Binance is currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. Not only is it the most popular platform at the moment, but it has also the largest real daily trading volume and it is the cheapest exchange available. Using an exchange is not as easy as for example Bitvavo or Bitladon, but if you use the Binance tutorials from CryptoTips you will soon understand how to easily exchange cryptocurrency for another cryptocurrency. Read in our Binance review more about this exchange, what it is, its history, its services, verifications and if it’s safe to trade on Binance.
What is Binance?
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange that focuses on all kinds of traders. It’s a perfect place to start as a beginner, but it is also targeting the experienced cryptocurrency trader. They use different layouts for each type of trader. You can compare an exchange with a foreign currency exchange bureau where you can exchange one cryptocurrency for another to make a profit. In recent years, Binance has grown into a platform where you can do almost everything that has something to do with crypto. They offer dozens of different services and new services are added regularly.
The Binance offer is very wide, but not all cryptocurrencies are available on this exchange. At the moment there is no exchange where you can buy all cryptocurrencies in the world, because there are simply too many cryptos in circulation and not all projects are equally safe or legit. On top of that dozens of cryptocurrencies are created every day and it is impossible to show them all on one exchange. The offer of Binance is regularly expanded and this is often accompanied by a nice competition where you can win free tokens based on trading volume.
Binance also launches IEOs where new projects (coins) can launch their coin. Binance started as an exchange-only, but offers nowadays more and more services. You can use the platform for cryptocurrency staking, saving, lending, future trading and more.
Visit https://www.binance.com/
How to buy crypto at Binance?
For beginning users it can be quite complicated to buy cryptocurrency, especially on an exchange like Binance. For this reason we made several tutorials and instructional videos to explain it as clearly as possible.
Create an account
Creating a new account is very easy. You only need an email address and password. We will give you a lifetime 20% discount on all fees with our special link. And don’t forget to apply our Binance referral ID to receive the lifetime cashback on all your trades.
Place an order
After you register your account you can open positions and place orders. Keep in mind that you are exchanging cryptocurrency for another cryptocurrency on this exchange. Therefore, you need cryptocurrency to start with. It won’t be an issue if you don’t own any crypto, you can buy it at Binance (with a high fee) or with a broker. We will explain how to do that.
Please follow these steps to place an order:
- Register an account or log in
- Hover over Wallet and click on Spot wallet (Deposit and Withdraw)
- Search for Bitcoin (BTC) and click on Deposit
- You can buy Bitcoin with a broker for a low fee.
- You can buy Bitcoin at Binance with a credit card.
- If you already own some crypto, search for that coin and deposit it into the right address.
- Send the Bitcoin to your own address. You receive a notification when it is deposited successfully
- Hover over Spot and click on Classic
- Search for the coin you want to buy and click on it
- At the bottom you find your Buy and Sell screens. We advice you to use the Limit or the Market order (for now)
- Limit order: the order will be placed for in the order book for the price that you have filled in. You have to wait until the price reaches your chosen price
- Market order: the order be executed immediately for the current market price
After your order is executed you successfully traded Bitcoin for your chosen coin (with a limit order is it even possible that your order has been partially filled). When you want to sell your coins you can use the screen next to it.
We also wrote an in-depth how to trade on Binance guide. If you don’t get it, please contact us and we will help you.
Visit https://www.binance.com/
History of the Binance exchange
The Binance exchange is a very young exchange and was founded in 2017 after a very successful Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Binance is a good practical example to see that an ICO has worked out well and that the associated Binance Coin is getting an increasingly favorable value. The CEO behind Binance is Changpeng Zhao a very well known name especially in the Asian cryptocurrency market. Most crypto investors know him, because he is very active in the crypto space. He tweets a lot, gives AMA’s and is the face behind Binance. Check out his Twitter here.
The Binance ICO took place in July 2017 and more than 100 million tokens were sold in three phases. During the first phase you could buy 2700 BNB tokens for 1 Ethereum. Around July 1st, the Ethereum value was about $280, and you paid $0.10 per Binance Coin.
At the moment you pay $25 for 1 BNB and most investors see the BNB as a token with potential. The all-time high of the Binance Coin was $39 in June 2019. After that it went down to $9 in March 2020 and climbed back to $17 in May 2020. Binance is doing its best to let users hold the BNB token. You will get discounts on fees, a higher commission and you need the token to invest in IEOs. There are a lot of use cases for this token, and we can imagine that in the future there will be a lot more.
Binance services
Binance is developing new services at a rapid speed, launching one service after another. It is almost impossible for us to highlight all services in this Binance review. We’ve highlighted the most important services you should really know.
Buy Crypto
Binance works with various third party platforms that can convert fiat to crypto. This makes it easy to pay with a fiat currency using credit card or other payment methods and your crypto is automatically sent to your Binance wallet. Keep in mind that you often have to perform a KYC with the third party platform and that the fee is often higher than when you buy crypto via your local broker.
Binance Earn
By using Binance Earn you can generate extra income using the crypto you are holding and not using for trading. With Flexible Savings you can flexibly stake your crypto, which means that you can withdraw it at all times. The annual return is visible behind each crypto. Using Locked Savings or Staking you will lock your crypto for a specific period. You generally receive more interest when you lock your crypto, but you cannot withdraw it until it’s unlocked.
Binance Card (debit card)
With the Binance debit card you can easily spend your crypto in stores that accept VISA. The card is 100% free and no fee is charged for a transaction. The debit card is linked to your Binance wallet and you can spend your crypto immediately. You can receive a cashback of up to 8% on all your purchases. You get this paid in Binance Coins. Read more about the Binance Card.
Visit https://www.binance.com/
Futures trading
There is also a special futures derivatives environment for professional traders. Keep in mind that this is only for experienced traders. To use Futures trading you must give your consent separately and you must transfer your funds from Spot to Futures.
Binance Launchpad
Binance has developed Binance Launchpad, where new crypto start ups can easily do their token sales. Binance does the full background check and verifies if the company meets all the requirements. This is also called an Initial Exchange Offering and is very popular among investors. Binance arranges everything from the research to listing the currency on the exchange. Because Binance approves the new project, it instills a lot of trust within the community. To participate in an IEO you must be verified.
Binance limits and verifications
A major struggle for users is that on many exchanges you have to provide a lot of personal data and it usually takes a very long time before the verification process is completed. It is completely free to register an account at Binance, but of course they have verifications and limits from a legal point of view.
After registering your account you are Level 1, unverified. This does not mean you can’t do anything with your account! For most people an unverified account is more than enough. The following limits apply at Binance:
- Level 1 (unverified): 2 BTC per 24 hour trade/withdraw
- Level 2 (fully verified): 100 BTC per 24 hour trade/withdraw
- Level 3 (for whales): More than 100 BTC per 24 hour
So if you don’t trade or withdraw more than 2 BTC per 24 hours, you can get started with a level 1 account. And you don’t have to go through a KYC procedure. Suppose you want to withdraw 4 BTC, you can spread this out over 48 hours to still meet the limits.
A level 2 verification is realized by entering your personal details as they appear on your passport. Upload a photo of both the front and back. Besides that you have to upload a selfie with you and your passport, which also shows the current date and the word Binance.
Binance fees and costs
The business model for an exchange is the fees they charge per transaction. These are fees for exchanging cryptocurrency, but also for withdrawing (sending) crypto. Depositing cryptocurrency is completely free and no fee is charged for this. Per coin you pay a different fee to send or withdraw, this list is available on the website. To exchange cryptocurrency you pay a standard 0.1% fee.
A nice addition of Binance is that you get 25% discount on the fees if you hold the Binance Coin. When you create an account, this discount is by default ticked in your dashboard. Do you want more discount? If you register an account with us, we will share 20% of the commission with you for life!
You must hold the Binance Coin (BNB) to make use of this special discount. If it’s ticked On and you have BNB coins, then the discount will be applied automatically. Depending on how long you are registered at Binance you will get a different discount:
First year: 50% discount (2018/2019)- Second year: 25% discount (2019/2020)
- Third year: 12.5% discount (2020/2021)
- Fourth year: 6.75% discount (2021/2022)
After the fourth year you won’t receive any more discount on your trades and you’ll have to pay the full price. By the way, it’s not about how many years you’ve been registered, but how long the exchange has been in existence. We will update our Binance review when the 25% discount is over and the 12.5% discount will be applied.
Binance hack 2019
In 2019 a Binance hack took place, where criminals stole over 7047 BTC from the exchange. Hackers are a constant threat to every exchange and broker (actually, to all IT companies). A smart attack allowed the hacker to take over multiple accounts and to move BTC from the platform without any alarm bells ringing at Binance.
It’s good to see how a company reacts to such a hack. Binance’s CEO kept the entire community well informed of the progress. All losses were compensated from the so-called Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). Because of the good communication and the compensation of the losses, the crypto community was very positive. Even the Bitcoin price barely reacted to it.
To prevent the Binance hack in the future, the company has taken several measures.
Is Binance safe?
Binance is a very safe Asian exchange (that is currently based in Malta). Everyone on the Binance team is listed by name in the whitepaper and on the website. The CEO, Changpeng Zhao, is a well known name in the crypto world and has an impressive track record. He was a manager at Blockchain.com, the CTO and Co-Founder at OKCoin and also the CEO of BijieTech. These are large companies that are still successful today.
A few other well-known names within Binance are:
- Roger Wang (Co-Founder and CTO): Nomura Securities en Morgan Stanley
- James Hofbauer (Chief Architect): Palantir en Fusion Systems
- Paul Jankunas (VP of Engineering): SBI BITS en Fusions Systems
- Allan Yan (Product Director): Orient International Holding
- Sunny Li (Operations Director): Accenture
You may see all the names for yourself on Binance’s website. Given the transparency and the popularity, you can assume that Binance is safe. So it is an officially registered Asian company that is growing in popularity. They owe this popularity to a good system, good communication, good support and a good platform.
It’s still an exchange and as always, it’s recommended to only leave money on an exchange which you trade with. Never use an exchange as your wallet, because such companies are always targeted by hackers or other internet criminals. Also, never use the same password for multiple platforms and always enable 2-step verification. The SMS verification function does not work for European users.
To verify your account to the basic level, you have to do the following:
