Cryptocurrency, shortened as crypto, is any digital or virtual currency. Cryptography is used to ensure transactions are secure.
Cryptocurrencies do not have a regulating or central issuing power; rather, they depend on a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units. As such, it doesn’t rely on banks to do transactions.
What is it used for? It depends on a peer-to-peer system that allows anybody to send and receive payment anywhere. The currency is digitally stored on an online database which records specific transactions.
Each time a transaction is done with cryptocurrency funds, it will be recorded in a public ledger. Each owner of a cryptocurrency has their funds stored in a digital wallet.
Cryptocurrency is so named because of its use of encryption to keep and verify transactions. This is why cryptocurrency can only exist in the digital and virtual space, as it uses encryption methods that only computers can understand.
This advanced coding used to store and transmit crypto data provides security and safety as transactions between wallets, and public ledgers are happening.
The first ever Cryptocurrency was called Bitcoin and was founded in 2009. It remains the best known today. However, it is not the only cryptocurrency that exists. Some others include: DogeCoin, Ethereum, BNB (Binance Coin), Tether, Solana, and Polkadot.
To trade or exchange these currencies, one would need to use the services of a crypto exchange or digital currency exchange (DCE).
A Cryptocurrency Exchange is a business that allows customers trade digital currencies and cryptocurrencies for other assets, such as fiat money or other digital currencies.
The functions of crypto exchanges are very similar to those offered by online brokerage platforms. You can use them to purchase and sell digital currencies or tokens for various cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Exchanges can accept credit card payments, wire transfers, or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies.
Binance is one such dedicated cryptocurrency exchange.
Binance and Overview Huobi Global vs Binance
Beau Troxclair’s YouTube channel 0xBeau has a video review of Binance. For those who like a visual experience, this is the video. You can still read our article for a complete overview of Binance.
When it comes to cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance continues to be one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It has the highest trading volume of any crypto exchange by offering users the most cryptocurrency trading pairs.
Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (“CZ” Zhao). It was initially based in China but was quickly moved out of the country due to crypto restrictions getting stricter and stricter. It has been moved around from Japan and Malta, but it did not have a permanent home.
That said, there has been news about the company signing a memorandum of understanding with Bermuda and Malta, where it could finally find its home base. Huobi Global vs Binance
Binance’s popularity came from a user base that preferred its low fees, many available cryptocurrencies, and innovative products. Currently, the platform offers a multitude of crypto-based products.
You can access services such as exchange, earn and staking, derivatives loans, payments credit cards, NFTs and more from Binance.
Binance has its own unique tokens, cryptocurrencies and coins. One of which is BUSD, a stablecoin, and the other is BNB which is known as a strong performer due to its low fees.
That said, Binance is not without its issues and dark side.
The United States Department of Justice (Internal Revenue Service) investigated the company in 2021 for money laundering and tax crimes.
The Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom ordered that the platform stop all regulated activities in June 2021. However, this ban had a limited scope and non-registered companies can still interact with UK customers.
It was originally set up in the spring of that year to launch a digital asset marketplace in Britain. However, it withdrew its application because it did not meet anti-money laundering requirements.
Also, in the same year, Binance was said to have shared client data, including names and addresses, with the Russian government. This was a Russian government way of helping them combat crime.
Binance Perks
Large Crypto Selection
The company is one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms on the market. Hence, it is no surprise that many cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies are available. Some of them include decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, stable coins, alt coins, and popular cryptos.
Here are some examples:
- Binance Coins (BNB)
- VeChain, (VET).
- Harmony (ONE)
- VeThor (VTHO).
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Matic Network (MATIC).
Binance offers support for popular cryptocurrencies like:
- Dash (DASH)
- Compound (COMP).
- Bitcoin (BTC).
- Ethereum (ETH).
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
Low fees
Trading currencies and tokens are not offered free on any platform. Binance is a trading platform that offers deals that are often as good as free. This is compared to other crypto exchanges that also charge fees and commissions. So far, the highest spot trading fee is 0.1%.
The platform uses a maker/taker fee structure. Fees will vary depending on trading volume or Binance Coin (BNB). balance. As a rule of thumb, the higher the volume of your trade, the lower the fees your trades are subjected to. Huobi Global vs Binance
Users can get discounts on certain services, and this is not all. These include:
- Trades using Binance (BNB), coins
- You can become a Very Important Person (VIP) by trading certain assets.
That said, Binance users are still subject to other fees. Different fees will apply depending on which type of withdrawal you make and what payment method you use. The chart below is an example.
Payment Type | Fees |
|
|
In a later section, we will discuss fees.
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Passive income from crypto assets
Binance lets you earn crypto assets. These come with different levels of risk. You have two options: earning a higher rate of interest (or more) on cryptos through its staking program, or placing assets in flexible savings accounts to get lower but more consistent rates.
The platform offers more staking options. They even pay higher rates than most other exchanges.
You can also earn income by adding liquidity to pairs of tokens, but this is a riskier option. Of course, it is really up to you when taking on these risks. Before you jump into these opportunities, you need to be aware of what is at stake.
Advanced Trading Tools
Binance’s advanced trading tools provide an easy way to customize your trading options. Setting a limit to buying or selling crypto at a specific price is easy. With its “convert” function, it even caters to beginners.
For veteran traders, the charting tools in the advanced trading interface are something to behold. There is also a Bitcoin futures section that can let people speculate on whether the price of Bitcoin will go up or down.
The platform allows you to sell leveraged tokens in connection to earning opportunities with inherent risk. This is an opportunity for customers to multiply their positions in a particular currency. As stated, this is a risky strategy because it can multiply losses and may even cause traders to lose their entire position.
Binance Shortcomings
This is not for newbies
Binance is not for beginners. Binance is complex platform designed for experienced traders. This platform’s goal is to maximize the profits of these traders.
We have already discussed the risks Binance offers its users in order to make passive income from their crypto holdings. The thing is, most of these features will only be useful when you know what those things mean and what you are doing.
The most risky opportunities are where novice traders and beginners lose their money. To understand the hidden and inherent risks that trades can carry, it takes years of experience.
The huge market selection and the in-depth dashboards presented by the platform can also be overwhelming and difficult to navigate, especially if you are just getting started in crypto investing.
Once you get the hang of the platform, you will find it very easy to manage your assets. Binance also has a simple interface that is suitable for beginners. You also have a lot of educational resources.
While Binance is not that beginner friendly, it still has a lot of resources to help those who want to learn. Binance is not the place where you can just buy Bitcoin and then relax. Huobi Global vs Binance
Pay attention to regulatory matters
As we have already mentioned, Binance has faced many problems. It is currently in the crosshairs of several countries, including Japan, Canada, Singapore and Thailand.
The United States authorities are currently investigating the platform in regard to possible money laundering, tax fraud, and insider trading. Binance has not been charged and no criminal charges have been filed. Should anything come out of this, only time will tell.
In response, Binance has taken steps to strengthen its compliance team and keep regulators onside. However, this could prove to be a difficult endeavor as most of the products that make Binance attractive to customers are also the ones attracting regulatory attention.
It is not available in the U.S.
In response to regulations targeting Binance’s business in the United States, they had to build a separate platform for U.S. customers called Binance.US. The U.S. version Binance offers fewer features and less cryptocurrencies.
Binance.US also trades over 120 cryptocurrencies and does not offer futures trading or leveraged token. Also, it lacks availability as it is not available to the whole country. It is not available in Hawaii, New York or Texas.
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How it all Works
We’ve seen the positive and negative aspects of Binance. Now we can talk about how it all works.
As we know, Binance functions as a cryptocurrency exchange. It has a huge range of services. These include:
- Trade, buy, and sell cryptocurrency
- Set up recurring buys
- Earn passive income
- Access advanced features such as crypto derivative products, limits orders, and peer-to-peer trading
- Trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Participate in Binance’s Launchpad and Launchpool to get exposure to new cryptos
- Get portfolio insights and live tracking, as well as alerts
- Its tax reporting tool will help you keep track of all your tax obligations
That said, it still bears repeating that the platform’s broad range of products is what landed them on the crosshairs of many regulatory bodies around the world. Binance warns users about the potential risks of investing on the platform.
The system also features an anti-addiction feature in case traders get too involved with trading. The system warns traders about the risks involved in trading derivatives if they suffer heavy losses or a losing streak. It encourages them to rest and hold back on their trading activities.
The platform believes that responsible traders must be critical and maintain control to avoid compulsive trading and gambling.
These are all just reminders; ultimately, it is up to the retail investors how they manage the risk and how they should keep their money.
Sign up for your Binance account
Creating and registering your very own Binance account is simple and can be done within a few minutes. You are also given the choice of two types of accounts: Verified and unverified accounts.
For Unverified users:
- Register on the Binance homepage
- Enter Email address
- Set up a password
- Accept Binance’s Terms and Conditions of Use
- Click “Create Account”
- Register by email to confirm your registration
For Verified Accounts
- Register now for an unverified Account
- Log in to your account
- Go to User Center and click Identity Verification
- Choose Personal
- Fill in your Details
- Select an ID type to verify document authenticity, such as a Passport and Driver’s licence
- Upload a file or take a picture of the document
- Take a photo of yourself
- Click confirm after you have uploaded the document and image.
- Binance will then review it as soon as possible. Huobi Global vs Binance
From then on, you will have to wait for an email from Binance to ensure that your account has been verified.
Trading Experience
Binance provides a wide range of trading tools, as we have already mentioned. These tools include real-time charting with moving averages or exponential moving averages. Trades can also be made easy and accessible through the Binance mobile app, Binance website or Binance desktop application.
Traders can also use the platform to look at their portfolios and trade history. They can view the order book and price charts. The platform also gives users a selection of order types. They can stop orders, limit orders, stop-limit orders, stop-market orders, and trailing stop orders.
Also, users can choose different trading views to easily comprehend data or view them in a way they prefer. There are many views to choose from, including classic, margin and OTC views.
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Trust Wallet
Binance provides a custodial wallet through its platform. Trust Wallet is also recommended by Binance, which supports thousands upon thousands of cryptocurrencies across all major blockchains. It is easy to withdraw from Binance to a Trust Wallet or other external crypto wallet.
Usually, withdrawals are complete within 10 minutes, and even the costs are minimal. Since you can use Binance via a multitude of platforms such as desktop, mobile, or through a web-based app, users will need to provide some personal information to verify their account to get started.
Fees
Binance is known for its low fees. However, this does not mean that users are free from all charges. Binance users are still subjected to some fees needed for the platform.
Deposit and withdrawal fees
The currency used to pay and the method of payment will determine how much deposit fees are charged. Although bank transfers are usually free, debit card payments will often incur fees.
Depending on your country, Binance might allow credit or debit card payments, bank transfers, and peer-to-peer payments.
As for withdrawing money, you can do so as a fiat currency to a bank account. You can also withdraw crypto to a wallet or another exchange. These withdrawal fees and minimum amounts are determined by your currency and method. Huobi Global vs Binance
Trading Fees
The trading volume and trading history over the last 30 days will determine the percentage of your trading fees. The amount of BNB you hold will also matter.
Maker orders, which add liquidity to the market, will get lower fees than taker or remover orders.
It also encourages users to use their native currency, Binance Coin (BNB). Anybody who does so will receive a 25% discount on their trading fees. Binance offers 0% trading for selected Bitcoin and Binance USD pairs (BUSD).
The chart below shows how VIP status, the 30-day trade volume, and maker/taker are related.
VIP | 30-Day Trade Volume (BUSD) | Maker/Taker |
0 | Below 1,000,000 | 0.10%/0.10% |
1 | 1,000,000 to 4,999,999 and at least 25 BNB | 0.09%/0.10% |
2 | Between 5,000,000 and 19,999,999 with at least 100 BNB | 0.08% / 0.10% |
3 | 20,000,000 to 119,999,999 and at least 250 BNB | 0.07% / 0.10% |
4 | 120,000,000 to 199,999,999 and at least 500 BNB | 0.07% / 0.09% |
5 | 200,000,000 to 499,999,999 and at least 1,000 BNB | 0.06% / 0.08% |
6 | 500,000,000 to 99,999,999999 and at most 1,750 BNB | 0.05% / 0.07% |
7 | Between 1,000,000,000 and 2,499,999.999999 and at most 3,000 BNB | 0.04% / 0.06% |
8 | Between 2,500,000,000 and 4,999,999.999999999 with at least 4,500 BNB | 0.03% / 0.05% |
9 | More than 5,000,000,000 and at least 5,500 BNB | 0.02% / 0.04% |
Security
Since Binance handles multiple sensitive and high stakes data, and it should be expected that the platform has good and robust security measures to protect its assets as well as their client base.
Binance offers two-factor authentication via the Google Authenticator app, or a short message service for customers. It uses address whitelisting, device administration, and the ability restrict device access.
Binance claims that it has its own insurance fund. Binance stores 10% of trading fees in a safe fund. This is meant to cover any losses from hacking, an incident that Binance is familiar with (more on that later).
Although this insurance does not provide the same protection as third-party insurance, it can give some protection.
Lastly, as its main security feature, Binance keeps most of its funds offline in cold storage. This is to avoid any contact with hackers.
That said, customers should still be wary of Binance since its security needs a better track record. The platform was hacked in early 2019 for $40 million in BTC. Another major hack occurred in October 2022. This time, it cost them $570 million in BNB.
However, there is a bright side to this; sometimes, it would be better to have exchanges experience these incidents so they know which part of their security they should focus on and fix. The customer side can at least see how the platform handles them and their customers when these incidents occur.
In Binance’s case, they quickly responded and immediately reimbursed anyone affected by the hack through their Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). This cold storage wallet has enough capital to cover losses.
Customer Service
Binance provides three options for customer support. You can submit a ticket, ask a basic question through chat, and reach out via Twitter.
You simply need to fill out a form on the Binance website for tickets. Submitting a ticket entitles you to receive email assistance.
For support, all you need to do is tag or mention Binance (@BinanceHelpDesk). Because it is more visible, Binance encourages users to tweet about their problems through this channel.
If you need to get in touch with Binance directly, there is a chat box at the bottom right corner. You can access this on the Binance website.
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Binance Pros & Cons
Pros
- Low fees
Low fees are one of the main reasons Binance is a top choice for crypto exchanges. It is a no-brainer. After all, if a platform asks for lower fees, crypto traders and investors get to keep more of their investments and earnings to themselves.
- Ability to earn passive income in many ways.
It is impossible to not desire passive income. It is like getting paid while doing nothing, and Binance has a lot of opportunities for doing so. That said, these opportunities also carry inherent risks in them. These opportunities are not for the weak-hearted. Huobi Global vs Binance
- There are many Cryptocurrencies to choose from: You can purchase everything from Bitcoin to Dogecoin, Etherium and more at Binance. And that number is growing, with newly added cryptos like Fish(FISH) and Fanverse (FT).
BNB is the platform’s crypto. These multiple selections allow crypto traders and investors flexibility in their choices.
- Advanced Trading Tools
A trading platform will only be as good as the tools it provides its users. In the case of Binance, it gives users enough tools for a more flexible trading experience. As such, traders and investors will not have a hard time doing trade on the platform.
- Multiple ways of Depositing Money
If you don’t have any money to invest, trading is impossible. That is why, Binance allows for easier access and start to crypto trading through its multitude of ways to deposit funds
- Flexible trading Options and Order Types
Bear in mind, trading is like a gamble. The assets and stock own may be valuable now, but you will never know when their values will drop. As such excellent trading platforms like Binance should provide users the flexibility to do their trades in a matter, they see fit. Huobi Global vs Binance
Cons
- Platform can seem overwhelming to beginners.
Multiple options and advanced tools can be a bad thing. A multitude of choices can overwhelm beginners and make it difficult to choose from. Binance’s numerous options can even be intimidating to some traders who are more experienced.
- Regulation issues in many countries
Binance has faced several regulatory and legal issues. In fact, this is a glaring issue that has multiple investors considering other exchanges.
Despite this, the platform is working hard to resolve these regulatory issues.
- It is not available in the United States
Binance was temporarily banned in the United States due to problems with US regulatory bodies. That is why the parent company created Binance U.S., a U.S.-exclusive version of the platform.
Binance U.S. has a smaller selection than the original Binance. Furthermore, it is also not available in some U.S. states like New York and Vermont.
- No built-in digital wallet available
Most popular cryptocurrency exchange platforms have their digital wallets built-in and included in. Binance doesn’t have one. Instead, it recommends Trust Wallet, a third-party service. Although it is a well-respected service, they may not be able to offer sufficient support. Huobi Global vs Binance
Binance Last Thoughts
Let me start this final thought by saying that I am a noob when it comes to crypto. My knowledge is based on a few YouTube videos, articles here and there, as well as some Reddit threads.
Binance was the best platform for me because it charges very low fees. I joined cryptocurrency to find out what all the fuss was about. I am not planning to take this seriously (yet).
Creating my account from scratch and verifying it took no time. Within just a few minutes, I could look at the UI and everything the platform offers. Let me tell you…..
So with confidence, I can honestly back the opinion that Binance is not beginner friendly. Binance presented me with a lot of options that were overwhelming and intimidating. I had to get a friend to teach me what all the stuff was all about.
With his assistance, and some tutorials from Binance Support, it was easy to get my bearings and start trading. Although it is still confusing at times, I am slowly getting the hang of trading.
As of right now, I want to bet on the right horse and not the wrong one.
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Binance Frequently Asked Questions Huobi Global vs Binance
Is Binance Safe?
Yes, it is safe, but it does not have a good track record.
Binance does have its own security measures, but it has been hacked twice. The company did beef up its security, but in the end, time will judge if these security measures can survive attacks.
How Would You Decide if Binance is Right for You?
To be honest, it is difficult to pinpoint which platform is right for you until you read their reviews and try the services yourself.
However, for the sake of having an answer, you may deem Binance is a right fit for you if:
- You are not a newbie in crypto trading, and you have intermediate to the advanced crypto trading experience.
- You want a service that charges low fees and carries many currencies.
- You are looking for a service with many advanced features.
- An institutional trader is one with a high net worth.
- You live outside the U.S.
Does Bianance Offer FOREX Trading?
Binance doesn’t offer Forex trading (Foreign Exchange Trading) traditional Forex.
The main reason is that it lacks the amount of currency pairing needed to join the FOREX exchange. To enter FOREX-only exchanges, a company needs access to thousands. It is a far cry from Binance, which only has over 50 currency pairings.
CFD trading is offered by Binance
Unlike FOREX trading, Binance does offer CFD (Contracts for Difference) trading.
These are still controversial in the crypto industry, as many prefer to own native assets. These assets, unlike CFD’s can be easily withdrawn to a personal account. That said, CFDs do have their advantage. For one, they can be very liquid.