Binance vs Coinbase 2024: Which Crypto Exchange is BEST?

Come one, come all, step right up, get your tickets, grab your popcorn and settle in for the show as today’s match is one of epic proportions in this Binance vs Coinbase Review.

Introducing the stars of today's showdown: In the gold corner sporting the black and gold, we have the reigning champion Binance.

In the blue corner, sporting the blue and white, coming all the way from San Francisco USA, we have Coinbase.

Yup, it doesn’t get much more intense than this in the crypto game my friends. These are the two biggest heavyweight hitters in the industry, and I could not be more pleased to be bringing you a head-to-head Binance vs Coinbase review, comparing these massively respected giants that many of us have used and grown to know well over the years.

Disclaimer time: I have used both exchanges and I will be letting on which one I prefer in the conclusion section.

Without further ado, let the bell ring and let’s rumble.

Note: Users located in the US and UK are not supported.

Binance vs Coinbase Review:

If we were to continue with the prizefighter analogy, in an MMA match, Binance would be bigger, have a longer reach, and out strategize the challenger by being well versed both from a standing position and down on the mat. That is to say that Binance can do it all, and it does it well. They are like the MacGyver of crypto, or the James Bond if you will, with all the trinkets.

Binance is truly unmatched when it comes to the sheer size of trading volume and features offered. It is by a large margin, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, used by millions worldwide in hundreds of countries, ranging from retail clients to institutions. How much bigger you ask?

At the time of writing, here is how these two stack up in terms of 24-hour trading volume:

• Binance: $15,821,325,363
• Coinbase: $1,777,324,086

As you can see, Binance is the preferred exchange by many retail and big money players/institutions in the space. You cannot find these levels of liquidity or trading volume anywhere else. But for the average retail investor, both exchanges are more than suitable in terms of deep liquidity and trading volume.

Here is a look at how the top five exchanges stack up on CoinMarketCap

Now, all this talk about size and volume can be considered moot for your average retail trader as any major exchange will be suitable by those metrics. What the choice should ultimately come down to are the features, fees, asset support, and the security/reputation of the exchange.

To look at Coinbase from our prize fighter analogy, Coinbase would be the fighter who has one trick, one speciality that they do well, better than anyone else in the industry. They have one heck of a hail maker swing, and that comes in the form of being the most beginner-friendly platform in the space. If they had a one-two combo, their speciality is onboarding those new to crypto, and their combo would be playing nice with regulators and staying legal and compliant.

I’m not going to lie when I say that the funds I keep on Binance sometimes keep me up at night, worrying about what regulatory body is going to ban them next, while anything I have on Coinbase I feel is about as secure as the money in my bank.

Of course, large amounts of money should never be held on any exchange for long term hodling, we always recommend moving your funds off an exchange and into cold storage asap which is why we have done up this review on the Top Hardware Wallets.

Binance or Coinbase?

Both Binance and Coinbase are massively respected in the industry and deserve kudos for all they do to drive the industry forward. Crypto would not be where it is today without the efforts of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ). CZ stepped down as CEO in November 2023 after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge by US authorities.

I would have to give the edge to Coinbase in terms of reputation and safety as they have always been keen to play ball with regulators and have always strived to remain on the friendly side of the law.

Coinbase has been the “golden-haired child” of the crypto industry, never stepping out of line and asking for permission first before begging for forgiveness which is not something that can be said for Binance. It is because of this that many firms and institutions prefer Coinbase as they know Coinbase is seen in a favourable light by industry regulators.

Binance, on the other hand, has been known to be the “bad boy” of crypto, often under scrutiny for acting first, then apologizing later for operating in places before receiving licensing, and offering products such as tokenized stocks which they later had to remove.

I actually respect Binance for a lot of this. As crypto is a new industry, no other exchange has had the confidence to “test the waters” so to speak. In an emerging industry with very few rules and fewer regulations, how does anyone know how to navigate it without dipping their toes in? Binance pushes things to the limit, sure, but how do we know where those limits are without someone travelling there and giving us the boundaries of the framework? Binance has taken this role and I applaud them for it.

Though with that being said, it isn’t like Binance is some renegade exchange always breaking the law, they are focused on being compliant friendly and working with regulators as well… After they get a slap or two on the wrist.

Binance has recently made massive strides in receiving licensing and regulation in France, Puerto Rico, Dubai and Bahrain, with current applications to receive licensing in the UK and Spain. Binance US is their entity that works within the United States with the appropriate licensing and regulations. CZ also goes on a record multiple times to explain the importance of crypto regulation and works closely with country authorities.

Licensing and regulation are never a concern with Coinbase as they comply with all applicable laws and regulations in which it operates in over 100 countries globally.

There are a few crypto exchanges that send up some serious red flags that I avidly recommend steering clear of, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either Binance or Coinbase to anyone, as they are seriously two of the best exchanges around. Let’s get into some specifics. 

Coinbase vs Binance: Currencies and Products Offered

Binance knocks Coinbase out of the ring both in terms of fiat and cryptocurrencies offered. Binance has the second most crypto assets listed of any of the major exchanges, falling second only to KuCoin for rare altcoin support.

• Binance: 350+ cryptocurrencies, 60+ Fiat currencies.
• Coinbase: 140+ cryptocurrencies, 3 Fiat currencies.

Binance is better suited for those interested in stacking hard to find altcoins. The reason that Binance is so dominant in this category is largely in part due to Coinbase being handcuffed when it comes to which currencies they can and cannot list as some are deemed as securities. Because Coinbase is a publicly-traded company, they need to be more careful when it comes to which cryptocurrencies it can list.

Binance will also likely be better suited for anyone who lives outside of the USA, UK, or Europe as Binance has fantastic fiat support so crypto traders and investors can avoid currency conversion fees.

Coinbase vs Binance: Earn and Staking

One of the most popular features of crypto exchanges is the ability to passively earn on your crypto holdings. I have to tip my hat to Binance as they have one of the most well built out Earn section of any crypto exchange. They have options for users to earn on their crypto in a “savings wallet”, or customers can opt for staking, locked staking, lending, farming, Dual Investment and more.

Coinbase has a much less robust earning section, with staking only available on a few Proof-of-Stake tokens.

Coinbase also has an educational section that rewards users with free crypto for learning about crypto which is pretty cool. Coinbase has been left in the dust when it comes to earning features, but to be fair, this isn’t entirely their fault. Remember when I said Coinbase likes to ask for permission first, and that they play friendly with the regulators?

When Coinbase approached the SEC letting them know that Coinbase was planning on rolling out lending and further earn features, the SEC simply threatened to sue them, without giving any proper guidance, which halted Coinbase in their tracks and shot their Earn dreams down in flames.

We have seen an onslaught of US-based companies getting fined by the SEC for offering earning products, resulting in platforms needing to remove earn features for US users. If you are someone looking to earn some sweet APY on your crypto then Binance may be the better choice. Though I guess I should state that this is done at your own risk. As we have seen a crackdown on yield-offering products in the United States, is it only a matter of time before this affects the rest of the crypto world?

Binance vs Coinbase: NFT Marketplace

2021 was a crazy year for NFT explosion and adoption there is no doubt. Binance was the first major exchange to offer an NFT marketplace, and it was a hit. So much so that FTX shortly followed suit offering Solana-based NFTs and, of course, Coinbase wasn’t going to be left out of the party and they announced their NFT marketplace in 2022.

For network support, Binance supports NFTs on the BSC and Ethereum networks.

For Coinbase, Ethereum is the only network supported at the moment, but they have announced plans to support NFTs on the Polygon, Solana, and Klatyn networks.

I can’t really say one wins over the other here as it will come down to personal preference. If you are a fan of the Binance Smart chain network then Binance will be your pick, though Solana NFTs are becoming pretty hot, and if Coinbase supports SOL while Binance does not, well that could certainly shift the tides of interest.

Coinbase vs Binance: User Friendliness

Here we see the first category where Coinbase really takes the cake in my humble opinion. While both platforms feature advanced trading screens that are not intended to be beginner-friendly, the main platform page is much less overwhelming on Coinbase as you can see below:

I have been using Binance as my main exchange for years and I have to admit that I still get lost trying to navigate my way around, and I have no idea what many of the dropdown options do. Have you ever tried generating account statements on Binance, or finding your transaction history for a specific trade, exchange, or sell? Nightmare! Here is a look at what I mean:

Maybe it is just me, but as much as I love Binance, I do find platform navigation and the sheer number of features a bit overwhelming, most of them I don’t even use.

Even the Earn section isn’t very straightforward as there are so many different methods to select. I guess this can be seen as a positive as many traders obviously like these features, which is why they exist, and it is better to have too many features than too few.

If I was going to sign my grandmother, or a computer-illiterate friend up for a simple exchange, I would point them towards Coinbase. One look at Binance and my grandmother would probably tell me that crypto looks too scary, and say to me, “you know what isn’t scary? Cookies,” then we would go bake cookies and forget all about the magic of Bitcoin, and that would be a shame.

Coinbase is definitely a good option for beginners and anyone seeking a user friendly platform, (if you aren’t too concerned about fees, more on that in the next section).

If you are looking for a beginner-friendly Coinbase alternative that provides an easy place to buy crypto without all the extra features and toppings, I would also recommend checking out our OkCoin review. They provide a very low fee place to buy, sell, hodl and earn crypto and are probably the easiest platform I have found to buy and earn on your hodl stash.

Binance vs Coinbase: Fees

Alright, the all-important topic of fees. There is nothing worse than being fee’d to death for every crypto purchase, sale, and trade.

I try and remain as subjective as possible in these reviews but there is no way to get around the fact that Binance is significantly more fee-friendly in nearly every regard. One of the largest criticisms against Coinbase when compared to many of its competitors are the high fees.

Many traders feel the fees are worth it for the peace of mind of using what is probably the most well-respected and most trusted crypto exchange in the US for certain, if not the world.

Coinbase offers two platforms, Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. To be honest, there is no reason not to sign up for, or switch to Coinbase Pro over the standard Coinbase platform. Coinbase is more beginner-friendly but getting used to using Coinbase Pro will be beneficial in the long run as it supports more currencies and has lower fees than the regular Coinbase platform.

Trading fees on Coinbase are dependent on trading volume, the more you trade, the lower your fees. Here is how that looks on Coinbase:

Coinbase also has a 2.49% fee for card and various bank transactions, which gets reduced to 0% if you use Coinbase Pro.

You can find a more detailed breakdown of all this in our dedicated Coinbase Review article.

Binance also uses a tiered trading fee structure based on trading volume as you can see below:

For the average trader trading under 100k, Binance is a head and shoulders winner in lower fees. In fact, Coinbase doesn’t even come close to becoming competitive until the 10 million dollar mark for trading volume, and even then, Binance still has them beat by a mile.

And this is just the base fee! Binance even takes it a step further and allows holders of the platform’s native BNB token to reduce fees up to an additional 25%.

To make it even better, Guy here at the Coin Bureau managed to swing a sweet deal over at Binance, and our readers who sign up with our link can enjoy an additional 20% Trading Discount for life and up to $600 bonus!

When it comes to deposit and withdrawal fees, users on Coinbase will pay 2.49% for debit/credit card purchases while Coinbase Pro users will pay $0 which is pretty sweet. ACH transfers are free, wire transfers have a $10 deposit and $25 withdrawal fee which is definitely not sweet.

On Binance, the deposits range from free to 3% depending on the currency and method while withdrawals range from free to 15 USD depending on method and currency. Binance fees are pretty complex due to the multiple currencies and methods supported, I would recommend checking out the Binance Fee page for a detailed breakdown.

If you are feeling like you are sold on Binance, you may want to check out our detailed Binance review as there is a lot to unpack on this platform. Guy has also done up this handy Binance tutorial video:

Binance vs Coinbase: Trading and Leverage

When it comes to trading products, Binance offers more trading products and leverage, giving them a significant edge over Coinbase in that regard. Here is how these two stack up for trading products:

Binance is also superior in terms of advanced market order options as Coinbase only allows for Market, Stop, and Limit orders. If you are a fan of technical analysis, The Binance platform also offers more features and tools to help with your trading setups and has a built-in integration with Tradingview which is pretty nice.

Here is a look at the Binance trading screen:

Here is the trading screen on Coinbase Pro:

Coinbase Pro isn’t ideal for day traders or technical traders as the functionality is much more basic than what is available at Binance. Traders can change the tick size, chart size and only lay two different moving average indicators.

Most traders on Coinbase will likely opt to use Tradingview separately for their technical analysis and then place trades on Coinbase, while traders on Binance have the option to do everything on one convenient platform.

Coinbase knows that it really needs to up its trading game as they are being slaughtered by the likes of Binance and losing market share to exchanges like Bybit and OKX, which are becoming preferred exchanges for active traders. They are planning on rolling out derivatives trading soon as they recently acquired FairX, a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange.

Traders looking to use leverage will also likely opt for Binance as Coinbase in the past had to announce that they had to remove the option for many retail traders due to regulatory issues. Binance offers leverage of up to 10x on some spot trading pairs and up to 125x for Futures contracts.

Binance also allows for the trading of Leveraged tokens which is a convenient way to provide traders with lower levels of leverage in an easier to understand environment. Leveraged tokens are a type of derivative product that uses leveraged features but can be traded on the spot market.

While at the moment, Binance has Coinbase up against the ropes and it isn’t looking good for the exchange in blue, I wouldn’t write them off just yet for trading as their acquisition of FairX could be a serious game-changer. Coinbase has a knack for taking what is already offered by other exchanges and making it better.

Their NFT marketplace looks absolutely amazing, offering more than you can get on Binance if all goes according to plan, and they revamped their crypto card, trumping most crypto cards on the market.

Binance vs Coinbase: Crypto Debit Cards

Crypto cards are all the rage right now with many crypto cards being available on the market. Both Binance and Coinbase offer a crypto cash back rewards debit card which have become widely popular among crypto enthusiasts.

Coinbase has announced that they have refreshed their crypto card which is fantastic because, to be honest with you, their previous crypto card was Lame with a capital L. With so many platforms offering cards with awesome perks like cash back, free Spotify and Netflix, the Coinbase card was about as dull as the plastic it was printed on, with no extra features, and fees, rendering it not very competitive. Thankfully, they have given the card a much-needed overhaul

If you are looking for a quick summary of this section, here it is: the Coinbase card is better for US-based customers.

The Coinbase team are doing something pretty interesting in the space and that is rolling out a rotating rewards structure. Customers will be able to earn a wider variety of crypto rewards which will help them to diversify their crypto portfolio. They have also removed the transaction fees for crypto spending which is a breath of fresh air for sure.

Using the rotating rewards structure, the Coinbase card gives users up to 4% cashback on every purchase, making it one of the better crypto cards on the market. There is no limit on how many rewards can be earned, making this one of the few cards with no earning cap which is great to see.

Binance’s cashback card is loved for the massive up to 8% cashback for those with deep pockets, but earning these higher levels of cashback requires some serious amounts of BNB being held within the wallet.

It is fairly simple to get 2% cashback as that only requires the user to hold 1 BNB which is about $300 dollars at the time of writing. To get that 8% cash back you need to hold 600 BNB tokens which is around $180k, yikes!

One thing I don’t like about the Binance cashback model is that the BNB you need to hold cannot be staked or held in any earn product, it needs to be sat in your account collecting dust. Seems like a waste of $180k to me, there are better ways you can be earning on that much money. Even letting the 10 BNB needed to earn 3% cashback collect dust seems like a waste, this is a concern I’ve raised with the Binance team, time will tell if they will revise this.

So, for cashback, Coinbase has the better card. There are no strings attached to earn those sweet rewards. At the time of writing, the Coinbase card is available to users in the USA, UK, and Europe, though the rewards program is only available in the US, hopefully, they roll that out internationally soon. The Binance card is available for most of Europe, with plans to expand soon.

This is just some speculation on my part, but I have a feeling Binance is still working on their crypto card and we have not seen in it its full form yet. It may turn out to be a pretty amazing card. The reason I speculate on this is that a while ago, Binance purchased Swipe, which was already a crypto debit card issuer.

Before Binance acquired Swipe, their card offered cashback and 100% rebates on Spotify, Netflix, Apple, Amazon and more, so I don’t see why these rewards won’t transfer over to the Binance card in due time.

Coinbase vs Binance: Support

Customer support is so important, especially for those first starting out in the crypto game. There is nothing worse than something going wrong with your crypto account, having live funds on the line while your exchange of choice decides to go all Terminator: Rise of the Machines on you, it can be a heck of a nerve-wracking experience.

Both Binance and Coinbase have received a fair amount of negative reviews and rants online for deplorable customer service, with Coinbase being the largest perpetrator of this time and time again. I’ve often wondered how Coinbase continuously gets caught with their pants down, letting their customers down.

Like most crypto platforms, Binance got blasted for being unprepared for the 2021 bull run, an insane time when no crypto companies were able to keep up with the sudden surge in interest, but Binance has learned from that and I must say, they really upped their customer support game.

Both platforms offer in-app chat support on their web platforms which is absolutely brilliant. Once you get used to live chat support, there is no going back. Both platforms also, of course, have email and online form support, and Coinbase, to repair their reputation, has kicked it up a notch and now offer live telephone support which is awesome, though from the article above it looks like they may need to work on that bit.

While I prefer chat support, I know people love phone support so gotta give it to Coinbase on that one for trying as not many companies offer phone support these days.

One thing that I think we all need to give Binance a well-deserved pat on the back for, is that they do more than ANY other exchange in crypto to provide free, in-depth, and easily accessible crypto education for everyone!

The Binance Academy, their FAQ and self-help directory are second to none, and I really respect the fact that these resources are for everyone, they cover all things crypto-related, not just Binance specific topics.

The Coin Bureau is all about crypto education, that is the key to crypto mass adoption, and everyone should have access to free financial education. One area where our societies have let everyone down is in the lack of financial education we received in school. We have the chance to change that with crypto, and Binance shares our passion for crypto education.

Seriously, if you haven’t had the chance to check out the Binance Academy yet, that is one of the first resources I recommend to those looking to learn more about crypto. Well, that, and the Coin Bureau of course. 🤓

Coinbase vs Binance: Safety + Security

Any platform that reaches the global level of adoption as these two doesn’t do so without having robust and state of the art security features and procedures in place. Both Coinbase and Binance follow industry best practices in terms of keeping the majority of funds in cold storage, have round the clock platform and security monitoring, and insurance funds set aside to reimburse customers who lose funds as a result of a successful platform hack.

Unfortunately, neither platform has a flawless reputation in terms of security as both have had their customers experience loss of funds due to hacks in the past. Exchanges remain massive targets for hackers and any weakness in security will be exploited. It is good to see that when these platforms were hacked in the past, the teams were quick to act, took appropriate measures and reimbursed all customer funds.

This is one of the reasons why it is so important to enable all the additional security features that you can from your customer account settings. Both Coinbase and Binance offer:

• 2FA
• Withdrawal whitelisted addresses
• Minimum password complexity requirements
• Verification emails

Coinbase also offers Coinbase Vault for long term holders who can lock their funds in a vault that requires multi-email approval to withdraw from. Binance offers an additional 2FA for withdrawals, Universal 2FA support, device authorization lists, Anti-Phishing numbers for email, and whitelisting IP addresses.

Binance vs Coinbase: Additional Features

These platforms vary a lot in terms of the features they offer. For simple buyers, holders, and spot traders, the platforms have more similarities than differences. I already touched on Binance being more suitable for serious traders who are looking to trade a plethora of markets, and for anyone wanting to use leverage trading, access technical analysis trading tools, or put their crypto to work in the Earn section.

Binance also features crypto loans, an insanely popular and profitable launchpad, a DEX, Institutional grade research and analysis reports available to everyone, API integrations, a P2P marketplace, Swap Farming, BNB Vault, Binance Pool, and Binance Pay. These are features that are not available on Coinbase.

When it comes to innovation and new product offerings, Coinbase rarely takes the first step. Exchanges like Binance, OKX, and KuCoin are often the trailblazers, being first to market with new concepts and ideas, while Coinbase tends to take a backseat, lets everyone else test the waters to see what works, then adopt it into their business strategy which is the safer way to play it.

**Update**

Just as I was nearly finished writing this article, Coinbase has gone on a product and feature releasing tangent, making me do all sorts of extra work. Well played, Coinbase, Well played. I could have just closed my eyes, pretending like I didn't see their Twitter flurry, but I gotta give it to them, this is actually some pretty cool stuff that needs to be highlighted.

In what came as a surprise to everyone, users of the Coinbase app can now buy NFTs on OpenSea without needing to leave the Coinbase app. The reason why this was surprising is that OpenSea is a direct competitor of the Coinbase NFT marketplace. Hey, I love that move, the more all-inclusive the crypto community can be, the better in my opinion. I don't want to be pigeon-holed and forced to use products from one provider, so this has a thumbs up from me.

Then in another surprising move, on May 16th, Coinbase announced greater Web3 accessibility within the Coinbase app.

Coinbase App users can now access popular Ethereum Dapps with the new Dapp Wallet and Brower inside of the Coinbase app, including things like DEXs, DAOs, aggregators, and even lending platforms like Curve and Compound. The reason why this is surprising is again, because of competition. This would be like walking into a Mcdonald's and being able to buy a Burger King Whopper (Which I would love btw).

Talk about taking things to the next level and upping your game. While I think this is a fantastic move, I will point out that Binance's acquired Trust Wallet has already had these features implemented for a while, so while this is big for Coinbase users, in true Coinbase fashion, they are a bit late to the party as usual.

Conclusion: Binance vs Coinbase

If you haven’t already pieced it together, I think it is pretty clear that Binance is by far, the better platform for those seeking a fully rolled out, full-featured, and robust trading platform.

Coinbase has a lot of catching up to do if they want to remain competitive with the likes of OKX and Binance who offer significantly more products and features. Although to play devil's advocate, one thing that Coinbase does better than anyone is simplicity, and that could very well be their edge/business strategy, and target demographic.

In crypto, we have two interesting camps. There is the “move fast and break things,” mentality which is practiced by the likes of Ethereum and Solana, and exchanges like Binance and FTX, (we saw what moving "too fast" did to FTX). The other camp is the “move slow and get it right the first time,” method as we see with networks like Cardano, Algorand, and exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken. They seem to be taking a far slower, but more methodical approach in their business strategies and offerings.

Both methods have their pros and cons, Coinbase is the safest play around which is one of the reasons they are favoured by so many investors. While many crypto enthusiasts are too impatient for Coinbase to innovate and offer additional features, being one of the reasons they are losing market dominance. We also need to keep in mind that Coinbase is very limited due to the fact that they are a public company and have shareholders and regulators to keep happy.

As much as I enjoy Binance, I have said it time and time again that for those who feel overwhelmed by crypto or who don’t need to do anything other than buy or hold, I often find myself recommending Coinbase as they are one of the most beginner and user friendly exchanges around and their platform is such a breeze to navigate, so they certainly have their target market carved out.

In my years in crypto, I have noticed a common trend, and that is that Coinbase acts as many people’s gateway into crypto. Many crypto vets you talk to will likely say that they purchased their first crypto on Coinbase, and then graduated to more robust trading platforms with more features.

Coinbase is a great place to learn the ropes, but they are missing a trick when it comes to retaining more serious crypto users, which is something it looks like they are working on with the acquisition of FairX and the Web3 integration in the app. If crypto is a race between the tortoise and the hair, I would not be surprised if Coinbase the tortoise ends up winning the battle for exchange supremacy a decade from now.