from 10 days up to 90 days.
• Indicators: The trading platform offers a variety of technical indicators to support market research and data analysis. Popular indicators include KDJ, KDA and MACD.

Binance Coin

Binance Coin (BNB) is the native token of the digital currency exchange. The coin has a market capitalisation of over $1 billion, making it one of the largest tokens around. The exchange also offers Binance USD (BUSD), a coin pegged to the US Dollar. When you make payments on the crypto platform with BUSD, fees are waived.

Binance Chain

Binance Chain is the underlying blockchain software used on the platform. Customers can interact with the software using the Explorer function. The Smart Chain network works in parallel and allows smart contracts to be created.

It’s also possible to connect MetaMask to the Binance Smart Chain. Binance customers can choose between the Trust Wallet or Binance Chain Wallet.

Security

Traders can enable two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging in to the desktop platform or mobile app. The security feature uses Google Authenticator, though it is possible to use a Yubikey instead.

If 2FA is not working, or you need to reset it with a backup code, contact customer support.

Advantages

Benefits of trading cryptocurrencies with Binance include:

• Around the clock customer support via live chat
• Multiple deposit and withdrawal options
• New token listings frequently added
• Crypto savings, staking and loaning
• Extensive list of popular tokens
• DeFi blogs & training materials
• Apps for iPhone and Android
• Spot and derivatives products
• Kickback promos & gift cards
• Competitive funding rates
• 24/7 crypto trading hours
• Free mobile notifications
• Historical market data
• Binance Visa card
• NFT marketplace
• Yield farming
• Python APIs

Disadvantages

Our review found several drawbacks to creating an account with Binance:

• No business account
• 3D secure not offered
• No trader insurance
• No paper trading account
• MetaTrader 4 not available
• No telephone support number
• History of accounts being hacked
• Regulation issues and complaints

Binance Verdict

Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The broker offers a wide range of crypto assets and derivatives products that are suitable for swing trading. Investing fees are also low and there are multiple additional ways to earn money, including staking and savings accounts. Overall, Binance is one of the best crypto trading platforms.

FAQ