In 2019, American customers of Binance moved to its partner, Binance.US. As well as the rest of decentralized exchanges, it allows you to earn passive income through trading and staking crypto. The platform is distinguished by its low transaction fees, while its main drawbacks are the history of regulatory scrutiny and insufficient transparency. In this article, we are going to consider the main advantages and shortcomings of Binance.US.
Binance vs Binance US: what’s the difference?
Binance.US is a US partner of Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, which was launched in China in 2017. Binance is currently operating in almost 200 countries, while the company’s utility token BNB has a market cap rank of 4.
Moreover, Binance has its own exclusive token launch platform called Binance Launchpad. It serves as a counseling service for projects and allows them to raise funds and enhance their reach across the crypto ecosystem.
Binance.US became especially relevant after Binance stopped accepting its US users. However, the platform is still unavailable in some states, and its functionality is very limited.
List of unsupported states
Residents of Hawaii, Connecticut, Louisiana, Idaho, New York, Vermont have no access to Binance.
How to use Binance.US?
Compared to its competitors, Binance.US offers a limited choice of digital assets. To start working, customers need to link a traditional bank account for deposits and a cryptocurrency wallet (for example, Trustwallet).
Binance.US offers a few strategies for making money with cryptocurrency: purchasing, trading, selling, and staking. The platform provides an online dashboard and mobile apps for customers to manage their accounts.
Binance verification: how long does it usually take?
Binance verification may seem like a slow process. However, for the majority of users, it only takes a few days. You can verify your account in the Binance App.
Is your cryptocurrency safe with Binance.US?
Binance has a history of regulatory and compliance issues:
- The platform has had regulatory problems in a few countries, including Japan, Canada, the UK, Singapore, the US and Thailand.
- In 2021, regulators in Italy have banned Binance.
- According to reporting by Bloomberg, the company was under investigation by the US government for tax fraud, whitewashing, and insider dealing.
- The platform has a non-transparent corporate structure.
Binance tried to solve its transparency problems by extending its compliance department. However, it is not yet clear whether these actions can reassure the regulatory bodies.
In addition, Binance has faced huge hacker attacks. Thus, in 2019, hackers stole 7,000 bitcoins in one transaction. And in 2021, the High Court of London ordered Binance to detect and freeze the accounts involved in an alleged $2.6 million hack. However, authorities didn’t order to close Binance.
Is it safe to trade on Binance.US?
In contrast to Binance, there have been no reported hacker attacks at Binance.US. However, the platform is much less transparent than many competitor exchanges (like Coinbase and Gemini) when it comes to safety, storage options and customer assistance. For this reason, long-term investors are recommended to choose other platforms.
How to store crypto on Binance.US?
Clients of Binance.US can choose between leaving their assets directly on the platform (as it has a custodial wallet) and moving them to an external wallet. The platform recommends its clients to use its partner, Trust Wallet, which supports more than 1M+ assets.
List of available assets
Binance.US currently offers over 65 cryptocurrencies for traders to choose from. Despite such a limited choice, the platform operates with the most popular cryptocurrencies, including:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- PAX Gold (PAXG)
- Harmony (ONE)
- Orchid (OXT)
- Helium (HNT)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Tether (USDT)
The platform has an option to automatically purchase and sell cryptocurrencies (such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.) using U.S. dollars. The Shiba Inu coin is also available on Binance.
In addition, Binance.US offers a wide variety of trading pairs. Therefore, users can trade a pair of assets without the need to cash out one for USD, as well as trade between crypto and a fiat currency.
In 2021, Binance.US wound down the support for Binance stock tokens, which gave users an opportunity to buy a fraction of publicly traded companies’ shares with no commission fees. Unfortunately, Binance.US doesn’t offer Safemoon Binance pairs.
How to start trading on Binance.US?
To start trading on Binance.US, customers need to link their bank account and a cryptocurrency wallet. Earlier, the exchange only supported BEP-2, not the BEP-20 (which is a token standard used on BSC). Therefore, clients had to use both MetaMask and Binance Chain wallet (the wallet extensions available on the Chrome, Firefox and Brave browsers).
Today, however, all users can establish a direct connection. Moreover, Binance.US provides incentives for new clients. Using your referral ID, you can get a $15 bonus after trading your first $100.
Until 2021, Binance had a bridge service that enabled access to inter-blockchain liquidity for decentralized apps on Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain. However, this function has been recently disabled, which has negatively affected the entire cryptosystem.
How To connect Metamask to Binance network?
After downloading Metamask for your PC or mobile browser, you should set up a wallet and save your recovery phrase in a safe space. By default, Metamask doesn’t support BSC, so if you send your money to addresses linked to it, you can lose it forever! If you want to connect Metamask to Binance network, follow these steps:
- Open “Settings”.
- Click on “Networks”.
- Choose “Add network”.
- Type the following information in the field and save your selection:
- Network Name: Binance Smart Chain;
- New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.Binance.org/;
- ChainID: 56;
- Symbol: BNB;
- Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com.
How to purchase crypto on Binance.US?
Binance.US has an easy buy/sell interface. However, in contrast to its competitors, the platform supports just three order types: market, limit, and stop-limit. To buy crypto, you should perform the following steps:
- Enter to your account.
- Type the amount you wish to purchase in USD.
- Press the button “Buy Crypto”.
Binance.US also allows users to set up recurring buys, which is useful for users who want to pursue a dollar cost averaging investment strategy.
Experienced crypto investors can benefit from advanced trading instruments (for example, live order books, charting tools, and ability to set limit orders and stop-limit orders).
How to start trading on Binance.US?
If you want to start trading on Binance.US, click on “Trade”. After that, you will see the data on market performance, which will allow users to find the most profitable trading opportunities. Seasoned Bitcoin traders can use the company’s innovative portal with advanced technical solutions, including price statistics, TradingView, history of transactions and bitcoin candlestick chart. However, such interface may be too difficult for beginners.
Binance.US provides special services to institutional investors, including access to OTC stocks with a minimum deposit of $10,000. The benefits are as follows:
- real-time data
- constant customer support
- minimum fees
- ability to hold direct negotiations with sellers
How to deposit to Binance.US?
Depositing money to your Binance.US account is very easy. It can be made in just a few steps. Please note that it’s very important to introduce the right address and send an asset supported by Binance.US.
- Log to your Binance.US account.
- Click the Wallet tab.
- Choose the type of deposit.
- Select the coin type and the network.
- Paste the address or scan a QR code.
- Open your wallet and enter this address.
How to withdraw from Binance.US?
Withdrawing crypto from Binance.US is just as easy as depositing it. Just perform the following steps:
- Select the coin type and type in the amount of your withdrawal.
- Enter the withdrawal address by either selecting it from the whitelist or introducing it manually.
- Click on “Preview Withdrawal”.
- You’ll be sent an email asking for your confirmation. Confirm it.
- If you want to check the transaction status, return to your account and click on “Wallet”.
Fees for users of Binance.US
As well as its mother company, Binance.US provides extremely competitive trading fees. For example, the maker/taker fee starts at 0.1% and can go as low as 0% (while the fees on competing exchanges may be as high as 0.5%). However, there are a few other ways to save on Binance.US:
- Binance offers a 25% discount on trading fees to clients who pay in its utility token, BNB.
- Binance.US offers 0.5% fee for instant buy/sell (while Kraken Pro charges 1.5%).
- High-volume traders also get discounts.
Most of Binance.US’s cryptocurrencies can be purchased directly with U.S. dollars. Due to the lack of intermediate conversion to stablecoin, users don’t have to pay a double set of fees. However, Binance.US charges a comparatively high fee (4.5%) for debit card deposits.
Fiat fees
Although Binance.US offers very attractive trading fees, its deposit and withdrawal fees are almost in line with those of other crypto exchanges.
Some platforms (for example, CoinLoan) take lower fees for debit card deposits than Binance, and Gemini even provides several fee-free deposits per month.
Clients of Binance.US can withdraw money for free via ACH. However, wire transfer withdrawals cost $15 for domestic and $35 for international transfers.
Deposits and withdrawal fees
Binance.US usually doesn’t charge users for crypto deposits, while the price of withdrawal varies significantly from crypto to crypto.
For example, you need to pay 0.0045 ETH to collect ETH into an ERC-20 network. This sum (over $16) is huge compared to the 0.01 ALGO fee (less than $0.25) to withdraw Algorand.
How to make money by staking on Binance.US?
Clients of Binance.US can earn staking rewards by holding certain coins in their accounts. According to the company’s representatives, this allows Binance.US support the functioning of these coins’ blockchains. Binance.US currently allows staking XTZ, VET, EOS, ALGO, ATOM and ONE. Staking with Binance.US can help you earn up to 10% annually.
Does Binance.US accept credit card deposits?
The platform doesn’t accept credit card deposits – and rightly so. After all, trying to buy crypto with a credit card isn’t the best idea. There are two reasons for this: the first is large transaction fees, and the second is high interest rate. Therefore, Binance.US is absolutely right in not allowing credit card payments.
Customer assistance
Unfortunately, the quality of Binance.US’s customer assistance leaves much to be desired. Thus, Binance.US doesn’t even have a telephone customer support line. Users have only two ways to contact support: via online form or live chat (which can help you only with the basic issues).
Educational content
Users of Binance.US can benefit from the Binance’s educational library called Binance Academy. It is an invaluable source of knowledge about cryptocurrency, especially for novice traders. You can follow Binance.US on various social media (including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) stay up to date with their news.
Who is Binance.US suitable for?
Binance is ranked among the largest cryptocurrency exchangers in the world in 2022. The distinctive features of its US partner are low fees and a wealth of educational resources. But recently, the platform has faced lots of regulation issues. Moreover, Binance.US remains unavailable in many states and offers a small range of assets.
Binance.US is suitable for customers looking for low trading fees and an opportunity to earn a passive income from staking. Its advanced platform is best for experienced traders searching for the new instruments. Let’s compare the benefits and drawbacks of Binance.US:
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
| Low trading feesClients holding BNC also get a 0.25% trading fee discountA good source of passive incomeReduced fees for high-volume tradesOpportunity of free depositing via ACH or wire transferFree ACH withdrawals | Small range of tools and features (in comparison with Binance platform)History of regulatory challenges faced by the mother companyLack of access in certain states4.5% fee for debit card deposits.Lack of telephone customer support lineInsufficient transparency in terms of security measures$10 account minimumHigh fees for wire transfersConfusing interface |
Alternatives to Binance.US
If you prefer exchanges that take regulatory compliance seriously, you should choose Gemini. This platform is available in all US states and provides a wide variety of educational resources.
If you want to have access to a wider range of cryptocurrencies, consider Coinbase. The platform aims to expand opportunities for clients by listing each coin that may be legally included. Coinbase is a secure and legal online platform for purchasing, selling, transferring, and storing crypto.
