Binance Exchange Review: Fees, Safety, and License Status

Binance has the largest trading volume of the ten exchanges on this site: about $6.5B a day across 1,372 pairs and 519 coins (CoinGecko, 4 November 2026). CoinGecko dates it to 2017 and registers it in the Cayman Islands. It is a centralized exchange, so the balance you deposit sits in Binance’s custody, not in a wallet you control.

Binance charges 0.1% to makers and 0.1% to takers at the entry spot tier, before any discounts. Entry-tier taker fees across the ten exchanges here run from 0.05% (MEXC) to 0.80% (Kraken), which puts Binance in line with most of the group. Rates last verified 25 October 2026.

On perpetual USDT futures, Binance charges makers 0.02% and takers 0.05% at the base tier (VIP 0), as of 25 October 2026. By taker fee that is tied for the 2nd lowest of 10. Funding rates are charged separately, and leverage can magnify losses beyond the margin. On 25 October 2026 Binance’s fee page also listed a promotion: 0% maker and up to 50% off taker fees on U-margined perpetuals.

The cheapest USDT route at Binance costs about $0.01 on BEP20 (checked 10 October 2026), the sixth-cheapest of the ten exchanges here. Other coins and networks are priced separately.

Binance has the maximum CoinGecko Trust Score (10/10), yet it holds no MiCA license: ESMA’s register had no entry for it when eTop checked on 1 November 2026. On the technical side, the website earns an A+ on SSL Labs (2 November 2026) with a clean Google Safe Browsing check (4 November 2026). Weigh separately the October 2026 security incident, covered in the next answer.

In late October 2026 Binance disclosed a security incident. The impact estimate, cause, loss coverage and current state of withdrawals are set out in the Security Incident History block, with links to Binance’s statements.

Binance publishes Proof of Reserves with zk-SNARK proofs. Its page shows a snapshot dated 31 October 2026: 100.04% for BTC, 100.00% for ETH, 100.00% for USDT and 106.08% for USDC. This is the exchange’s own data.

No. ESMA’s register of MiCA-authorized crypto-asset service providers has no entry for Binance as of 1 November 2026.

Binance verification has four steps, and document review usually takes up to 48 hours, sometimes longer. You pick your country of residence and document type (passport, ID card, or driver’s license; the options depend on your country), upload a photo of the document (both sides for an ID card), complete a live facial recognition scan with no hat, glasses, or filters, and confirm your personal details, which can’t be changed once confirmed. Source: official Binance support article, updated 5 June 2026.

Binance’s official site is binance.com. You log in to the account you created when you registered; for P2P, Binance requires identity verification and two-factor authentication. Fake exchange sites often differ from the real one by a letter or two in the address, so type the address yourself or use a bookmark, and install the app only from the App Store or Google Play. The official app pages for every exchange are collected in the apps ranking.

Yes. The OTC service is open to verified users, and the account must be funded with the assets to be traded. The minimum for manual spot trades is USD 200,000 or equivalent. As of 2 November 2026, per the Binance OTC page.

Yes. Binance Demo Trading lets you practice spot and futures trading (USDⓈ-M and COIN-M) with virtual funds. It’s available at demo.binance.com or through Trade → Demo Trading in the menu, no verification required, and you can reset the virtual balance. Source: official Binance support article, updated 15 October 2025.

Binance Earn is the exchange’s section for passive-income products, including staking for ETH and SOL. There are also Flexible and Locked savings products, plus more advanced ones like Dual Investment. Joining usually requires a minimum coin balance in the chosen product and a verified account, and some products aren’t available in every region. eTop doesn’t list APYs here, because they change constantly and aren’t part of the score. Checked on the Earn page 21 September 2026.

Yes. Per Binance’s help page (checked 16 October 2026), a new user who verifies the account, makes a first deposit of $10 or more and a trade of $10 or more within 14 days of sign-up can get up to $100 in vouchers that refund trading fees. The promotion changes, so check the current terms on Binance’s page before you sign up.

Yes. Binance P2P is built around user-set listings: each seller picks the price, the minimum and maximum order, and the payment methods they accept. eTop reviewed the listings on 12 October 2026.

Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (CZ). Since 3 December 2025 it has been run by co-CEOs Richard Teng and co-founder Yi He, according to Binance’s own press release. Zhao stepped down as CEO in November 2023 after pleading guilty to federal charges in the US, as announced by the US Department of Justice.