Binance and KuCoin are two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. They provide great features for rookie and skilled traders, such as hundreds of cryptocurrencies, efficient charting options, affordable costs, and massive international flexibility.
KuCoin and Binance have various trading options with several similarities and differences. We conducted a KuCoin vs Binance comparison using several parameters to assist you in selecting the best crypto exchange for your trading requirements.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Overview
Both Binance and KuCoin allow traders to purchase, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies.
KuCoin first emerged in 2017, and within a few years, it has grown to become one of the major crypto exchanges in terms of trading volume. In addition to conventional trading choices, the platform provides margin, peer-to-peer (P2P), and futures trading.
It also lets users stake or lend their cryptos in exchange for incentives and has cheaper trading costs than competitors. If you are a US trader, like other traders worldwide, you must create a KuCoin account to utilize KuCoin; however, the functionalities are limited for US traders.
Meanwhile, Binance was established in 2017 as a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange based in China. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange, putting KuCoin far behind. Today, the platform supports nearly all major tokens, including Bitcoin, Polkadot, Litecoin, DogeCoin, and others.
Spare to being a versatile exchange, Binance provides traders with a wallet to deposit their assets safely. It also includes a mining pool and provides traders with interest-earning features for extra benefits.
Binance provides a second platform, Binance US, for all American users. It includes nearly all of its parent’s sophisticated features.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Supported Currencies
KuCoin has a far more extensive selection of cryptocurrencies than Binance’s US platform. This is due, in part, to the fact that Binance has some operational limitations when operating within US boundaries. A currency must be thoroughly validated to be accepted on the Binance US platform.
KuCoin provides users with over 700 cryptocurrencies for buying, selling, and trading.
In contrast, Binance US extends support to over 150 cryptocurrencies exclusively for US citizens, while Binance encompasses a global presence, facilitating the trading of more than 360 cryptocurrencies worldwide.
So, KuCoin has far greater freedom in offering a diverse range of currencies. The platform can provide its consumers with considerably more coins.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Fees
Although the business models of KuCoin and Binance are similar, their fees differ. Binance has a lower fee structure than KuCoin. Check out the breakdown below.
Deposit Charges
Depending on the currency and deposit method, there may be a fee if you make a fiat currency deposit into Binance. For instance, there is no fee while depositing Australian Dollars (AUD) using PayID/OSKO. If you use a bank card to deposit Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), on the other hand, the fee is 3.50%.
KuCoin does not allow fiat currency deposits. If you want to buy a coin with fiat currency, you directly pay it without depositing it first. The cost of purchasing cryptocurrency ranges between 3% and 5%, based on the payment method used.
Deposits of cryptocurrency on KuCoin and Binance are free of charge.
Trading Fees
Trading fees on Binance start at 0.1%. You get a 25% discount if you pay with Binance’s token (BNB). This results in a trading fee of only 0.075%, the lowest in the market. You can buy cryptocurrencies using fiat on the market on Binance, unlike KuCoin, where you can only trade cryptocurrencies.
Like Binance, KuCoin offers trading costs starting at 0.1%, but you may pay using the KuCoin token (KCS) to get a lower trading charge. However, unlike Binance, the discount is just 20% instead of 25%, which allows you to lower your cost to 0.08% for each trade.
So, in terms of trading fees, the only distinction is that KuCoin imposes a slightly higher taker fee (0.06% compared to 0.04%) specifically for derivatives trading.
Withdrawal Fees
On Binance, the withdrawal charges for fiat cash varies based on the withdrawal method and the currency. For instance, there is no price for withdrawing Australian Dollars (AUD) by bank transfer, but a 1% fee for withdrawing Pounds Sterling (GBP) using a bank card.
Binance charges a fixed fee for cryptocurrency withdrawals to cover the expenses of sending the coins to your private wallet. The cost is set for each cryptocurrency.
One of the most significant downsides of KuCoin is that the exchange does NOT support withdrawals of fiat cash. Only cryptocurrencies may be withdrawn, and a set charge depends on the coin you wish to withdraw.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Security
Binance keeps most of its digital assets offline in cold storage and provides essential information on improving customer security. This includes enabling 2FA (two-factor authentication), managing withdrawal addresses, whitelisting devices, and anti-phishing codes. They even advocate for U2F (universal 2nd-factor authentication). It requires physical access to hardware for account access.
However, even the most secure crypto exchange can have exploitable vulnerabilities, and Binance was hacked in 2019 and lost almost $40 million in Bitcoin. Binance covered the entire amount, ensuring no breach affected any user. They received their ISO 27001 certification only four months later.
KuCoin applies several levels of security mechanisms, including industry-level multilayer encryption, micro-withdrawal wallets, and dynamic multi-factor authentication, to secure the safety of its users’ assets. They even have separate internal risk control divisions to supervise all daily transactions. In 2020, KuCoin was the victim of a cyberattack in which $150 million was stolen. KuCoin responded quickly, retrieving a major chunk of the stolen cash and covering the remaining amount under their insurance coverage. This cybersecurity compromise resulted in no damage to KuCoin users.
Binance vs. KuCoin – User Interface
Binance has two user interfaces: basic and advanced. Currency pairs trading charts and graphs, trade history, and an order book are all included in the basic version of the interface.
The advanced edition includes currency pairs, trading history, and open orders. It also has a more in-depth technical analysis of the value of crypto assets over time.
On KuCoin, the trading page appears after you have selected a currency combination to exchange. On the trading page, you can see the standard candles, order book, and transaction records, and then sell or buy the currencies you’ve selected. When you first open this page, you will need to provide your Google Authenticator code before you can trade; this can be a little inconvenient, but it does give an additional layer of security to the site, which is strongly recommended.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Deposits and Withdrawal Methods
On Binance, you can deposit any of the supported crypto coins as well as some of the over 26 accepted fiat currencies. Credit and debit cards, direct transfers, various internet payment systems, SWIFT transfers, ACH transfers, and SEPA transfers are all options for depositing fiat currencies, depending on your location.
On KuCoin, you can deposit more than 46 fiat currencies. Again, the biggest downside for KuCoin is that it doesn’t allow users to withdraw fiat money compared to Binance, which allows.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Usability
Cryptocurrency exchanges provide traders with flexible trading conditions. These include the minimum deposit, the number of supported markets, futures maximum leverage, trading platforms, and supported coins.
KuCoin requires half of what Binance charges in terms of minimum deposits. The former allows traders to begin trading with as little as $5, whereas Binance requires $10.
Furthermore, both cryptocurrency exchanges have web and mobile versions for their traders. Further, Binance has a desktop version, which KuCoin does not.
Both platforms provide a similar maximum leverage on futures, which is 1:100.
Binance and KuCoin offer special offers, promotions, and affiliate programs for traders, particularly beginners. After registering on Binance, you’ll receive a bonus of up to $50. In contrast, KuCoin offers a reward of up to $10 to newly registered users (welcome bonus), but with the possibility of an extra bonus of $510.
Furthermore, you can earn commissions through referral programs when you suggest the platform to people in your social circle. Binance and KuCoin both offer users 40% of the trading commissions of their partners.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Credit or Debit Card
Binance provides one Visa credit card, which is one of the top-rated Crypto Cards. It is an excellent way to use your crypto assets and is supported by over 60 million global merchants.
The free card gives up to 8% rewards with no fees. You only need to swap your cryptocurrency when you need fiat money, which is a great step toward mainstreaming cryptocurrencies.
The credit card is currently available in several countries. Unfortunately, it is not now accessible in the United States.
In the case of KuCoin, they do not offer a credit or debit card.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Trading Volume
As of the time of writing, Binance was the top-ranking exchange for both derivatives and spot trading. The exchange has a trading volume (24h) of $43 billion on derivatives and $8 billion on spot, according to the website CoinMarketCap.
Based on the daily trading volume for spot trading, KuCoin is ranked fourth, with about $590 million in daily trading traffic and $2.1 billion in derivatives.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Support
Customer assistance is vital for both novice and experienced traders. Crypto exchanges can better assist their users if they provide responsive customer service.
KuCoin and Binance both offer responsive customer support via online and email chat.
Binance also offers Telegram and phone support, whereas KuCoin does not. However, both platforms’ customer support teams are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Binance vs. KuCoin – Winner
KuCoin and Binance are both giants in the cryptocurrency space. Both offer massive liquidity and trading volume, a ton of features, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies. However, Binance is the front-runner.
Binance takes first place since it only charges a tiny cost (or perhaps none at all in some situations) to deposit fiat money. The exchange only charges a 0.1% fee to purchase cryptocurrency. Since you can’t access the markets on KuCoin with fiat money, you must pay a significant 3% – 5% cost to buy cryptocurrency to benefit from the 0.1% trading fee. Moreover, traders are unable to withdraw fiat money from your KuCoin account.
