Binance.US is an American partner of Binance. It was introduced in 2019, after the original platform stopped accepting U.S. users. As well as other major decentralized exchanges, Binance.US allows its users to earn passive income from buying, selling, trading and staking crypto. The platform offers one of the lowest transaction fees, but the history of regulatory scrutiny and lack of information on security scare away many investors. Let’s consider the main benefits and drawbacks of Binance.US.
Binance vs Binance US: what’s better?
Crypto exchange Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchangers in the world. It was founded in China in 2017 by the developer Changpeng Zhao. The platform is currently serving over 170 countries and regions. Binance’s native currency called Binance Coin (BNB) is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Binance.US is an American partner of Binance, founded in 2019. It was launched to cater to American customers after Binance ceased to serve them. But you should know that Binance.US is unavailable in seven states and offers a very limited range of assets.
States with Binance US Login
To date, Binance.US is not available in Hawaii, Louisiana, New York, Texas, Vermont and Idaho. Thus, if you’re a resident of one of these states, you can’t use the platform.
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 Binance trustworthy?
In the last several years, Binance has been increasingly scrutinized by global financial regulators:
- Outside the country, authorities in the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, etc. have been looking into its transactions.
- Last summer, Binance was banned in Italy.
- Bloomberg reported that the company is currently under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over concerns that it allowed US residents to make wagers, which is against the laws of the U.S.
- The platform doesn’t have a 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 the end of 2021, Binance bridge provided access to inter-blockchain liquidity for Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain decentralized applications. However, this feature has been disabled, after which the cryptosystem worldwide became increasingly fragmented.
How to connect MetaMask to Binance Smart Chain?
Once you have downloaded Metamask for your PC or mobile browser, you should set up a wallet and keep your recovery phrase in a safe place. However, the system doesn’t support the BSC wallet. Therefore, you should avoid transferring your funds to addresses linked to it! Take the following steps:
- Enter settings.
- Click on “Networks”.
- Press the button “Add network” in the top right.
- Enter the following information in a form 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 buy cryptocurrency on Binance.US?
This procedure is almost intuitive. However, the Binance exchange supports only a few types of trade orders: limit, market and stop-limit orders. To buy cryptocurrency, use the following steps:
- Access your account.
- Input the amount (in dollars) that you want to spend.
- Press the button “Buy Crypto”.
In addition, Binance.US supports such a feature as recurring buys. These are beneficial for DCA investment strategies.
Seasoned traders can use up-to-date trading instruments (such as graphs, limit and stop orders, as well as live crypto order books).
How to trade on Binance.US?
After clicking on “Trade”, you will see the information on market performance, which will allow you to identify the most lucrative opportunities. Experienced Bitcoin investors can benefit from the company’s new portal with advanced technical solutions, including TradingView, price statistics, bitcoin candlestick chart, and transaction history. However, beginners may find such an interface overwhelming.
Institutional investors have the right to access OTC stocks, where the minimum deposit is $10,000. The advantages are as follows:
- real-time data
- 24/7 support
- low fees
- possibility to conduct direct negotiations with vendors
How can you deposit crypto to Binance?
Depositing money to Binance is very easy. You can do it in a few simple steps. Please note that it’s important to specify the right address and select one of the currencies supported by Binance.
- Access your account.
- Press the button “Wallet” in the top right corner of the screen.
- Choose “Deposit”.
- Indicate the coin and the network.
- Scan the QR code.
- Open your wallet and enter the deposit address.
How can you withdraw crypto from Binance?
Withdrawals can be carried out via the same interface. Press the button “Withdraw” (which is located near the button “Deposit”). After that,
- Choose the crypto and input the amount.
- Indicate the destination by selecting it from the list or inputting manually.
- Preview your transaction.
- Find an email requesting confirmation and confirm it.
- Enter to your account and verify the transaction status via the Wallet.
Trading fees on 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 can reach 0.5%). Moreover, Binance.US offers many other ways to save money:
- Paying a transaction fee in BNC allows you to save 25%.
- Instant buy fees are 0.5% (while Kraken Pro takes almost 2%).
- There are special discounts for high-volume traders.
In addition, you can save a lot by purchasing assets directly for US dollars. The lack of intermediate conversion to stablecoin means that you won’t have to pay two sets of fees. On the negative side, Binance.US takes very high fees for debit card deposits.
Fiat fees
Despite its low trade fees, the platform has almost the same withdrawal and deposit conditions as the rest of the exchanges.
Depositing by debit card is especially unprofitable on Binance.US. While Gemini offers 10 fee-free deposits and withdrawals per month, and CoinLoan doesn’t charge fees for transfers to/from interest accounts, Binance.US will charge you a rather pricey fee of almost 5%.
However, if you transfer from your bank account using ACH, you won’t have to pay a fee. Meanwhile, a $15 withdrawal fee is applied to domestic wires (and the international wire will cost you even more- $35).
Binance.US deposit & withdrawal fees
The platform generally doesn’t charge fees for depositing funds into your account. At the same time, withdrawal fees vary significantly across different assets.
For instance, withdrawing Aglorand is about 100 times cheaper than Ethereum.
How to earn rewards by staking?
Users can earn rewards on Binance.US by holding specific coins in their accounts. This strategy is called “staking”, and it allows the company to support the operations of these coins’ blockchains. Currently, the clients of Binance.US can stake the following coins: XTZ, VET, EOS, ATOM, ALGO and ONE. By staking these assets, you can earn up to 10% annually.
No credit card deposits: is it good or bad?
Binance doesn’t accept credit card payments, and is not surprising. After all, it is one of the worst ways to top up a crypto account. First of all, because banks tend to take high transaction charges. Second, because you’ll have to pay high interests. That’s an extremely risky investment, so Binance.US is right in not accepting it.
Customer service
Unfortunately, the quality and availability of support are far from ideal. Thus, Binance.US doesn’t have phone support. Customers can only fill in the form to report suspicious actions or interact with a chatbot, where you can ask general questions.
Educational content
Clients of the offshoot platform can benefit from Binance’s extensive education platform called Binance Academy. This is a charge-free resource offering a wide variety of educational videos and articles for traders in many different languages. Binance.US in present on almost all social networks- from Twitter to Instagram.
Who is Binance.US best for?
Binance has one of the most recognizable logos in the cryptocurrency world. Established by the world’s largest exchange, it is distinguished by low trading fees, intuitive interface and excellent educational resources. However, the platform also has many drawbacks, such as regulation issues, lack of access in certain states, and limited crypto options.
Binance.US has the following pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Low fees25% trading fee discount for users paying with Binance CoinPossibility to income passively from stakingLower fees for high-volume tradersNo fees on deposits or withdrawals made via ACH | Limited range of assets compared to the mother companyRegulation problems faced by BinanceNot available in all statesA relatively high 4.5% fee for debit card deposits.Absence of phone supportLack of transparency when it comes to security measures$10 account minimumHigh withdrawal feesInterface can be difficult to use |
Best Binance alternatives
If you’re looking for a platform that takes regulation seriously, choose Gemini. This exchange is available throughout the US and has an extensive educational library.
If you prioritize a wide selection of assets, opt for Coinbase. The exchange has made it its mission to list every cryptocurrency it legally can to increase the customers’ opportunities in crypto trading. Please note that Coinbase fees can add up. But in general, CoinLoan is a reliable platform offering the best-fixed interest rate for the users who want to earn passive income from crypto.
