The Ultimate Binance Review (For 2021)

Interested in Binance, but not sure what it’s all about or where to even begin? Our Binance review guide will teach you everything you need to know about Binance, its core advantages, and available services.

Binance is the leading cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume. It offers crypto-to-crypto trading in more than 500 cryptocurrencies and virtual tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and its own token Binance Coin (BNB).

Binance’s core features include:

• Proactive community
• Buying bitcoins and altcoins with over 40 fiat currencies
• Private Binance chain
• Binance coin (BNB)
• Derivatives trading
• Nonfungible token marketplace

While it can handle large volumes of trades without experiencing a major slowdown in transaction times, the Binance platform has experienced unexpected maintenance issues and security vulnerabilities. Nonetheless, Binance remains one of the most successful crypto exchanges on the market.

General Information

• Web address: www.binance.com
• Headquarters: the Cayman Islands, Seychelles
• Average Daily Volume (as of Sep 9, 2021): $2 billion
• Mobile app available: Yes
• Decentralized: No
• Parent company: Binance Holding
• Transfer types: Credit card, Debit Card,  Bank Transfer, Crypto Transfer
• Fiat compatible: Yes
• Compatible Pairs: 563
• Native token: Binance Coin BNB

Key Features

Binance is a leading cryptocurrency exchange with innovative features led by Changpeng Zhao.

The key features of Binance include:

• Trade 500+ cryptocurrencies on Binance. Binance is one of the top altcoin exchanges with a wide selection of tradable assets.
• Binance Fiat Gateway. Binance enables you to instantly buy Bitcoins and 15 top cryptocurrencies with fiat currency using credit cards, bank account, and other payment methods. Additionally, you can sell them for some of the supported national currencies.
• Low trading fees. Binance offers some of the lowest trading fees.
• Multiplatform support. Users can access Binance through its web platform, desktop clients for macOS and Windows, mobile applications for Android (including Android APK), and iOS. Also, one can make use of the Binance API.
• Binance Futures. Users can trade crypto derivatives with leveraged positions—(up to 20x leverage on futures and 10x on margin trading)—for maximum returns.
• 24-hour customer service. Binance has a dedicated help center, where you can contact the support team for actual beginners’ guides and explanations of all kinds of exchange features.
• Binance Launchpad. All Binance customers can participate in its Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs). Binance IEOs are among the most profitable in the industry.
• Binance Finance. Binance also supports staking, crypto loans, and other means of earning passive income from your crypto assets.  
• Nonfungible Token (NFT). Binance’s NFT marketplace and trading platform is the premier destination for NFTs and digital collectibles across mediums, from visual arts and gaming to music and sports.
• Binance Smart Chain (BSC). This dual-chain architecture empowers its users to build their decentralized apps and digital assets on one blockchain and take advantage of the fast trading to exchange on the other.

In short, Binance is one of the most innovative cryptocurrency exchanges on the market and an excellent trading option for both beginners and experienced traders wanting advanced trading options. Binance developers and members of the global community continually work to improve the ecosystem and popularize cryptocurrencies globally.

Binance Review: Background

Launched in 2017 in China, Binance was designed to provide a simple, intuitive, fast, and robust cryptocurrency trading interface.

Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao and Yi He, who had previously worked at OKCoin exchange. Zhao has also been a member of the Blockchain.com wallet team since 2013.

Binance cryptocurrency exchange has also conducted one of the most successful ICO (initial coin offering) projects in history. Between July 1-20, 2017, the exchange raised $ 15,000,000 equivalent of cryptocurrency from investors. In turn, the investors received 100,000,000 of Binance Coin (BNB) tokens issued on the Ethereum blockchain (now migrated to Binance’s native Binance Chain). The initial ICO price for a BNB was $0.115 per coin.

Binance became the largest exchange in terms of global trading volume in just six months. It currently remains near the top due to its ease of use and ability to handle a large number of transactions. Additionally, Binance focuses on its global expansion—with the accessibility of the platform in multiple languages, including English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean, etc.

Although Binance was founded in China, it moved its headquarters to Japan before the Chinese government ban on crypto trading in 2017. In 2018, Binance established centers in Taiwan. Later that year, it moved to Malta. However, in 2020, Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) clarified that Binance was not officially registered or regulated there.

While Malta remains the de facto headquarters for Binance, the company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and Seychelles. The company also has teams in London, California, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Singapore, Istanbul, Kampala, New Delhi, Ho Chi Minh, Manila, Jersey, and other places in Asia. In total, its team operates from more than 40 countries.

Currently, the exchange has more than 15 million users and settles more than $ 2 billion on an average trading day.

In addition, it has developed a set of related products, including:

• Binance Jersey. A European fiat-to-crypto exchange that facilitates the exchange of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Binance Coin (BNB), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for Euro (EUR) and British Pound (GBP).
•  Binance US and other regional versions of the Binance Exchange. Regulated versions of Binance exchange dedicated to specific markets with different regulatory climates.
•  Binance DEX. Binance’s decentralized exchange, based on the Binance Chain.
•  Binance JEX. Binance cryptocurrency futures and options trading platform.
•  Binance Futures. Binance’s crypto derivatives platform, allowing you to trade futures with up to 125x leverage.
•  Binance Launchpad. Binance’s crypto crowdfunding platform for launching top-tier Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs). Binance’s launch pad was among the first-of-its-kind of funding platforms in the crypto sector.
•  Binance P2P trading. A peer-to-peer trading platform.
•  Binance Crypto Loans. A feature that allows one to take out crypto loans secured by their crypto assets.
•  Binance OTC. OTC trading table for whales and other high-volume traders.
•  Binance Savings. Ability to employ crypto assets by lending them out to earn interest. Users can withdraw their funds flexibly.
•  Binance Staking. Binance staking feature allowing you to stake certain cryptocurrencies and reap up to 16% annual yield. Supported cryptocurrencies include Ark, ARPA, EOS, TROY, Lisk, LOOM, Tezos, KAVA, THETA, and more.
•  Binance Fiat Gateway. A fiat gateway allowing you to buy cryptocurrencies using your national currency (currently supports almost 40 fiat currencies).
•  Binance Chain and Binance Coin (BNB). Community-driven blockchain ecosystem with its native token (BNB) and decentralized exchange (DEX).
•  Binance USD (BUSD) and Binance GBP stablecoin. Binance’s regulated stablecoins, released in partnership with Paxos Trust Company.
•  Binance Academy. An open-access learning center for blockchain and crypto educational resources.
•  Binance Charity. A non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting blockchain philanthropy and sustainable global development.
•  Binance information. An open-source crypto encyclopedia.
•  Binance Labs. Binance infrastructure impact fund and initiative to empower blockchain projects.
•  Binance Research. Institutional-level research platform conducting analytics for crypto investors.
•  Trust Wallet. A decentralized and secure wallet backed by Binance.
•  Binance Cloud. Cryptocurrency exchange business solutions for cryptocurrency companies.
•  Binance Visa Card. A crypto payment card, used as a payment option for everyday purchases like a regular bank card.

In 2019 and 2020, Binance went on an acquisition streak. First, the firm acquired India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX. Then, it took over DappReview,  a Chinese Dapp analytics platform, and CoinMarketCap, the leading crypto market data aggregator platform.

Binance has aspiring goals of transforming itself into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), enabling fiat-to-crypto trading for over 180 fiat currencies, open-source Binance Chain, and its native Binance Coin (BNB).

Binance Trading Fees

Depositing funds is free with Binance. Once you have your account set up and your bank account linked, you can also withdraw funds in fiat currency.

Binance takes a 0.1% cut from every trade on its trading platform, making it one of the cheapest online cryptocurrency exchanges. As such, 0.1% applies to both the spot trading fee and margin trading.

For instance, Coinbase Pro charges 0.5% for any trade, while Bittrex charges 0.2%. Other popular altcoin exchanges, including KuCoin and HitBTC, charge similar rates. For example, KuCoin matches Binance’s trading fee of 0.1% per trade. Meanwhile, HitBTC charges 0.1% for market makers and 0.2% per trade to receive orders. Exchanges like Poloniex or Kraken are also more expensive as they have a 0.15% -0.16% manufacturer fee and a 0.25% -0.26% buyer fee.

Users can get significant discounts on trading fees if they use Binance Coin (BNB)—of up to 25%. They can also receive similar bonuses via referrals.

Low trading fees also apply to Binance Futures. At the most basic level (VIP 0), you will pay a 0.02% maker fee and 0.04% taker fee.

Another key factor to consider when evaluating Binance fees is the futures funding rate and margin position daily interest rate. They tend to change as per market conditions and, as a result, there are no flat fees. Users should check them regularly on Binance’s website.

Binance charges deposit and withdrawal fees. The exchange strives to offer excellent value for money, although the fees vary from one cryptocurrency to another. Here is a small sample of the fees for some of the more popular currencies:

Binance does not offer fiat-to-crypto trading pairs. Nonetheless, the exchange facilitates fiat-to-crypto purchases using third-party integrations and service providers. With Binance Fiat Gateway, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies with more than 40 national currencies.

The fees vary as per the payment method and floating exchange rates, determined by Koinal, Simplex, TrustToken, Paxos, BANXA, SEPA, iDEAL, and others.

Typically, fiat gateway fees range from 1% to 7%, depending on your chosen payment method and processor. As a result, bank card transactions happen to cost more than other payment options.

Overall, Binance charges some of the lowest fees in the industry. In addition, its wide and ever-growing suite of services is available at lower prices, making it one of the most convenient trading options out there.

Security

Security at Binance is generally strong, although the exchange has experienced a significant hack in May 2019.

In detail, Binance lost more than 7,000 BTC due to a series of compromised user accounts and used its #SAFU (Safe Asset Fund for Users) fund) for user compensations. Later, the exchange introduced the Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) authentication method, which enhanced its exchange monitoring capabilities.

Additionally, Binance encourages users to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) using Google Authenticator or SMS authentication. Also, traders have the option of whitelisting addresses and setting up an anti-phishing code. It also has extensive security FAQs in its support section, where it advises its users on how to protect their Binance account from phishing attacks and personal security breaches. Finally, one gets to confirm every withdrawal from Binance by email. All USD balances are insured up to $250,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and held in custodial bank accounts. 

In 2020, Binance integrated state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) risk control solutions that use facial recognition, big data analytics, and cyber forensic investigations. In doing so, Binance aims to monitor financial transactions and their origins to identify suspicious and irregular activities.

As a result, Binance has lately proven that it can respond to major threats promptly and protect customers’ funds.

For instance, in March 2018, criminals managed to use phishing to hack into the accounts of numerous users whose funds were inexplicably sold to buy the Viacoin (VIA) cryptocurrency. However, Binance systematically identified and reversed all irregular trades, meaning that the hackers were the only people who lost money.

In July 2018, Binance started a Safe Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and allocated 10% of all trading fee revenue. In doing so, the exchange will cover users’ losses in the case of a successful hack. However, later in 2019, the exchange also suffered a KYC data leak.

A report published by CryptoCompare in 2019 called Binance “a solid grade A exchange.” It also ranked Binance among the top 20 exchanges based on security, with an above-average score of 11.5 out of 20 possible points.

All in all, Binance is a secure exchange, but security is not its hallmark, and there is room for improvements.

Futures, Margin, and Options Trading

Binance offers several different options for leverage trading. Its spot trading exchange has another feature for margin trading certain cryptocurrencies with up to 3x leverage. Meanwhile, Binance has launched an integrated Binance Futures platform, which allows you to trade options with up to 20x leverage.

But what is the key difference between these modes of trading? Read on for an explanation below:

• Binance or its users lend you the additional funds needed for opening a 1:3 leveraged position in margin trading. In doing so, the platform charges you a customary 0.1% trading fee in addition to an ever-changing daily interest fee.
• Binance Futures allows leverage of 1:20. Here you don’t buy cryptocurrencies directly, but only a contract version of the asset. Unlike traditional futures, Binance Futures does not come with an expiration date. As a result, the trading is very similar to trading pairs on the spot market. In addition to the trading fee, traders also pay a periodic funding fee.
• Binance Options. An option is another type of perpetual contract. Binance Options is an American-style options contract, giving traders the option to execute the contract any time before the expiration date, which ranges from 10 minutes to 1 day.

Financial Planning with Binance

Binance has also built a suite of financial services accessible to all registered and verified users.

These include:

• Binance Savings. Binance Savings is a product that allows you to earn cryptocurrency by staking short (flex) or long-term (locked) assets. Staking assets gives you a little over 1% annual yield, while locking in your assets for a while can get you up to 15% annually.
• Binance Staking. Staking is another alternative way to earn money while holding and is currently used by numerous protocols. At the moment, Binance allows you to stake nine cryptocurrencies, and the estimated annual yield ranges from 1% to 16%. 
• Binance Debit Card. Binance introduced its Binance Card, which is set up to allow you to make crypto purchases worldwide, just like a regular bank card.
• Binance Crypto Loans. Crypto loans feature from the Binance exchange allows you to borrow USDT or BUSD stablecoins for a specified period by using crypto collateral.

Binance’s range of financial products is set to grow in the future. However, it remains to be seen what other innovative services the exchange is going to introduce to the global crypto community.

Binance Launchpad

Binance users can also access Binance Launchpad, the best IEO (initial exchange offering) launchpads out there. Since 2017, Binance has started mediating between IEO buyers and sellers and has launched many successful IEO projects, including Polygon (MATIC) and BitTorrent (BTT). IEO participants must have at least some BNB (Binance Coin) but also have some luck in the lottery, which determines in what order participants get a chance to purchase the new coins. Before Buying BNB, go and learn how to buy Binance coin (BNB).

Binance Launchpad’s average return on investment (ROI) is the highest out of all other exchanges, so it might be worth checking it out.

Binance NFT

On June 24, Binance officially launched Binance NFT Marketplace, the ultimate destination for NFT and digital collectibles, ensuring a world-class lineup from regional creators to influential names and brands, exclusive ‘premium events’ auctions, and NFT mystery boxes. 

In doing so, Binance enabled access to rare and unique NFTs accessible for everyone from beginners to seasoned collectors. It also ensured low transaction fees and fast processing times for launching NFT collections.

Customer Support

Binance has a comprehensive support center with an extensive base of frequently asked questions regarding customer support. Apart from that, you can also send a request to the Binance support team or ask for the community’s help in official Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter groups.

Nonetheless, Binance does not offer phone line support for customers to call with their inquiries. This can make the exchange slightly less responsive than other exchanges, and while its online support system is usually quick, it can get a bit bogged down during peak demand periods.

Binance Applications

Binance trading is accessible through multiple devices. The most common option is the Binance web platform, where you can enjoy all the above benefits and services.

Alternatively, you can download the Binance mobile app for Android or iOS. The mobile apps allow users to access most of the web platform’s features, including the fiat gateway, Binance Options, Binance Futures, spot trading, margin trading, P2P trading, and more.

Binance is also one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges with a desktop trading app for macOS and Windows. Both applications offer better performance but have fewer built-in features than the web platform.

To sum up, Binance is an easy-to-use exchange with a wide range of easy-to-access features for both new and experienced traders. Additionally, Binance international trading community gets to participate in various contests and competitions with valuable rewards.

Regulatory Hurdles

As pressure grew from regulators worldwide, Binance started winding down its futures and derivatives business across Europe, including Germany, the UK, and Brazil, with plans to take similar steps later this year in Australia.

Binance has made these drastic moves to appease regulators, alerting that the crypto company has been operating in their jurisdictions without obtaining a license. Moreover, some also accuse Binance of openly facilitating money laundering via crypto transactions.

Binance in August said it would demand stricter background checks on customers to bolster efforts against money laundering.

Binance Review: Conclusion

Our review has demonstrated that Binance is focused on experimenting and advancing cryptocurrency services. It offers fiat-to-crypto market pairs and the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin and another 180 altcoins for fiat. Additionally, you’ll enjoy some of the lowest trading fees possible when using Binance.

Binance offers futures, options, and margin trading for the most risk-tolerant users. In addition, there are savings and participation programs for the most risk-averse traders.

Binance has also announced that they will take drastic steps to better meet financial regulations, including strengthening their compliance and legal teams, banning or scaling back products, and demanding stricter background checks.

Overall, Binance offers an excellent set of services for all types of cryptocurrency users.