Cryptocurrency, shortened as crypto, is any digital or virtual currency. To ensure that transactions are secure, cryptocurrency uses cryptography as a means of security.
Cryptocurrencies do not have a regulating or central issuing power; rather, they depend on a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units. It doesn’t depend on banks to conduct transactions.
So what does it use? It relies on a peer to peer system that allows anyone to send and receive money from anywhere. The currency is digitally stored on an online database which records specific transactions.
Every transaction made with cryptocurrency funds will be recorded in the public ledger. Every owner of cryptocurrency keeps their funds in a digital wallet.
Cryptocurrency’s name is derived from its use of encryption to verify and keep transactions. Cryptocurrency can only exist digitally and virtually because it uses encryption methods only computers can understand.
This advanced coding is used to store and transmit cryptocurrency data. It provides security and safety while transactions between wallets and public ledgers take place.
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. Other cryptocurrency options include DogeCoin and Ethereum, BNB (Binance Coin), Tether and Solana.
Meanwhile, to have these currencies exchanged or traded, one would need the services of a cryptocurrency exchange or a 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.
Crypto exchanges have functions that are similar to online brokerage platforms. They provide you with the tools to buy and sell digital currencies and tokens for different kinds of cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Exchanges can accept credit card payments, wire transfers, or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies.
One such dedicated cryptocurrency exchange is Binance.
Binance and Overview Why Is Binance US Down
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Beau Troxclair on his YouTube channel 0xBeau. To get a comprehensive overview of Binance, you may still want to check out our article below.
Binance is still the best cryptocurrency exchange in the world when it comes to cryptocurrency trading. Binance has the largest trading volume of any cryptocurrency exchange and offers users the most trading pairs in cryptocurrency.
Binance got its start in 2017 through Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Although it was originally based in China, it was quickly relocated to the United States due to increasing crypto restrictions. Since then, it has moved from Japan and Malta but did not have a permanent place to call home.
However, news has come out that the company signed a memorandum with Bermuda and Malta to finally establish its home base. Why Is Binance US Down
Binance’s popularity was due to its user base who liked the low fees, availability of cryptocurrencies and innovative products. Currently, the platform offers a multitude of crypto-based products.
From Binance, you can avail of such services as exchange, earn, staking, derivatives, loans, payments, credit cards, NFTs, and more.
Binance also has its set of unique tokens and cryptocurrencies. One of which is BUSD, a stablecoin, and the other is BNB which is known as a strong performer due to its low fees.
However, Binance has its problems and dark sides.
In 2021, the company was investigated by the United States Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service on allegations of money laundering and tax offenses.
In the same year, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority ordered the platform to stop all regulated activity in the country in June 2021. That said, the scope of this ban was limited, and that non-registered firms can still interact with UK consumers.
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.
In the same year, Binance was also reported to have shared client information, including addresses and names, with the Russian government. The Russian government justified this as a way to help them fight crime.
Binance Perks
Large Selection of Cryptos
The company is one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms on the market. It is not surprising that there are many cryptocurrencies and digital currencies available. You can get decentralized finance tokens (DeFi), stable coins, alt currencies, and other popular cryptos.
Here are some examples:
- Binance Coins (BNB)
- VeChain, (VET).
- Harmony (ONE)
- VeThor (VTHO)
- Dogecoin (DOGE).
- Matic Network (MATIC).
For those who want them, Binance also offers and support for the more popular cryptocurrencies such as:
- Dash (DASH)
- Compound (COMP).
- Bitcoin (BTC).
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC).
- Cardano (ADA)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
Low Fees
No platform offers trading currencies and tokens for free. 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. The highest spot trading fee so far 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. Why Is Binance US Down
Users can get discounts on certain services, and this is not all. Such as:
- Using Binance (BNB) coins in trades
- You can become a Very Important Person (VIP) by trading certain assets.
However, Binance users still have to pay additional fees. There will be different fees depending on the type of withdrawal and payment type. As a sample, you refer to the chart below
Type of payment | Fees |
|
|
We can discuss more about fees in a later section.
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Passive Income on Crypto Assets
Binance allows you to earn from your 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.
For riskier opportunities, you can try to earn income by adding liquidity on pairs of tokens. 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 features make it easy to tailor your trading options. Setting a limit to buying or selling crypto at a specific price is easy. It even accommodates beginner users with its “convert” function.
The advanced trading interface has a lot of charting options that are a delight for veteran traders. A Bitcoin futures section allows people to speculate on the price of Bitcoin.
You can sell leveraged tokens to earn income opportunities that have 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.
The Binance Shortcomings
This is not for newbies
Binance is definitely not for beginners. It is a complicated platform created with experienced and veteran traders in mind. 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. It takes years of experience and honed gut feeling to understand the inherent and hidden risks some trades carry with them.
It can be difficult to navigate the vast market selection and in-depth dashboards offered by the platform, especially for those just starting out 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. Why Is Binance US Down
Pay attention to regulatory matters
As covered in the overview, one of Binance’s main drawbacks is that it has been in the crosshairs of some countries. Major countries that have it in for Binance include Japan, the United Kingdom, 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. This could be difficult as many of the products that Binance customers love are also those that attract 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’s unavailable in Hawaii, New York, Texas, or Vermont.
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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:
- Buy, Sell, or trade cryptocurrency
- Set up recurring buys
- Earn passive income
- Advanced features like crypto derivative products, limits orders and peer-to-peer trading are available.
- Trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- To get exposure to new cryptos, you can join Binance’s Launchpad or Launchpool
- Get portfolio insights and live tracking, as well as alerts
- Keep track of your tax obligations with its tax reporting tool
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.
It also has an anti-addiction setting just in case users become 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
It takes just minutes to create and register your Binance account. There are two types of accounts available: unverified and verified.
For unverified users
- Click the register button on the Binance homepage
- Enter Email address
- Create a password
- Accept Binance’s Terms of Use
- Click “Create an Account”
- Register by email to confirm your registration
For Verified Accounts
- Register now for an unverified Account
- Login to your account
- Click Identity Verification in the User Center
- Select 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
- After uploading the required document and photo, click confirm.
- Binance will then review your submission as soon as they can. Why Is Binance US Down
To verify your account, you will need to wait for Binance to send an email.
Trading Experience
Binance provides a wide range of trading tools, as we have already mentioned. Some of these tools include their real-time charting tools with moving averages and exponential moving averages. Trading is also convenient and accessible, as users can place trades through the Binance app, Binance website, or Binance desktop app.
The platform allows traders to view their trade history and portfolios. The platform allows them to view their order book and price charts. You can also choose from a variety of order types. You can place stop orders, limit orders and stop-limit orders.
Users can also choose from different trading views to better understand data and view it in the way that they prefer. Views range from classic to margin and OTC views.
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Trust your wallet
Binance offers a custodial wallet on its platform. It also recommends Trust Wallet, which supports thousands of cryptocurrencies on most major blockchains. It is easy to withdraw from Binance to a Trust Wallet or other external crypto wallet.
Withdrawals are usually completed in 10 minutes and the fees are very low. To verify your account, you will need to enter some personal information. You can use Binance on a variety of platforms, including mobile and desktop.
Fees
Binance is known for its low fees. This does not mean users are exempt from any charges. Binance users are still subjected to some fees needed for the platform.
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees
Deposit fees depend on the currency and method of payment. While it is usually free to make a bank transfer, fees will usually be there for debit card payments.
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 cryptocurrency to a wallet, or another exchange. Fees for these withdrawals and minimum amounts will be based on your method and currency. Why Is Binance US Down
Trading Fees
The trading volume and trading history over the last 30 days will determine the percentage of your trading fees. It will also impact the amount of BNB that you have.
Maker orders, which add liquidity to the market, will get lower fees than taker or remover orders.
The platform also encourages the use of its own native currency, the Binance Coin (BNB). Anybody who does so will receive a 25% discount on their trading fees. Binance also offers 0% trading on selected Bitcoin and Binance USD (BUSD) pairs.
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 | Less than 1,000,000 | 0.10%/0.10% |
1 | 1,000,000 to 4999,999 with at least 25 BNB | 0.09%/0.10% |
2 | 5,000,000 to 19,999,999 and at least 100 BNB | 0.08% / 0.10% |
3 | Between 20,000,000 and 119,999.999, with 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 999,999,999 and at least 1,750 BNB | 0.05% / 0.07% |
7 | 1,000,000,000 to 2,499,999,999 and at least 3,000 BNB | 0.04% / 0.06% |
8 | 2,500,000,000 to 4,999,999,999 and 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 also uses address whitelisting, device management, and the ability to restrict device access.
Binance also claims to have its own insurance fund made by storing 10% of all trading fees in a secure fund. This is meant to cover any losses from hacking, an incident that Binance is familiar with (more on that later).
This insurance is not the same as having a third party doing it, but it does give users some protection.
Lastly, as its main security feature, Binance keeps most of its funds offline in cold storage. This is done to prevent hackers from getting in touch.
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. It also suffered another major hack in October 2022, this time costing 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.
Binance quickly responded to the hack and reimbursed all those affected through their Secure Asset Fund for Users. This cold storage wallet has enough capital to cover losses.
Customer Service
Binance provides three options for customer support. You have three options for customer support: submit a ticket, chat with a representative, or 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.
If you are approaching them through Twitter, you only need to tag or mention Binance on their Twitter account (@BinanceHelpDesk) for support. Binance has been known to encourage users to tweet their issues through this channel as it has more visibility.
Lastly, Binance has a chat box on the bottom right corner of the support screen if you want a more direct approach. This can be accessed on the Binance website.
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Binance Pros and Cons
Pros
- Low fees
Low fees are one of the main reasons Binance is a top choice for crypto exchanges. This is no surprise. It is a no-brainer. Crypto traders and investors can keep more of their earnings and investments if the platform charges lower fees.
- You have the ability to make passive income in many different ways.
It is impossible to not desire passive income. Binance offers many opportunities to make passive income. It’s like being paid for nothing. That said, these opportunities also carry inherent risks in them. These opportunities are not for the weak-hearted. Why Is Binance US Down
- Wide selection of Cryptocurrencies: From Bitcoin to Dogecoin and Etherium, there is no shortage of cryptocurrency you can buy from 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
The tools that a trading platform provides to its users will determine how good it is. 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.
- There are many ways to deposit money
You cannot start trading if you have no money at stake. Binance makes it easier to start crypto trading by making it easy to deposit funds through its many ways.
- Flexible Order Types and Trading Options
Bear in mind, trading is like a gamble. While assets and stocks may be worth a lot right now, you never know when they will lose value. As such excellent trading platforms like Binance should provide users the flexibility to do their trades in a matter, they see fit. Why Is Binance US Down
Cons
- Platform can seem overwhelming to beginners.
Of course, multiple options and advanced tools are not always a good thing. Seeing a multitude of selections can easily overwhelm beginner users and might paralyze them from the sheer number of options given. Binance’s numerous options can even be intimidating to some traders who are more experienced.
- Issues with Regulation in many countries
Binance has faced several regulatory and legal issues. This is a major issue that many investors are considering switching to other exchanges.
That said, the platform has been trying hard to remedy these regulatory issues and doing its best to meet the requirements to comply with and solve these issues.
- 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. It is not available in certain states, such as New York and Vermont.
- There is no built-in digital wallet
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. Why Is Binance US Down
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.
I chose Binance for the main reason that many choose the platform, and that is because of its low fees. I entered cryptocurrency because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. This is not something I intend to take seriously.
It took me no time to create my account and verify it. In a matter of minutes I was able to view the UI and all the features offered by the platform. And here is what I have to say…..
With confidence, I can say that Binance is not for beginners. I can tell you that the myriad of choices presented to me by Binance was pretty intimidating and overwhelming. I needed a friend to help me understand the complexities of all this stuff.
So with his help, along with some tutorials found in Binance Support, I was able to get some of my bearings and begin trading. Though it still gets confusing, I’m getting the hang of it.
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 Why Is Binance US Down
Is Binance Safe?
Yes, it is safe, but it does not have a good track record.
While Binance has its own set of key security features, it still is a blight on its record that it was hacked twice. The company did beef up its security, but in the end, time will judge if these security measures can survive attacks.
How do 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.
You may find Binance a good fit for you, if you:
- You are not a newbie in crypto trading, and you have intermediate to the advanced crypto trading experience.
- You need a service that is affordable and can accept many currencies.
- You are looking for a service with many advanced features.
- You are an institutional trader carrying a high or ultra-high net worth.
- You are not a citizen of the United States.
Bianance offers 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. This is quite a distance from Binance which has only 50 currency pairs.
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.