If you’re wondering about Binance vs. Binance US and what’s the difference between these two exchanges, you are certainly not alone. Due to the similar branding employed by the two exchanges, it can be quite confusing to tell the difference. In this article, we’ll explain the differences between Binance and Binance US and explain their most important features.
Key highlights:
- Binance serves a global audience with over 350 cryptocurrencies and diverse features, while Binance US focuses on U.S. customers with a limited offering.
- Binance offers advanced products like futures, margin trading, and crypto derivatives, while Binance US provides basic trading options due to regulatory restrictions.
- Binance supports fiat currencies like EUR and TRY, while Binance US shifted to crypto-only trading, making it less suitable for beginners needing fiat access.
Binance vs. Binance US – What is the difference?
Although Binance and Binance US look very similar at first glance, they are two separate exchanges. Binance caters to a global user base, while Binance US is specifically targeting the United States market. Since Binance doesn’t accept customers from the United States, the Binance US exchange was launched to offer a compliant crypto trading platform to US users.
Binance US is operated by BAM Trading Services and uses Binance branding and trading technology through a licensing agreement. Binance Holdings Limited and BAM Trading share common majority ownership but are technically not part of the same corporate structure.
While Binance and Binance US share a similar user interface and fee structure, Binance US is a much more limited platform. The main reason why Binance US can’t offer all of the same features as Binance is US regulations, which limit the types of crypto trading and investing products that can be offered to US investors.
Although Binance US caters to users from the United States, it restricts access for many US-based customers. According to the exchange’s terms of service, it doesn’t accept customers from the following states:
- Alaska
- American Samoa
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Guam
- Maine
- Northern Mariana Islands
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Texas
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Vermont
- Washington
The operator of Binance US, BAM Trading Services, is headquartered in the United States. Meanwhile, Binance’s headquarters are officially in Seychelles, although the exchange’s operations are distributed around the world.
Due to regulatory limitations, you won’t be able to find products such as crypto derivatives (futures and options), lending, or launchpads on Binance US.
Binance, on the other hand, provides arguably the biggest selection of crypto trading features in the entire industry. Traders can access spot markets, futures, options, margin trading, and even leverage of up to 125x in some cases. In addition, the platform provides crypto lending, passive income products, staking, and other products that allow crypto investors to get the most out of their holdings.
| Binance | Binance US | |
|---|---|---|
| Launched in | 2017 | 2019 |
| Available in the US | No | Yes |
| Identity verification | Mandatory | Mandatory |
| Listed cryptocurrencies | 350+ | 150+ |
| Fiat currency pairs | TRY, EUR, BRL, NGN, others | No |
| Derivatives trading (futures, options) | Yes | No |
| Leveraged trading | Yes | No |
| Base trading fee | 0.10% for both maker and taker orders. Users can reduce trading fees by generating trading volume or paying fees with BNB. |
No fees on “Tier 0” trading pairs, 0.38% maker fee and 0.57% taker fee otherwise. Users can reduce trading fees by generating trading volume or paying fees with BNB. |
| Mobile App | iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
Now that we know the basic differences between Binance and Binance US, let’s take a look at the two exchanges individually.
Binance – A fully-featured crypto exchange targeting a global userbase
Binance was founded in 2017 and it didn’t take long for it to become the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange both in terms of trading volume and the size of its userbase. It often leads in trading volume across both spot and derivatives markets compared to other cryptocurrency exchanges.
Binance lists over 350 different cryptocurrencies and a comprehensive suite of products and services for those trading or investing in crypto. The exchange offers a huge range of trading pairs, with markets denominated in various stablecoins (USDT, FDUSD, USDC, TUSD, and DAI), crypto assets such as BNB, BTC, and ETH, as well as several fiat currencies (EUR, TRY, BRL, NGN, and others).
On Binance, users can access various modes of trading, including spot, futures, margin as well as AMM token swaps.
The platform is known for its competitive trading fees, which can reduced even further if the user pays the fees using the BNB token. The standard fee for spot trading is 0.1%, but this drops to 0.075% with BNB payments. Users who generate larger amounts of trading volume can access even lower trading fees.
The Binance Futures platform enables the trading of cryptocurrency derivatives, allowing traders to assume long or short positions on cryptocurrencies with the possibility of using up to 125x leverage on certain products. Binance offers both perpetual and standard futures contracts for those interested in leveraged trading.
Besides trading, Binance also offers Binance Earn, a suite of products designed to generate passive income from cryptocurrency holdings, available in fixed or flexible variants. For certain Proof-of-Stake coins, Binance facilitates staking, enabling users to earn rewards.
A signature feature of the exchange is the Binance Launchpad, which hosts token sales for emerging blockchain projects. These sales often attract significant interest, and Binance Launchpad has introduced notable projects such as Axie Infinity and Polygon to the market.
Binance pros:
- Industry leader in crypto and blockchain
- More than 350 cryptocurrencies listed
- Low trading fees
- Very strong liquidity
- Futures, margin trading, options and many more trading features in addition to spot
- Launchpool and Launchpad provide access to promising new projects
Binance cons:
- The exchange’s fiat currency deposit and withdrawal options are limited in certain markets
- The exchange has been the target of a regulatory crackdown
Binance US – A Binance-branded exchange for US customers
The Binance US suite of products is fairly basic – the exchange offers spot trading, crypto swaps, and a feature that allows users with Binance US accounts to seamlessly send crypto to each other. Users can also access a staking service, where the exchange stakes crypto on their behalf and shares the generated staking rewards (minus a fee).
Binance US also offers an OTC (over-the-counter) trading service for traders who want to make large crypto trades without making an impact on the markets.
Binance US provides a fairly large selection of cryptocurrencies for trading, although it’s smaller than what you’ll be able to find on Binance. At the time of writing, there are just over 161 different crypto assets available for trading on Binance US, while the Binance exchange lists more than 350 crypto assets.
The vast majority of trading pairs on Binance US are denominated in the USDT stablecoin, although the exchange also lists a small number of trading pairs denominated in BTC and ETH.
Although Binance US previously offered USD-denominated markets, the exchange stopped offering USD-denominated trading pairs in 2023. This move was a response to increased regulatory pressure on the exchange.
This change has made it much more difficult to recommend Binance US, as the inability to deposit USD to the exchange or cash out directly to a bank account is a big downside. Since the exchange now only supports crypto-to-crypto trading, it’s not a great option for users who are just getting started with crypto. If you don’t yet own any crypto and would like to make your first investment, an exchange such as Kraken or Coinbase would be a much better option.
Binance US pros:
- Simple to use
- Solid selection of cryptocurrencies (150+)
- Zero trading fees for certain pairs
- Uses Binance’s trading technology
Binance US cons:
- No longer supports USD deposits or withdrawals, which severely limits the exchange’s usefulness
Key differences
Let’s quickly go over some key differences between the two exchanges.
Trading fees
Binance.com: 0.075 – 0.1% fees for trades under $1 million
Binance.US: 0.076 – 0.57% fees for trades under $1 million
Binance has always offered some of the lowest fees among exchanges, so it’s no surprise that Binance.US’s fees are quite competitive, as long as users pay the fees with BNB tokens. Otherwise, fees at Binance.US are quite expensive.
User interface
Binance.com: More features lead to a more complicated user experience
Binance.US: Simpler interface due to offering fewer features
Both platforms look and feel quite similar, which is to be expected. Of course, the main difference in the design of the two platforms is the simplicity of the Binance.US exchange. It’s much more streamlined, even when compared to the already slick global Binance platform. That in turn makes it a great exchange for beginner traders.
Number of cryptocurrencies
Binance.com: 350+ (cryptocurrencies)
Binance.US: 150+ (cryptocurrencies)
Binance.US offers significantly fewer cryptocurrencies, in order to stay compliant with American regulations. Still, if you’re only looking to trade the more established cryptocurrencies, this shouldn’t be a problem.
The bottom line
Hopefully, our explanation of Binance vs. Binance US helped you understand the most important differences between the two exchanges. The two exchanges share their branding, trading technology, and ownership interests, although they are technically not part of the same corporate structure.
Binance provides a very diverse range of features and supports a larger selection of cryptocurrencies. However, it does not operate in the United States. On the other hand, Binance US caters to the United States market, but offers fewer cryptocurrencies and only provides basic trading features.
If you’re looking to explore the topic of cryptocurrency exchanges further, make sure to take a look at our article exploring the best cryptocurrency exchanges.
