Binance US Review: 7 Must-Know Pros & Cons in 2023

Binance US is an effort to bring cryptocurrencies to U.S. based customers using all the knowledge and resources used to launch and improve Binance over the years. So before we tackle the U.S. side of things -- this Binance US review will need to start with an analysis of Binance itself.

Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2017. The name Binance is a mashup of the words ‘binary’ and ‘finance’. That’s why Binance for US customers just added US to it instead of changing the name.

Binance has been accepting U.S. customers since its launch. But once regulators in America began grumbling about them, Binance announced the launch of Binance U.S., which would comply with local regulations.  

*According to the FCA, Binance is not allowed to operate in the UK. However, Binance is still offering services to UK customers. If you live in the UK, use Binance at your own risk. Binance has also updated its Terms of Use to provide that Ontario (Canada) has become a restricted jurisdiction, and they can no longer continue to service Ontario-based users.

Changpeng Zhao and He-Yi co-founded the exceedingly popular company. 

Zhao is the current CEO. He graced the cover of Forbes three months after Binance was launched -- that’s how big a deal it was. Partly because he didn’t come out of the blue.

Zhao earned his computer science degree in Canada and went on to learn the best tips and tricks by using it at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. He then got his crypto chops from Blockchain.info and OKCoin. 

After co-founding Binance, Zhao went on to get a tattoo of the Binace logo on his forearm. This was to show how committed he is to making the best trading company.

Regulators in America began grumbling about Binance -- saying Binance never officially operated in the US, yet US customers were accessing it. 

So Zhao announced Binance US -- a new spinoff to be lead by Catherine Coley -- a former Ripple executive. She is now the CEO and “regulator-friendly face” of Binance’s efforts to win over American crypto traders.

“I am honored to lead BAM and bring Binance.US to North America. [...] This is just the beginning of a long journey ahead, and I look forward to working with Binance as a partner to unlock more potential for the blockchain ecosystem here in the U.S.”

Catherine Coley is leading the company from San Francisco -- birthplace of amazing tech. Though Binance, the parent company, officially resides in Malta, they also have physical locations in Jersey, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Uganda. And now San Francisco!

The size of the Binance US user base is still unknown. But an article did mention that 30% of Binance’s traffic in early 2018 came from the U.S. -- and ever since the regulations started causing problems, that number dropped to 15%.

Obviously that is a significant drop. Now, perhaps many of these users simply bought a VPN to access their favorite crypto trading site. In any case, it’s now easier for U.S. residents to trade on Binance since Binance US registration opened on September 18th, 2019.

This Binance US review wouldn’t start off on the right foot without diving into what Binance US offers to its users -- and especially what the future holds. Which cryptocurrencies are listed? Which cryptocurrencies can hope of being listed?

Catherine Coley wrote a Medium article addressing some of those questions. She stated that Binance.US has adopted a “Digital Asset Risk Assessment Framework.” 

This framework will be used to select “genuine blockchain projects with a real chance of making the world more efficient, to provide transparency in our listing standards, and to ensure Binance.US’s compliance with applicable legal requirements.” This framework will be used to select crypto assets using five major points.

1. Whether trading the candidate asset will affect the ability of Binance US to comply with applicable legal requirements;
2. Whether the candidate asset’s core team has a clear strategy to solve a real problem and make the world a more efficient place;
3. Whether the candidate asset’s community has a record of reaching compromises and consensuses to move the project forward, and how well the asset’s core team interacts with the asset’s community members;
4. Whether the candidate asset’s market supply and demand are reasonably fair and likely to meet Binance US’s quantitative standards; and
5. Whether the candidate asset is technologically secure to transact and/or realistic to build.

So far, Binance US has applied these five points and their whole framework to list the 5 following cryptocurrencies on their platform: 

BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, BNB, USDT. 

 

 

People reading this Binance US review who are also based in the US will be particularly pleased to note Binance Coin (BNB) is listed -- since it was one of the best performing cryptocurrencies since its ICO.

BNB is an ERC-20

token built on Ethereum. In 2018 Binance issued 20 million Binance Coins during its ICO. Zhao and Binance plan to buy back half of them and destroy them by “burning” them -- which is a crypto term for removing coins from supply. This ‘burning’ process reduces supply -- thereby increasing or stabilizing price; Companies on the stock exchange employ a similar process when they buy back shares of their stock.

Still, Binance US claimed to be exploring the listing of all the following cryptocurrencies:

That’s 30 different cryptocurrencies -- over half of which are in the top 20 according to coinmarketcap.com

Now, so far this Binance US review has laid down a lot of info in a few thick paragraphs. So for those of you skimming through, let’s list a few highlights.

Pros:

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

Cons:

• Currently, Binance US 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 Binance US is working on getting people from these 13 states ready to trade.
• Limited choice of cryptocurrency for trading. Although they are exploring 23 additional coins, Binance US currently offers 7 coins only. This is a far cry from the hundreds which Binance itself offers.

To conclude this review of Binance US, I’d say that if you’re a U.S. resident, you must have an account there. Considering its history, Binance should quickly become an excellent trading platform for U.S. residents. 

If you haven’t signed up already, then go to Binance US and:

1. Sign up for your account. It’s easy and should take literally one minute.
2. Verify your identity. It’s easy to do, but the process might take 24-48 hours and is mandatory due to U.S. regulations.
3. Deposit. You can deposit USD or any these cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, USDT.
4. Trade!

More Awesome Resources:

• The 5 Best Ways to Buy Bitcoin
• The 3 Best Bitcoin Lending Sites To Earn Interest
• The 5 Best Bitcoin Sports Betting Sites

Q: Can I use Binance in the US?

Yes. It’s made specifically for you, the US customer, after all … as long as you’re not from NY anyway… or Alaska, Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, Idaho, Vermont, Washington, Texas. Wow, I hope they loosen their regulations soon.
 

Q: Where is Binance US located?

San Francisco, California.
 

Q: Is Binance US safe? 

As safe as Coinbase. Binance US will hold to all the regulations that fully regulated exchanges must stick to.
 

Q: Is Binance legal in the US?

Yes. They are approved to go ahead with trading.
 

Q: What are the alternatives to Binance US?

Coinbase springs to mind. They offer 15+ cryptocurrencies to trade and offer the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency for US dollars.