Binance offers a handful of cryptocurrencies and trading features that have attracted millions of worldwide clients. Is Binance the right choice for you?

Binance pros and cons

Binance is one of the largest, if not the largest crypto exchange currently operating on the market. It is a centralized exchange that has over 2,000 employees and 15 million clients from all around the globe. 

Binance was established in 2017 by a Chinese-Canadian crypto entrepreneur Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. Zhao's company created Binance after a successful ICO project from which they earned $15 million. The exchange was initially based in China but quickly moved to the Cayman Islands due to the tightening regulation by the Chinese government.

Since its launch, Binance quickly found a huge client base thanks to its low trading fees, a wide range of cryptocurrencies, and innovative technologies. Today, Binance offers practically every crypto product and feature that you could think of, including an exchange, staking, earn, liquidity farming, margin trading, loans, payments, NFT, saving, and much more.

 

Is Binance a Safe Exchange?

Binance is a reputable crypto exchange that is safe to use. The platform uses a sophisticated security system and follows high standards to protect users' funds.

Some of the active protocols are two-factor authentication, strict sign-in criteria, and whitelisting capabilities. Aside from that, Binance offers a 24/7 live chat function that allows users to instantly get in touch with a live agent.

It is worth mentioning that Binance was hacked back in 2019, causing them to lose 7,000 BTC (around $40 million at the time). The company then decided to suspend all deposit and withdrawal activities for a week following the incident, while still allowing trading to take place.

Thankfully, they were able to cover the lost capital pretty quickly through Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), which is a cold storage wallet that stores enough capital to cover users' funds.

Binance also had several regulatory issues in the past, but it is slowly getting regulatory approvals in some countries. For instance, Binance is now officially listed as a digital asset provider in France.

Meanwhile, Binance.US was specifically designed to comply with all local regulations in the US, so the exchange is fully regulated under the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

To protect users' funds, all US dollar deposits are stored at custodial bank accounts and insured for up to $250,000 for bank failure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Unfortunately, the exchange is still not available in some US states including Hawaii, New York, Texas, and Vermont.

 

Binance Pros and Cons

Now that you've got a glimpse of what Binance is like and the features it offers, it's time to actually break down the good and bad aspects of the exchange.

 

The Pros

  • Low fees – Binance only charges 0.1% for both buyers and sellers whereas most major exchanges would charge at least 0.2%. The fee for futures trading is even lower, starting only at 0.02%.
  • Various payment methods – Generally, Binance accepts payments via VISA, Mastercard, wire transfers, ACH transfers, and SEPA transfers. Aside from that, the P2P exchange allows users to swap cryptos with third parties.
  • Easy signup process – You can sign up and make a Binance account with only several easy steps.
  • Free deposits – Binance doesn't charge users for making deposits.
  • Speedy executionBinance technology is able to process up to 1.4 million orders per second.
  • Over 600 cryptocurrencies available – Binance offers both big and small cryptocurrencies. This also includes stablecoins, mining tokens, and utility tokens.
  • Has a native coin – Binance has a native token called Binance Coin (BNB) that operates within the Binance network and provides special benefits such as lesser fees on spot trading activities.
  • Reputable exchange – Binance has a large trading volume and client base.
  • Plenty of educational materials – Binance is a beginner-friendly platform that provides a lot of educational contents of articles, webinars, tutorials, etc.
  • High potential to get passive income – Binance users can earn passive income through several methods, such as staking, liquidity farming, crypto lending, etc.
  • High liquidity – Binance has millions of active users worldwide, making the liquidity high and favorable for traders.
  • VIP Level System Binance has a VIP level system that allows traders to get fee discounts. The levels are determined from trading volumes in 30 days.
  • Responsive customer service – Users can enjoy the 24/7 live chat, which is accessible across desktop and mobile platforms. Users can also provide feedback through the "Give Us Feedback" option.

 

The Cons

  • Withdrawal fees – withdrawal fees vary according to the asset you wish to withdraw and the payment method you use. In addition, Binance also has a minimum amount of withdrawals.
  • The exchange has been hacked in the past – Even though the company's response was pretty quick, there is no guarantee that such a breach won't happen again in the future.
  • History of regulatory issues – At least now, Binance is still considered less regulated compared to its competitors.
  • Binance's main platform doesn't operate in the US – If you are from the US, you can use Binance's partner site, Binance.US, which is slightly different from Binance global. It basically uses the same engine and technologies as its parent company but offers a limited number of trading pairs and supported cryptocurrencies to adjust it to the US regulations.

 

Is Binance Right for You?

Binance is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the market at the moment. Based on the explanation above, It offers a wide range of interesting features as well as trading products to help you achieve your trading goals.

Binance also has a good reputation for providing great customer service and protecting customers' funds through various security measures. The trading fees are also extremely low, making it affordable for both retail and institutional traders.

So, if we combine all aspects together, we can see that objectively, the pros outweigh the cons.

However, the best exchange for you depends on your needs. Binance might be good for you if you're looking for a low-fee crypto exchange or if you're planning to invest in specific crypto that's pretty rare to find in major exchanges.

Apart from that, Binance is also great for advanced traders who are looking for access to more advanced tools, charting, and indicators for crypto analysis.