Many new users hear the name "Binance" for the first time and assume it's just a website for buying and selling Bitcoin. Open the Binance Official Site and you'll quickly find that Binance spans spot trading, futures, earn products, Launchpad, NFTs, on-chain wallets, and many more modules. This article isn't about price action — it's about mapping out how Binance's business is actually structured, so new users can decide what to try first after downloading the Official Binance App. If you're on iPhone and run into App Store restrictions, check our iOS Installation Guide.
Binance is a global digital asset trading platform founded in 2017. As of 2026, Binance has accumulated over 250 million registered users worldwide, and its average daily spot trading volume has long ranked first among all exchanges. Binance holds independent regulatory licenses in multiple jurisdictions, including the UAE, France, Bahrain, and Japan.
For a long time Binance didn't have a fixed headquarters location; starting in 2024 it moved its primary compliance hub to Dubai, UAE. Binance has no operating entity in mainland China and no official business directed at mainland Chinese users.
Binance's core business can be split into five areas: spot trading, derivatives trading, earn products, on-chain services, and enterprise/institutional services. Together these five areas make up the Binance ecosystem.
Spot trading means exchanging one digital asset directly for another — for example, using USDT to buy BTC. This is how the vast majority of new users first interact with Binance.
Binance spot supports over 350 tradable coins, and its order book depth has consistently ranked first globally. The base spot trading fee is 0.1%, which drops to 0.075% when you pay fees using BNB.
Spot trading looks and works identically across the web, desktop client, and Official Binance App, so new users can register on one platform and switch seamlessly to another.
Derivatives include USDT-margined futures, coin-margined futures, options, and leveraged tokens. USDT-margined futures are the most popular, letting you go long or short using USDT as margin.
Binance futures offer up to 125x leverage, but new accounts are typically capped at 20x by default and must raise the limit gradually. The base futures fee is 0.02% to open a position and 0.05% to close it.
Derivatives carry higher risk for new users, so Binance requires KYC and a risk assessment questionnaire before futures trading can be enabled.
Binance Earn is divided into flexible savings, fixed savings, Dual Investment, on-chain staking, and similar products. The most common is flexible earn: deposit USDT and earn an annualized return of 1%-6%, with the ability to withdraw anytime.
Fixed savings lock your funds for anywhere from 7 to 120 days in exchange for a higher annualized rate than flexible savings. Dual Investment is a structured product — your principal is returned in one of two coins depending on price movement, making it suitable for users who follow the market closely.
The table below compares Binance's major products side by side to help new users quickly find their footing.
| Module | Best For | Risk Level | Entry Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot Trading | All new users | Medium | Complete KYC |
| USDT-Margined Futures | Users with trading experience | High | KYC + risk assessment |
| Flexible Earn | Complete beginners | Low | None |
| Fixed Savings | Medium-to-long-term holders | Low | None |
| Launchpad | Long-term ecosystem users | Medium | Hold BNB |
| NFT Marketplace | Collectors and creators | Medium | None |
| On-chain Wallet | Advanced users | Medium | Set up separately |
Binance uses a unified account system — register once with an email or phone number and you can freely transfer funds between spot, futures, and earn. Account tiers range from a standard account through VIP 0 to VIP 9, determined by your 30-day trading volume and BNB holdings.
VIP tier directly affects your fee rate and withdrawal limits. Regular users can withdraw up to the equivalent of 8 BTC per day; after upgrading KYC to institutional level, that limit can reach the equivalent of 1,000 BTC.
Binance has long used a hot-and-cold wallet separation strategy, with the vast majority of user assets held in cold wallets. Binance also maintains the SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users), which since 2018 has set aside 10% of trading fees from every trade into the fund; it now exceeds $1 billion in size.
New users are required to enable two-factor authentication after registering, choosing from Google Authenticator, SMS verification, or email verification. We recommend binding at least Google Authenticator plus email for two layers of protection.
Binance has not served mainland China since 2021, and there's no indication that will change in the near term. Mainland Chinese residents who registered through other means beforehand can keep their accounts, but they don't get access to Chinese-language customer support or fiat channels.
On the compliance side, using Binance as a mainland China resident is treated as a personal matter — the platform doesn't proactively ban such accounts — but RMB OTC deposits carry a risk of triggering bank card freezes; see our related tutorials for details.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC, renamed BNB Chain in 2024) is the public blockchain launched by Binance. It belongs to the same broader ecosystem as the Binance exchange, but the two operate on completely independent mechanisms. Projects on BNB Chain don't map one-to-one with projects listed on the Binance exchange.
New users often confuse the two. The simple way to remember it: Binance is the company and exchange; BNB Chain is the public blockchain.
Binance has a lot of products, and new users who dive straight into futures or Launchpad tend to lose money or run into trouble quickly. We recommend getting familiar with things in this order:
Q: Are Binance, Huobi, and OKX the same company? No. Binance, OKX, and Huobi are three completely independent companies, each with its own assets, risk controls, and coin listing rules.
Q: Does the Binance App have exactly the same features as the web version? The features are largely the same, but some advanced charting tools and API management are only fully available on the web version — the Official Binance App is optimized for fast mobile order placement.
Q: Is BNB related to a "Binance stock"? BNB is Binance's platform token. Binance itself is not listed on any stock exchange, so there is no such thing as a publicly traded "Binance stock."
Q: Do I need to pay tax on Binance trading? Tax treatment depends on the laws of your own country or region. Binance reports data to tax authorities in certain jurisdictions; mainland China currently has no dedicated personal income tax rules for digital assets.
Q: Will Binance ever collapse or disappear overnight? Binance has been operating for eight years and is a massive platform, so the odds are low. That said, any centralized platform carries systemic risk, so we recommend spreading long-term holdings across self-custody wallets too.
Q: Why is the Binance website slow to load in mainland China? Binance's overseas nodes aren't accelerated for mainland China, so access speed is heavily affected by your network environment — use a compliant network setup if necessary.