Nowadays, it’s easier than ever before to buy and sell digital assets thanks to the plethora of cryptocurrency exchanges out there. Binance and KuCoin are definitely some of the most popular services of this type within the cryptosphere, and for a good reason.
Both exchanges have various features and enough advantages to make them stand out as some of the best within the industry. They are both user-friendly, both have support for a broad spectrum of cryptocurrencies, relatively low fees, strong security features, and pretty decent customer service.
A bit of background on both exchanges
Interestingly enough, both crypto exchanges originated in China. However, after the government’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies of all sort, both of them relocated to Hong Kong. Since then, both have seen impressive growth in popularity and trading volumes.
After the move, Binance was forced to temporarily hold off new sign-ups because the servers were overloaded. KuCoin had to work a bit more on achieving its popularity status and has launched an affiliate program that encouraged users to get others to sign up for the exchange. The program proved to be so successful that they had to soon close it due to the overwhelming number of new members.
Fees
We’ll start our comparison with the fee systems. The similarities of these two exchanges don’t end here, as both of them charge 0,1% per transaction/per trade. The withdrawal fees depend on the individual asset you want to withdraw.
If you have KuCoin tokens, you can benefit from 50% off the fees on your transactions. Binance charges no deposit fees while its withdrawal fees, just like KuCoin’s case, vary based on the asset.
Supported cryptocurrencies
The exchanges are pretty closely tied when it comes to supported cryptocurrencies, as both of them offer an impressive array of digital assets. At the time of this writing, KuCoin boasts 397 trading pairs, while Binance has a small advantage by offering 433.
It’s worth noting that both exchanges have their own crypto tokens. In the case of Binance, this is the Binance Coin (BNB), and in the case of KuCoin is KuCoin Shares (KCS).
Security
Security is usually one of the main selling points of any cryptocurrency exchange. KuCoin has strong security features and remains till this day hack-free. The service also offers two-factor authentication, and multiple other little features meant to keep you and your funds safe.
Binance rises to the level of its counterpart and also remains hack free, despite numerous attempts (especially phishing schemes). Just like KuCoin, Binance also provides two-factor authentication.
Customer service
Both exchanges are known for offering far superior customer services than most of their counterparts. Binance employs a typical ticketing system, while KuCoin raises the bar with its 24-hour Telegram chat support.
Platform support
Both platforms are easily accessible via any modern web browser. However, they also offer bespoke, user-friendly, and somewhat stylish mobile apps for both Android and iOS. In addition, Binance offers a desktop application, meant to improve both security and user-experience over its web-based version.
Final thoughts
At this point, it’s quite clear that these exchanges have a lot in common. Therefore, picking a clear winner is not entirely possible. Both exchanges are popular, and both have their own faithful user base, plus they have very good security features and the fees are pretty similar. The exchanges boast support for all major crypto assets and offer support for web browsers as well as bespoke mobile apps.
The main difference between the two is the customer support area (where KuCoin leads with its 24-hour chat support vs the outdated ticketing support system employed by Binance). There’s yet another difference between the two: while KuCoin only supports limit orders, Binance offers far more diversity with limit orders, market orders, and stop-limit orders.
That said, choosing between the two comes down to personal taste and requirements. Nevertheless, whatever you choose, you can’t really go wrong, as both these services are very good examples of how a crypto exchange should look like.
