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Changpeng Zhao developed Binance, an HK based Cryptocurrency exchange which was established in July 2017,
Zhao’s CV holds high profile roles such as technical director at Blockchain.info, and his form now offers trading systems for more than thirty other platforms.
Post the struggles with the government of China’s view on crypto-trade, Binance now runs its servers from more flexible jurisdictions which gives it the freedom to run a competitive exchange service.
Zhao explained his decision one of its statement stating, that in response to China’s decisions, the firm is moving their IP’s from Hong Kong to an offshore location. This will ensure that the firm is registered in several jurisdictions and that way it won’t be affected by anyone regulatory body.
The exchange has been on a steady rise since it started its operations last summer and now is even considered amongst the top ten firms in terms of daily trading volumes on Coinmarketcap.
What makes Binance so popular?
Currency Support
The exchange does not work with fiat currencies, in other words, they support crypto-to-crypto exchange. This enables the platform to work without any restrictions, while staying away from any regulations, for now.
The firm has an array of cryptocurrencies in addition to the common, Ether, Bread, Bitcoin and Tether pairs. On the whole, Binance offers nearly a 100 pairs of coins and almost all main altcoins, such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, and Cash, they all are a part of the firms offering. Soon to be an addition to this roster are up and coming altcoins.
Binance Fees
The fee-structure at Binance is competitive, is cutting through the competition by upping their game.
The low rate of 0.1% is attractive as it gets for any traders who aren’t looking for immediate fiat liquidation. Unbelievingly it undermines most other larger players, some of which levy charges over 0.2%. That’s quite a difference if one is working with large sized orders.
At the moment, BNB, Binance’s native token even generates a 50% discount on this fee when dealing with the coin.
No fee is charged on the deposits, as one would expect.
Withdrawals do come with a charge, although they are generally correlated with the blockchain execution fees. The withdrawal fee seems to be updated regularly in order to offer a better fair price.
While writing this piece, a Bitcoin withdrawal costs around 8 dollars whereas a Litecoin on costs a mere 0.33 dollars. It’s a game of time for Bitcoin, It’s advisable to keep Bitcoin unmoved, as it may eat into one’s profits. It’s wiser to use faster and economical alternatives such as Litecoin where ever possible.
Customer Support
Binance goes a good job when it comes to customer support. The website’s email contact form needs to be utilized to submit most inquiries, after which, the staff will contact the trader. As it is the case with major trading exchanges one has to wait for a couple of days to garner a response, this is simply due to the sheer volume of queries it receives due to a rise in demand.
Webchat customer support is also available via QR code, which is a faster option for a quick live chat, but the responses at times are automated, and hence are in Chinese. When I tested Wechat, I by default received an auto-message directing me to the support links page. After around 5 mins I received another ping which seemed to be from an actual representative from the exchange. My Chinese comprehending skills were poor to decipher the text without Google translate, however, the information seemed legit.
On a positive note, the website is multilingual and covers a variety of languages such as English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, which should cater to a wide audience, as these are the languages used in major financial markets. This works in favor of Binance as it wants to compete as a global entity in the field of crypto-exchange.
Public opinion/online reviews
Binance has a lot of offer, many traders have positive things to say about its services; competitive fees, responsive exchange, and experienced developers leave most people pleased. Binance has generally been perceived as a successful all-encompassing exchange who’s achieved great heights in a short span of time.
Do note, Binance offers an affiliate program, which results in a lot of people accrediting it with positive reviews while trying to promote their affiliate links to earn some extra buck. Take every positive review you read with a pinch of salt if it includes an affiliate link.
One shortcoming that we did notice on the website is that many reviews complain about a dysfunctional 2FA/SMS confirmation. The downside to this setup is that some of the customers struggle to withdraw funds. In fact, it does to such issues that scam allegations have to made towards its service.
An honest opinion is that sketchy prospect exist across the industry and I view this as more of a tech-related issue than a scam. It’s quite possible that this hiccup will be sorted in 2018, after post which I hope that Binance drives an even higher market cap.
Binance exchange review
Pros
- Competitive commissions
- Good trading platform
Cons
- Does not support fiat currency
- Based in China