Binance and Coinbase are two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges on the global market. Both platforms offer a broad range of top-quality services, however, they are quite different compared to each other.
We’ve prepared a detailed review that compares all of the key features of both platforms.
About the Exchanges
Binance
The Binance cryptocurrency exchange platform was launched in 2017 as an international trading platform available to users worldwide. The platform managed to become the largest crypto exchange on the market in just a few years, thanks to its low fees, the broad range of trading features, and user-friendly interface.
Users can pay with a wide range of methods, including payment cards, bank accounts, and various payment services. Binance supports more than 600 digital currencies, along with crypto derivatives assets. The platform even has a high-quality NFT marketplace of its own.
Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. It was launched back in 2012, during the early years of crypto. The platform is regulated by US law, and it’s very popular in the US and Europe, but it’s also available in numerous additional global regions.
Coinbase supports nearly 170 cryptocurrencies, including most of the market leaders from the top 100 list on CoinMarketCap. The trading process on Coinbase is done through the instant trading feature that lets users quickly buy or sell crypto, while the Coinbase Pro platform has advanced trading features. There is also a Coinbase NFT marketplace.
Pros and Cons
Binance Pros
- More than 600 digital currencies for investing.
- Some of the lowest fees on the market.
- Has numerous trading features.
- Supports crypto derivatives.
- A wide range of crypto staking options.
- Has an NFT marketplace.
Binance Cons
- It isn’t regulated.
- Advanced features are somewhat complicated for beginners.
- Low-quality customer support.
Coinbase Pros
- More than 160 available coins and tokens.
- Very easy to use.
- Coinbase NFT marketplace.
- Coinbase Pro has various advanced trading features.
- The platform has never been hacked.
- Regulated by US law.
Coinbase Cons
- The platform could add more coins and tokens.
- Lack of advanced trading features on the basic Coinbase platform.
- Very high fees.
- Unresponsive customer support.
Binance vs Coinbase: The Crypto Exchange Comparison
Opening an Account
Opening a user account on Binance is very simple:
- You need to go to the official platform website and choose the Register option.
- Choose how you want to register, either with your email address or phone number. There’s also an option to register with a Google or Apple account.
- Set up a custom password for your platform account.
- If a friend has referred you, you can enter the referral code to get a signup bonus.
- Accept the terms of service and privacy policy before clicking the Create Account button.
- Binance will send a verification code to your email or phone number. Enter the code, and you’ve activated your Binance account.
Here’s how to open an account on Coinbase:
- Visit the Coinbase website and click on the Get Started button.
- Enter your full name and email address, and select your country of residence.
- Create an account password.
- Check the user agreement and privacy policy.
- Now you’re ready to click on the Create Account button.
- Check your email for the Coinbase verification message to verify your email address by clicking on the link in the message.
- Now you have to verify your phone number. Coinbase will send you a confirmation code to your phone. Enter the code to verify your phone number.
- To activate your Coinbase account, you’ll need to go through the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure and prove your identity.
- You’ll be asked to provide your full name, address, and date of birth.
- Coinbase will display a set of questions you need to answer about your employment status and what you will use the platform for. When you’re done, click on Continue.
- It’s time to choose the ID verification option and provide Coinbase with a photo of your passport, government-issued ID card, or driver’s license. Once you submit the photo, your account should be verified within 10 to 15 minutes.
- After you’re done with the whole process, you’re ready to start using your Coinbase account.
Main Features
Binance is a multi-purpose cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers services suitable for both beginners and advanced users. Beginners can use the instant trading features of the platform to buy or sell crypto, along with the quick swap feature to exchange coins.
For experienced traders, Binance has a classic trading interface with a price chart, technical analysis options, an order book, a list of your active orders, as well as a broad selection of order types. Binance supports various crypto derivatives, margin trading, and futures contracts.
The exchange offers a long list of cryptocurrencies for earning staking rewards or interest rates. This includes standard crypto staking, earning interest on crypto loans, liquidity farming, and using the Binance pool to earn mining rewards. The platform has its own Binance debit card that traders can use to spend their crypto, just like fiat currency or withdraw cash from ATMs.
Coinbase offers a much more limited range of features. The platform is mainly focused on providing beginners and average crypto traders with exposure to crypto assets through instant trading. This feature allows users to quickly buy or sell crypto for fiat currency.
For users looking for an advanced trading interface, the Coinbase Pro platform has all they need. This platform is integrated with Coinbase and comes with a standard price chart, an order book, and a wide range of technical analysis options.
Coinbase users have access to crypto staking features, an educational hub, and futures contracts. The platform doesn’t support derivatives trading due to US legislation.
Coinbase is famous for its Coinbase Wallet app, one of the most popular software crypto wallets on the market. You can use it to trade on Coinbase directly and store your crypto safely. In addition, Coinbase has a separate NFT marketplace where you can find a strong selection of trendy NFTs.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
Apart from being the largest crypto exchange on the market, Binance also has one of the largest selections of cryptocurrencies, with a total number of over 600 coins and tokens.
The platform supports all the market-leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Tether (USDT), BNB Coin (BNB), Avalanche (AVAX), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), Polygon (MATIC), Polkadot (DOT), Tron (TRX), Cosmos (ATOM), Chainlink (LINK), and hundreds of additional coins and tokens.
Coinbase supports around 170 cryptos, but this number includes all of the leading coins available on Binance. The thing is that Binance has a much larger selection of low-cap and micro-cap altcoins. This is mainly because Coinbase needs to get trading licenses for each crypto they list since the platform is regulated under strict US law, and only well-established projects meet these regulatory requirements.
Payment Methods
Binance supports various payment methods to make it easy for users to fund their accounts and buy crypto. You can buy crypto directly with a debit card or a credit card in a matter of minutes.
Binance also supports bank account transfers as a means to fund your platform account. You can fund your account with more than 20 fiat currencies, including USD, GBP, CAD, AUD, and EUR. For users in selected regions, Binance supports payment services such as PayPal, ApplePay, GooglePay, and others.
Coinbase also supports credit cards, debit cards, and bank account transfers. US users can send ACH transfers, while customers from the EU have SEPA transfers at their disposal. The bank account transfer availability varies depending on the region. In some parts of the world, bank cards are the only way to fund your Coinbase account.
Trading Fees and Limits
The Binance crypto exchange is known to have very low fees, which is one of the main selling points of the platform. The standard trading fee is 0.1% for traders with a monthly trading volume below 1 million USD. The fees drop even lower for investors with higher monthly trading volumes. The 24-hour withdrawal limit is 8 million USD worth of assets.
Coinbase, on the other hand, is known for some of the highest fees among crypto exchange platforms. The platform charges a standard 1% fee on all purchases and sales. However, the Coinbase Pro platform has much lower fees, with an average fee of 0.25% per trade. That’s why it’s far better to use Coinbase Pro to trade crypto.
How Safe Are Binance and Coinbase?
Binance is an unregulated crypto exchange. This means that it doesn’t have licenses to operate in the regions where it’s available, and local laws don’t protect users in case of platform hacks or other unfortunate events.
However, the lack of regulation also has its positive sides because it allows Binance to provide a broad range of services and list a huge number of coins without the need to obtain licenses for each crypto.
In terms of security, Binance uses password protection and two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect user accounts. The platform didn’t experience any major breaches until October of 2022, when the Binance Smart Chain, connected to the Binance exchange, suffered a 570 million USD hack due to security flaws.
Coinbase has a clean record when it comes to hacks. In terms of account and platform security, Coinbase uses passwords, website encryption, and two-factor authentication to protect the funds.
Most of the funds traded on Coinbase are actually kept offline in the company’s hardware crypto wallets to ensure no one can steal them in case of a platform hack. Only a tiny percentage of the funds are kept online to maintain optimal platform liquidity levels.
Customer Support
Both Binance and Coinbase have email support and support ticket features. Users can submit their issues and wait for customer support team members to give them an answer.
Unfortunately, users have numerous complaints about the customer service of both platforms. The criticism mainly relates to the unresponsiveness of the customer support team. The huge number of customer inquiries might be the main reason for the slow reponse time since both exchanges have millions of users.
Mobile Trading
Binance has a very handy mobile app that allows users to utilize all of the platform’s features while on the go with their Android or iOS mobile devices. You can engage in spot trading, margin trading, futures, NFT trading, and peer-to-peer trading, all from your mobile phone.
The only issue with the app is that the price chart and technical analysis tools are a bit complicated to use due to the limited size of mobile screens. Apart from that, the mobile app works great.
The Coinbase mobile app is super easy-to-use and very beginner-friendly. You can easily conduct instant purchases and sales with just a few clicks. However, if you want to access the pro trading interface on mobile, you’ll need to download the Coinbase Pro app. This is a bit of a drawback because you need to install two mobile apps to get access to all of the features.
How Do Binance and Coinbase Compare to Other Crypto Exchanges
Binance is an all-in-one crypto exchange platform that covers everything you need, from spot trading, margin trading, and futures contracts all the way to crypto derivatives, staking, and NFTs. The platform is best compared to exchanges like KuCoin, ByBit, and HTX Global because they offer a similar range of services.
All of these platforms are of high quality and have similarly low fees, like Binance. Perhaps the key advantage of Binance over its competitors is the number of available cryptocurrencies and the broader selection of staking options.
Coinbase is more focused on basic trading features and instant trading, with a separate Coinbase Pro platform for advanced users. Kraken and Gemini are the most similar platforms to Coinbase in terms of offered services.
However, when it comes to fees, both alternative platforms have lower fees, which might make them a better choice for crypto users looking for more affordable trading options.
Conclusion
Both platforms are top-of-the-line when it comes to the services they offer, but they are really two different types of exchange platforms. Coinbase is mainly focused on basic crypto trading features aimed at beginners and average traders, while Binance has numerous functions catered especially towards experienced crypto enthusiasts.
The higher quality of Binance is especially visible regarding crypto staking, crypto loans, the selection of digital currencies, and the considerably lower trading fees.