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What’s the Difference Between Binance and Binance US?

Binance vs Binance US? Is there any difference between them? Due to the increasing regulatory pressure from the US officials, the unregulated platform was forced to restrict access for US traders to their main platform and launch a separate one.

Binance vs Binance US

Binance launched a US-based platform called Binance US a year ago. Despite having the same name, those are two separate platforms with different requirements and features.

If you are a US-based user, you can only trade on the US version. You’ll also want to keep track of your crypto portfolio and have a record of your transactions for taxes. However, if you are a non-US resident, you have a choice of which of those two platforms to select for trading.

What is Binance?

It is a popular cryptocurrency exchange which was started in China but then moved their headquarters to the crypto-friendly Island of Malta in the EU.

In terms of trading platforms, Binance offers its clients 2 types of trading platforms:

  • basic platform
  • advanced platform

Some people think that both these platforms are fairly advanced and sophisticated for a beginner cryptocurrency trader. For anyone who truly appreciates these platforms, they need to have some background in cryptocurrencies as well as how the platforms and all their various features work. To my mind, the basic platform is really user0friendly and intuitive. So even if this is your very first crypto exchange, you’ll figure it out quickly.

The best thing about Binance.com is that you can create your account there using our referral link. You are probably wondering what the difference is. Let me explain here. This is a great option to get a 45% discount on your trading fees forever. And on top of that, 20% cashback will be automatically applied to your account.

Another great feature is optional verification for crypto-to-crypto operations. It means you don’t need to provide any ID to start trading. That’s an important part as nowadays people don’t want to open their identity and prefer to stay as anonymous as possible.

What is Binance US?

Regulators in America were not happy with Binance saying that the platform has never officially operated in the US, yet US customers were accessing it. That’s how the US spinoff was founded and lead by Catherine Coley, a former Ripple executive.

The platform promises to establish itself as a secure marketplace for digital assets for customers in the United States.

Is it safe to use the American version? Yes, it is absolutely secure and legal:

  • The platform is operated by BAM Trading Services, which is licensing the Binance trading engine.
  • Verification is required for trading, and there are different verification tiers available.
  • The exchange follows industry best practices when securing customer digital assets. User funds are held by a third-party trust company based in Nevada.

Binance US vs Binance

How different are those platforms? Let’s find out together.

Supported Countries and Jurisdictions

Binance

The exchange is a global cryptocurrency trading company that operates in more than 180 countries. The only restriction applies to countries on economic sanctions lists or people on the U.S. Commerce Departments “Denied Persons List” as well as US-residents.

Binance US

The platform is NOT available to users residing in the following states:

  • Alabama
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Louisiana
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Texas
  • Georgia
  • Vermont
  • Washington

Verification

Binance

You don’t have to verify your account for level 1 which is a 2BTC daily withdrawal limit. It includes only crypto-to-crypto trading.

For level 2 which allows up to 100BTC per day and fiat-crypto operations, you need to upload a photo ID and wait till you are approved.

Time for verification can vary depending on how busy the site support staff are, so make sure to plan ahead if you wish to withdraw larger amounts and make sure this step is complete before depositing and trading large sums on the exchange.

Binance US

There are several types of verification depending on your trading goals:

  • Basic Verification

The Basic Verification process will let you deposit and trade crypto-crypto pairs while allowing you to withdraw up to $5,000 in crypto.

  • Advanced Verification

The Advanced Verification process will allow you to deposit up to $5,000 and withdraw up to $1,000,000 in crypto to your account.

  • Fiat Account Verification

If you are going to manage fiat operations, then you need to complete 2 types of verification. Advanced and Fiat. The Fiat Account Verification process will enable you to deposit and withdraw traditional currency (USD) and allow you to trade fiat-crypto pairs.

  • Corporate Account Verification

The Corporate Account Verification process is used for business accounts and not for personal use. Additionally, you will not be able to merge a Corporate account into an already existing Personal account.

Ease-of-Use

Binance

The website is completely multilingual, so most people should get along fine in one language or another (15 in total supported). This is another real advantage for the platform as it seeks to compete as a global cryptocurrency exchange.

It might be a bit difficult for complete beginners. But if you spend a few hours to learn the UI and functionality, you won’t have any issues later.

Binance US

This platform has a similar interface. However, it is only available in English as its target audience is the US.

Supported coins

Binance

This exchange accepts crypto deposits only. All coins supported by the exchange can be deposited and withdrawn.

Having said that, the exchange brokerage service allows you to buy the following currencies with a credit card:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Binance Coin (BNB)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
  • Binance USD (BUSD)
  • Basic Attention Token (BAT)
  • Cosmos (ATOM)
  • Dash (DASH)
  • EOS (EOS)
  • Nano (NANO)
  • Paxos Standard (PAX)
  • TRON (TRX)
  • TrueUSD (TUSD)
  • Tether (USDT)
  • Stellar Lumens (XLM)

The total number of coins available to trade, deposit, and withdraw on the exchange is nearly 200. And here you can find updates on the up-and-coming altcoins.

Binance US

This exchange offers 46 trading pairs for 26 coins, with all the major ones like BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, ADA, XLM, LINK, EOS, NEO, IOTA, TRX, etc supported.

The following coins are supported in BTC pairs:

  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • XRP
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Binance Coin (BNB)

However, the USD market supports much more coins:

Trading Fees

Binance

Every day at 00:00 AM (UTC), your trading volume over the past 30-day period, and your current BNB balance will be evaluated. Your Tier level and corresponding maker/taker fees are updated at 01:00 AM (UTC).

Binance US

  • General: 0.1% spot trading fee; 0.5% Instant Buy/Sell fee.
  • By default, if you hold BNB in your account, your trading fees will be automatically deducted from your BNB balance. You get a 25% discount (subject to change) from your trading fee if you use BNB to pay for trading fees.
  • Trading fees are determined based on your trading volume over a 30-day period (in USD) and your daily BNB balance.
  • At 0:00 AM (EST) every day, your trading volume over the past 30-day period and your daily BNB balance are evaluated. Your Tier level and corresponding Maker/Taker fees will be updated approximately one hour later.

Limits

Binance

Binance has a very simple limit structure, there are only withdrawal limits:

  1. Level 1 verified accounts can withdraw up to 2 BTC every 24 hours.
  2. Level 2 verified accounts can withdraw 100 BTC every 24 hours. Verification requires filling out a basic Know Your Customer (KYC) form and providing proof of identity among other documents.

Binance US

Deposit and Withdrawal methods

Binance

To fund your account in fiat, you will first need to complete the KYC process, once that is done you can then deposit funds directly from your bank account by linking it from the Deposits screen.

You can also fund your account with BTC or Ethereum. Once you have your account setup and bank account linked, you can also withdraw funds in fiat currency – this is great news as the exchange is now able to offer a way for investors to cash out their cryptocurrencies.

The platform allows users to make debit and credit card payments for cryptocurrencies via a partnership with Simplex. It’s possible to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and XRP tokens by Visa and MasterCard and the benefits of using a debit or credit card are the following:

  • Swift Transfers: Average 10-30 mins for cryptocurrency to reach your wallet
  • Low Fees: only 3.5% per transaction or 10 USD, whichever is higher
  • Convenient: Visa and MasterCard accepted

However, keep in mind that all fiat transactions require account verification.

Binance US

Depositing fiat and digital assets on Binance.US depends on the selected account verification level.

Accepted payments methods

  • Bank transfer (ACH)
  • Bank transfer
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Debit card
  • Wire transfer

Cryptocurrency deposits will take a few minutes, wire transfers may be available the same day and ACH transfers can take two to three days.

Withdrawal times will vary by method. Cryptocurrency withdrawals are fast, wire transfers can be the same day and ACH transfers may take a few days.

Mobile Trading

Both of the exchanges have their own mobile app that you can easily access from your smartphone on the go.

Customer Support

Binance

Most support inquiries need to be made via the site’s email contact form. As with most major trading exchanges, you may have to wait a while for a response simply due to the sheer growth in demand. There is a customer service bot chat to tap into, but some of the responses are automated (and some are in Chinese).

Apart from that, you can also submit a request for the support team or ask the community’s help in official Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter groups.

Binance US

For customer support, you can submit a request to Binance.US or browse the FAQ to see if your question has already been answered. Or contact them via social media as well.

Security

Binance

The exchange boasts its information security accreditation after meeting standards set out by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For the audits, the exchange was examined on 114 criteria across 14 categories, including security policy, asset management, operational security, and information systems.

Binance US

It claims to have undertaken appropriate measures dedicated to protecting its customers from theft and hacking, in line with its policy of prioritizing security.

At the moment, it is too early to say if the US version employs security technologies from the global platform which are usually described as being solid, despite a major hack this platform suffered in May 2019. Yet, the platform also responded to this incident in a generally well-received and timely manner.

Other features

Binance

The software is being constantly updated with new features. Margin trading, OTO options for traders have been recently added to the list. They also keep stacking new services on top of their original exchange platform: staking, custody, lending and saving service, academy, and education portal, etc.

Binance Lending lets you easily grow your wealth by accruing interest on your funds. Essentially, you’re lending your assets to margin traders on the platform, and they pay interest to you in return for borrowing your funds.

It also offers a Savings service to provide its customers with value-added services for their idle Digital Assets. It is similar to your regular bank savings account.

Binance US

The approach is for now focused solely on exchange business and plans to gradually add more services to the platform, in a similar manner the older brother. Right now, they do have a staking option available for their customers, aside from the primary business which is spot trading.

Can Binance be used in the US?

If you a US resident, you are not allowed to use Binance.com as it does not comply with government regulations regarding the crypto trading regulations, specifically KYC policy.

On the other hand, those USA users who have grand-fathered their access to the original platform (who already had a verified account before (Sept.12, 2019) can still continue to use their accounts as usual on the original platform. As for the limitations, they do not have access to margin and futures trading.

However, since Sept. 12, 2019, new users are not able to register a new account if accessing from the US and won’t be able to verify an account or promote the account to level 2 or higher.

That’s why

Pros & Cons

Binance

Pros

  • A wide selection of cryptocurrencies
  • Advanced trading platforms
  • Low fees
  • Futures and margin trading
  • IOTA available for trading
  • Lending Services
  • Savings Service

Cons

  • No support for Fiat currencies
  • No live chat or phone support

Binance US

Pros:

  • Fast speed. It processes 1.4 million orders per second.
  • Low fees. The platform charges 0.1% transaction fees, less if you pay in BNB.
  • Liquidity. Since trading started on the platform, the exchange has offered high liquidity to its customers.
  • Great customer service. The US version offers even better customer service than the original. It’s based in the US, after all, where “the customer is always right.”
  • Great reputation. It is well-known to pay attention to user security and to be continually innovating.
  • Mobile app for trading on the go.

Cons:

  • Currently, the platform does not offer services in New York due to missing regulatory requirements which NY requires. 12 more states are also affected: Alaska, Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, Idaho, Vermont, Washington, Texas. But they are working on getting people from these 13 states ready to trade.
  • Limited choice of cryptocurrency for trading compared to the original exchange.

Conclusion

Binance.us vs Binance? Who is the leader in this racing?

As you can see, there are lots of similar features that both of them share. Of course, the original platform has been there forever and is rich in different types of services and is available all over the world.

While the newer exchange is only almost a year old and still has so much to add to its list. However, it had a great start.