Binance Review (UK): Still Worth It For UK Users?

A Note On The FCA x Binance “Ban”

Is Binance Banned In The UK?

• Despite news reports of Binance having to halt operations in the UK, Binance.com is still available to trade on for UK users.
• However, Cross-border Euro deposits using “SEPA” from UK banks have been disabled, so you will have to find an alternative route if you’ve been using SEPA to deposit GBP.
• At the time of writing, GBP withdrawals are still enabled.
• There are still many unknowns, and we will update this article with further details as they become available.

How To Deposit Funds To Binance From The UK?

• Even though GBP SEPA deposits have been disabled, you can still have EUR SEPA deposits wired into Binance from Revolut. Other challenger banks may work, however I have only tried with Revolut, so we can’t vouch for the others.

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Based out of Cayman Islands, Binance is one of the largest platforms for trading cryptocurrencies, and traders have access to more than 540 trading pairs.

Of course, if you have never bought crypto before, it can be hard to know which platforms are worth trying out. Crypto isn’t precisely standardised like currencies or securities are, so there are some oddities you have to deal with when trading them.

In our Binance review, we’ll cover the platform’s features, pros, and cons. We will also look at customer reviews and give our verdict on whether the Binance platform is worth using or not.

Binance: Verdict

Overall, Binance is an excellent platform for trading crypto. The interface could use a little work, and as such, beginners may feel a little overwhelmed at times. The platform accepts 200+ currency denominations and has native support for 540 currency pairs. Binance makes it very easy to create an account and start buying crypto.

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
High liquidity on most coins	Can be difficult to navigate
Tonnes of crypto pairs to trade	Little to no customer support
Excellent payment options	Regulatory issues in certain jurisdictions
Relatively safe and secure

How Does Binance Work?

In its most basic form, Binance lets you buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Until recently, Binance was a crypto-only exchange. 

However, they recently added the option to buy crypto with fiat currencies like USD or the Pound Sterling (up until the recent regulatory drama, anyway).

The company has also recently added some support for bank accounts and credit card deposits.

Outside of the core exchange, Binance has some other features. They have a savings account, a “smart pool” structure for mining coins, and even recently released one of the first 0-fee crypto-funded Visa debit cards. They have also extended their services to offering crypto loans and special “locked” high-yield savings accounts.

Here is a quick guide on how the platform works. First, you open an account. If you only want to use cryptocurrencies and do not plan to trade using fiat, then you only need to provide an email address to make an account.

If you want to buy crypto with fiat currency, such as GBP, then you will need to link a supported bank account.

Binance makes the process of opening an account very streamlined and straightforward. 

1. After making an account, you will be asked to set up 2-factor authentication. We highly recommend using this option as it ensures that no one else can access your wallet without your unique code that can be stored on your phone. 
2. Once you complete the verification process, you can go to your wallet, click on the Fiat option and search for your desired currency. Enter the desired amount that you want to spend and then select the credit card or bank account that you set up.
3. If you want to deposit crypto from another wallet, you need to go to the deposit page and select the currency you want to trade. Click on the desired currency and you will get an address that you can send funds to. 
4. Next, copy that wallet address and use that unique address to send your money over to your Binance wallet. Be careful when transferring cryptocurrency. If you enter the wrong wallet address, your crypto might be unrecoverable. 
5. Now that you have crypto in your wallet, you can start trading. Click on the Exchange section and you can access either the Basic or Advanced trading platform. If you are a beginner, we recommend using the Basic platform first not to get overwhelmed. Now you can browse the 540 crypto pairs.
6. Once you trade, that crypto will then be in your wallet. You can also set up APIs for crypto trading bots to automate buying coins.

Full Review

Onboarding/Sign Up Process – 8/10

Binance has a very easy-to-follow signup process. When you create an account, you only need to give an email address if you only trade with cryptocurrencies. You can add a supported bank account or credit card and use that to fund your account.

However, there is not much in the way of an actual onboarding process. Once you get walked through the signup process, you are basically on your own. The Binance website has a blog with a bunch of articles, but there does not seem to be a dedicated training section for beginners on how actually to use the platform. So you may need to look at outside sources if you want to get fluent by working with Binance.

The actual creation of an account is very simple too. Binance has upped the ante for crypto platforms by adding traditional bank transfers and debit cards as supported payment methods. So Binance is probably one of the easiest crypto platforms to use because it is so easy to sign up and start trading. The only main downside is that there is a lack of training and actual onboarding process.

Note: If you want full access to advanced trading features such as futures and margin, you will need to ensure you have passed a KYC check, and also taken their dedicated “quiz” on that trading feature.

User Interface – 7/10

User interface is one of the areas that Binance simultaneously does well in but also does poorly. The main disconnect between the two is the quality of the desktop platform and the mobile platform. The desktop platform does a great job of displaying information in a logical and easy to read manner. Some of the charts and screen layouts look a bit cluttered, but for the most part, the information is clean and straightforward. 

The app is another story though. Very basic things are easy enough to do but if you want to look at charts then you are going to have a rough time. The app also has some slowdown and crashing issues. There were multiple times that an order stalled and we were not sure whether our transaction went through or not. These issues 

So the UX for Binance is solidly average when you combine both the desktop and mobile platforms. The desktop does fairly well while the mobile app could use some work. Thankfully, there were no UX problems that made us lose any money, which is a story that some users report. 

Ease Of Use – 9/10

On the whole, Binance is one of the easiest crypto platforms to use in the UK. The main reason why it is so easy to use is the option to use a standard bank account or credit card to buy crypto. 

For a very long time, crypto was not too popular because it was often difficult to buy. Unlike stocks, you couldn’t just hop onto an exchange and buy some with your bank account. Now you can buy crypto with the same bank account that you buy stocks with. 

Binance also has many available altcoins and are being added to regularly. Simply go to the exchange part and you can find an entire list of what kind of pairs are available.

Keep in mind that you will have to complete a simple KYC process before you can find your account using fiat currency. This KYC process is to make sure no users are skirting anti-money-laundering laws. You will have to provide your full name, country of residence, and date of birth through a third-party verification partner called NetVerify. You will also have to upload a copy of a government-issued photo ID, such as your national ID card.

Features – 8/10

Exchange

Binance has some of the best features we have seen in a crypto platform. The main attraction is, of course, the actual exchange. The exchange is large and there are a ton of crypto pairs you can trade. The exchange also lets you look at price changes for currency pairs over the day so you can do a bit of technical analysis while you are searching for coins to trade. 

P2P Lending

Binance also has P2P lending, which is a new service for the platform. P2P sales connect buyers and sellers directly so that the two can decide on payment terms and how to trade currencies. P2P trading is another way the platform streamlines trading crypto.

Crypto Debit Card

We have already mentioned it a bit before, but Binance is one of the few crypto platforms with Visa debit cards that let you buy stuff with your crypto wallet. These cards can be used anywhere Visa is accepted, even at vendors that do not accept crypto payments. The debit card lets you buy things in over 31 supported currencies. But, there are fees for transactions that can get as high as 3.5%. 

Spot Trading

The spot trading tool has three interfaces to switch through. The classic interface shows the trading pairs, while the advanced views let you play with charting tools like moving averages, candlesticks, and more. There is also the quick trade option which allows you to trade currencies without any charge or order books. You are simply given the market rate and an option to confirm your transaction.

Margin Trading

Binance lets you margin trade specific crypto pairs, and you can leverage up to 10x the amount of coins on some denominations. You can put your entire wallet up for margin trading, or you can limit your margin trading to a single currency pair to insulate any losses.

Binance Futures

Binance also recently launched Binance Futures, which lets you trade crypto derivatives. Crypto derivatives are about speculating on the future price movements of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other popular altcoins. The Binance Futures platform also allows leveraging up to 125x your current assets. Binance Futures also has a slightly different fee structure than the regular platform (more on that later). 

Savings Accounts

Lastly, Binance recently introduced savings accounts for your crypto. Savings accounts let you store your crypto in flexible or locked accounts so you can generate returns on any idle funds. Binance savings accounts have very high interest rates, much higher than what you can find at a normal bank savings account.

Customer Support

The only awful thing about Binance is the customer support. Customer support is basically non-existent as they are difficult to get a hold of. 

If you have a technical problem with your account, it can take a very long time to get a hold of them and they may not be able to help you out. So customer support leaves a lot to be desired.

Supported Cryptocurrencies – 10/10

One of the main things that separate Binance from other platforms is the massive list of supported currencies they have. Binance offers over 540 trading pairs, including the most popular cryptocurrencies of the day. There are over 200 total different coin denominations on the platform, such as

• Bitcoin
• BNB Coin
• Ethereum
• Litecoin
• Ripple
• Solana
• Bitcoin Cash
• Cosmos
• Dash
• EOS
• Nano
• TRON
• TrueUSD
• Tether
• Stellar Lumens
• Wanchain
• WePower
• XRP
• Zcoin
• Zilliqa
• And many more

So basically, no matter what kind of crypto you are looking for, the odds are that you can find it on Binance’s platform. If what you’re after is only available on the likes of Uniswap, Pancakeswap or other decentralised exchanges (DEXs), you can use Binance as an on-ramp to purchase your crypto on, and send it over to your Metamask or other hot wallets.

The sheer number is almost intimidating and you will probably find currencies you have never even heard of. The wide range of potential trades is an excellent feature of the platform and is why this section received our coveted 10 out of 10 rating.

Fee Structure – 9/10

Binance is also well-known for its very competitive fee structure. First off, they charge a flat rate of 0.1% on all trades, which is very low compared to other exchanges. Binance Futures has low fees for leverage accounts, on the order of 0.02% and 0.04% for makers and takers. Given that most other exchanges charge above 0.02%, Binance has some very competitive fees. 

The platform also gives you an extra 50% discount on fees if you have BNB (Binance Coin) held in your Binance account wallet. The more coins you trade, the lower the fee is. 

For example, if you trade more than 500 BTC in a month, you get a reduced rate of 0.09%. The lowest fee is 0.04% but you would have to trade over 150,000 BTC in a single month to get that rate. 

Deposits are also free, except for any blockchain fees, which are paid by whoever sends you the crypto. 

For credit card and bank transfers, Binance does not charge fees if the native currency is USD or EUR. So if you are working with GBP, then you will have to pay a 3.5% processing fee, which is lower than the industry average of 3.99%. Also, not all coins are available for direct purchase with fiat currency.

Security (Is Binance Safe?) – 9/10

Security is always a big concern with cryptocurrency. Most countries do not insure crypto so your funds are not protected in case your account gets hacked or you accidentally give away your wallet information. Binance recognises this threat and puts in several security measures to make sure your money does not get stolen. First, you will have to set up 2-factor authentication when you create an account.

Also, if you try to access your Binance account from a different device or an unfamiliar IP address, you will first have to confirm the login from your registered email account. 

The app also sends an email confirmation before doing specific account tasks like making deposits or withdrawals.

Also, Binance recently added a whitelisting feature. Normally, you can withdraw your funds to any wallet address. The whitelist feature restricts withdrawals to a single wallet address. So no one will be able to move your money from your Binance account to their wallet address. 

Lastly, Binance operates what is called their Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) that is designed to help protect crypto assets. In the case that the platform is hacked, the SAFU is used to reimburse any lost money. The SAFU takes 10% of all transaction fees on the platform and stores them in a secure account. 

Binance was actually hacked back in 2019 and lost a bunch of money, but thanks to the SAFU, the users got every penny back. 

So Binance is about as safe as a crypto trading platform can be. You just need to keep your login info secure and not mix up wallet addresses when sending funds.

As with all centralised exchanges, you aren’t the actual 

What Other People Are Saying

Binance has pretty mixed reviews online. If you look at their Trustpilot page, it has a ton of very negative reviews calling the platform a scam. However, a very large chunk of these negative reviews seem to be from people who did something wrong and are angry they lost their money, not from any fault of the platform. 

There are a number of reviews from people who claimed that their account was locked for no discernible reason, and that is a genuine problem. Also, most reviewers say that customer support is bad and almost non-existent. Customer support works on a ticket basis but it can be very hard to talk to an actual human on the other line. So customer service is definitely not one of their strong suits. So customer service is definitely not one of their strong suits. 

FAQ

• What is BNB?
  • BNB is the native cryptocurrency for the Binance platform. You can get a 50% discount on trading fees when using Binance coin. 
• What is Binance API?
  • The Binance API is an application interface that lets you set up bots for crypto trading. The API is flexible and lets you set schedules for buying and selling assets. 
• What countries currently allow Binance?
  • Binance is currently available in over 180 countries worldwide. However, not all features are available in all countries due to regulations and restrictions on cryptocurrencies.
• Who founded Binance, and where are they based?
  • Although legally based out of Cayman Islands (previously Malta), Binance was founded by Chinese national Changpen Zhao.
• How much volume does Binance process a day?
  • At the time of writing, $2 billion in assets are traded on the platform each day.
• How long does Binance ID verification take?
  • It can take a maximum of 10 days to complete Binance’s identification process. 
• Does Binance have an ETF?
  • Kind of. Binance has leveraged tokens which are similar to a traditional leveraged ETF. These leveraged tokens follow the price of an underlying asset. 
• Does Binance have a referral program?
  • Yes, Binance has a referral program that grants you a commission on all fees the referred user pays.