Binance Review 2026: Is It Safe? Proof of Reserves, the US$4.3 Billion US Guilty Plea, Licences, Fees and Sign-up

Binance is one of the two exchanges I have used the longest; the other is Bybit. I later also started using OKX, and one reason was this: on Binance, the trading account and the earn account are separate, so money has to be moved before it earns interest.

My Binance review in short: Binance was founded in 2017 and announced in December 2025 that it had passed 300 million registered users, making it one of the largest international exchanges. Its proof of reserves is published monthly with a Merkle tree plus zk-SNARK, and the snapshot of 1 October 2026 showed BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%. Two security events are worth knowing: 7,000 BTC were stolen in 2019 and the SAFU fund covered the full loss, and in 2023 Binance admitted in the US to violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, with settlements of more than US$4.3 billion. Regular users pay 0.1% on spot, with 25% off when paying in BNB.

This article shares my own experience and research. It is not investment, tax or legal advice. Fees, rates, licences and service regions can change; every figure here is dated, so check Binance’s official pages before you act. Crypto prices are volatile, and keeping assets on an exchange carries the risk of the exchange itself.

Binance key factsData checked: 2026-10-08

As of 2026-10-08, Binance's general-user spot taker fee is 0.1% and its futures taker fee is 0.05%; signing up with the invitation code gives a 20% trading fee discount. Its 2026-10-01 proof of reserves showed BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%.

Item	Details	Source
Jason Finance rating	60.1 / 100	rating method
Highlights	Among the deepest BTC and ETH order books zk-SNARK proof of reserves 2023 US guilty plea
General-user fees (taker)	Spot 0.1%, futures 0.05%	2026-10-08
Invitation code fee discount	20% trading fee discount	2026-10-07
Proof of reserves	2026-10-01 (monthly): BTC 100.35%, ETH 100%, USDT 103.88%	2026-10-08
Main licences and registrations	Abu Dhabi FSRA licence, Dubai VARA licence, Bahrain CBB licence, Japan FSA licence, France AMF registration, Italy OAM registration, Poland GIIF registration	source 1 source 2 source 3 source 4 source 5 source 6 source 7
USDT withdrawals	Cheapest BEP20 0.01 USDT; 7 common networks supported	2026-10-08
Order book depth (±2%)	BTC/USDT about 23.8M USD, ETH/USDT about 17.9M USD	2026-10-08

What kind of exchange Binance is

The user figure and the co-CEO appointment come from Binance’s press release of 3 December 2025; for Richard Teng taking over as CEO, see Fortune. The CoinGecko figures are from the page on 9 October 2026 and change daily.

Is Binance safe?

Proof of reserves: monthly, Merkle tree plus zk-SNARK

A proof of reserves compares what an exchange holds in its wallets with the total of all user balances. Binance uses a Merkle tree so each user can confirm their balance is included in the total, then a zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proof to show that user balances add up correctly without revealing any individual user’s data (official explanation).

Reserve ratios for the main assets in the snapshot of 1 October 2026 (compiled by RootData):

ETH is exactly 100% and BTC only 0.35% above, a thin buffer compared with OKX (BTC 109%) and Bybit (BTC 104%) over the same period. A ratio above 100% means that at the moment of the snapshot there were enough coins to cover every user balance, but Binance’s proof of reserves is not signed by an accountant or third-party verifier: the accounting firm Mazars suspended this kind of work for Binance and other crypto clients in December 2022 (CNBC). For what a proof of reserves can and cannot prove, and how exchanges’ reserve ratios compare, see How to check proof of reserves.

After logging in to Binance, you can check on the verification page of your wallet whether your account was included in a given report. The page gives a record ID unique to your account and that report.

The SAFU fund: a US$1 billion user protection fund

SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) is a user protection fund Binance set up in 2018, funded from trading fees. Binance originally held it in stablecoins, then announced it would convert the US$1 billion into bitcoin; after a final purchase of 4,545 BTC, the fund held 15,000 BTC in total. Binance says that if market swings push the fund’s value below US$800 million, it will top it back up to US$1 billion (CryptoPotato, Cointelegraph).

Note that SAFU is Binance’s own fund, not insurance, and Binance decides how it is used. And since it now holds bitcoin, the fund’s value rises and falls with the bitcoin price.

7,000 BTC stolen in 2019, covered by SAFU

On 7 May 2019, hackers obtained some users’ API keys and 2FA codes and moved 7,000 BTC, then worth about US$40 million, out of Binance’s hot wallet. Binance said SAFU covered the entire loss and users were not affected, but deposits and withdrawals were suspended for about a week (The Hacker News).

The market crash of 10 October 2025: about US$283 million in compensation

During the market-wide liquidations of 10 October 2025, USDe, wBETH and BNSOL briefly lost their pegs on Binance, and USDe fell below US$0.66 there. Binance compensated users who had used these assets as collateral and were liquidated in margin, futures and loan products, paying about US$283 million within 24 hours (The Block, Decrypt).

The voluntary compensation deserves credit. But the event also shows that even on the largest exchange, prices in extreme markets can break away from other markets.

Account security settings

Binance offers passkeys and hardware security keys, 2FA, a withdrawal address whitelist and an anti-phishing code, and it temporarily locks withdrawals after security settings are changed (official explanation). The 2019 theft began with stolen user API keys and 2FA codes, so it makes sense to turn all of these on.

The 2023 US guilty plea and later regulatory cases

The US$4.3 billion settlement and Changpeng Zhao’s guilty plea

On 21 November 2023 Binance admitted failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating US sanctions law, and settled with the US Department of Justice, the Treasury and the CFTC for a total of more than US$4.3 billion (US Department of Justice):

Some of these amounts are credited against each other, which is why the total is “more than US$4.3 billion” rather than the sum of all of them. The US Treasury noted that Binance did not carry out identity verification (KYC) for large numbers of users and never filed a single suspicious activity report with FinCEN.

Changpeng Zhao admitted failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme, stepped down as CEO and personally paid a US$50 million fine. On 30 April 2024 he was sentenced to four months and was released on 27 September that year (DealStreetAsia, ForkLog).

2025: SEC case dismissed, Changpeng Zhao pardoned

• SEC case dismissed: the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance in June 2023 for operating an unregistered exchange, among other claims. On 29 May 2025 both sides jointly asked for dismissal, and the case was dismissed with prejudice, so it cannot be brought again (SEC).
• Pardon: on 23 October 2025 the White House announced that President Trump had pardoned Changpeng Zhao (Reuters report, republished). The pardon covers Zhao personally; I found no report that the company’s 2023 guilty plea and settlement have been undone.

2026: reports of Iran-linked flows and a US senator’s questions

From February 2026, several media outlets reported that more than US$1 billion had flowed through Binance to wallets linked to Iran, and some reported that Binance had fired internal investigators who raised warnings. In March the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Justice was investigating whether Iran had used Binance to evade sanctions. Binance said it was not aware of any investigation, denied the allegations and filed a defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal (The Block). In April, US Senator Blumenthal wrote to the Department of Justice and FinCEN asking about the status of the two monitorships (Fortune). As of October 2026, I found no outcome of the investigation.

Regulatory record and warnings: full list

The table lists, in date order, the regulatory actions, warnings, court cases, fines, sanctions-related reports and service restrictions I found. Sources marked “Official” are pages of regulators, courts or Binance itself; the rest are media reports that I could not verify on an official page.

As of 9 October 2026, I found no outcome for the US Department of Justice’s Iran-related investigation, the Nigerian case or the French judicial investigation. Most of these are compliance and licensing issues, not thefts of user assets.

Binance licences and service regions

In Japan and Thailand, services are provided by local entities, not by Binance’s global site. Dubai (VARA register) and Abu Dhabi (ADGM announcement) have official pages; for Bahrain, Japan, Thailand, the EU, Hong Kong and new UK users I found only media reports and could not verify the current status on a regulator’s register.

Regions where Binance is unavailable or restricted: Binance lists the regions it does not serve in its list of prohibited countries and terms of use, but both pages only show their content when a browser runs scripts, so I could not verify the full list on the official pages. Based on the official and media sources above: US residents must use a separate company, Binance.US; Canada and the Netherlands have not been served since 2023; the UK does not accept new users; Japanese residents must use Binance Japan; the European Economic Area has been withdrawal-only since 1 July 2026; the website is blocked in the Philippines; for sanctioned countries and regions (such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine) I found only media compilations. Check both pages yourself before you sign up.

How to sign up for Binance

1. Create an account on the Binance website or app with an email address or phone number and set a password. When signing up, enter the invitation code above, or open the sign-up page directly with the invitation link.
2. Complete identity verification (KYC): choose your nationality and country of residence, upload an ID document, then do face verification. Your country of residence decides which Binance entity serves you and which products you can use.
3. Turn on 2FA or a passkey, set an anti-phishing code and a withdrawal whitelist, then start depositing.

Binance trading fees: 0.1% on spot, 25% off with BNB

According to Binance’s official fee schedule (9 October 2026), spot fees are:

• Unlike OKX and Bybit, Binance VIP tiers require both trading volume and a BNB balance; large assets alone do not move you up.
• To get 25% off spot fees by paying with BNB in your account, turn on “Use BNB to pay for fees” in the fee settings and keep some BNB in the account.
• On USDT-margined futures, regular users pay 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker, with 10% off when paying in BNB (Binance explanation).
• A maker order waits on the order book for someone else to fill it; a taker order fills immediately against orders already on the book.
• For regular-user fees at other international exchanges, see the international exchange fee comparison.

In money terms: a regular user buying 1,000 USDT of BTC with a market order pays 1 USDT at the 0.1% taker rate; with BNB fee payment turned on it is 0.75 USDT, deducted in BNB.

The BNB discount assumes you hold BNB, and BNB’s own price goes up and down. Before holding BNB just to save on fees, think about whether you can accept that volatility.

USDT deposits and withdrawals: just 0.01 USDT on BEP20

Deposits are free. Withdrawals carry a flat on-chain fee that does not depend on the amount and is adjusted to network conditions. USDT withdrawal fees in Binance’s public data on 9 October 2026 (Binance network list):

There are also networks such as Aptos, NEAR, Polkadot Asset Hub, Celo, Kaia, Scroll and Tezos. TRC20 is the most expensive in this table. BEP20 costs only 0.01 USDT, but the receiving exchange or wallet must support the same network; OKX, for example, does not accept USDT deposits on BEP20 (see the OKX review).

On Binance’s deposit page, choose USDT and the network, copy the address, then withdraw from the sending side. Both sides must use the same network, or the funds may not be recoverable. For what to check when a transfer is confirmed on-chain but the receiving exchange has not credited it, see USDT deposit delayed: what to do.

Binance earn: Simple Earn

Binance’s Simple Earn comes in flexible and locked versions:

• Flexible: subscribe and redeem at any time. Earnings accrue every minute at the real-time APR, which can change every minute; some coins occasionally also offer a bonus tiered APR, adjusted daily.
• Locked: funds are locked for a set period; the terms during that period are as stated on each product page.
• Account: the earn account is separate from the spot account used for trading, so assets must be moved into Simple Earn before they start earning.

The bonus tiered APR applies only to the amount within each tier, so check each tier’s cap before subscribing.

For the extra risk of keeping idle USDT in an exchange earn product compared with short-term Treasury ETFs, Aave and Bitfinex lending, see Where to park idle USD and USDT.

Pros and cons: my Binance review in summary, and who it suits

More exchange guides and comparisons are on the crypto topic page.

FAQ

Is Binance safe?

Binance publishes a proof of reserves every month using a Merkle tree plus zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proofs. The snapshot of 1 October 2026 showed BTC at 100.35%, ETH at 100% and USDT at 103.88%. In 2019, 7,000 BTC were stolen, and the SAFU fund covered the full loss. A proof of reserves is a snapshot, not a financial audit, and no third-party accountant verifies it.

What happened to Binance in the US in 2023?

On 21 November 2023 Binance admitted violating US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and reached settlements with the US Department of Justice, the Treasury and the CFTC totalling more than US$4.3 billion. Founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO and was sentenced to four months in April 2024. On 23 October 2025, US President Trump pardoned Zhao.

What are Binance's trading fees?

Regular users pay 0.1% maker and 0.1% taker on spot. Paying fees with BNB takes 25% off, bringing it to 0.075% (official fee schedule, 9 October 2026). On USDT-margined futures, regular users pay 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker, with 10% off when paying in BNB.

What licences does Binance hold?

In Dubai, Binance FZE holds a VARA virtual asset service provider licence. In Abu Dhabi, three Binance entities have FSRA approvals under ADGM, and in Bahrain it holds a central bank licence. Binance Japan is an exchange registered with Japan's Financial Services Agency, and in Thailand the joint venture Gulf Binance holds a licence from the Thai SEC. Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece in June 2026 and stopped most services in the European Economic Area from 1 July.

Where can't you use Binance?

US residents must use a separate company, Binance.US. Binance left Canada and the Netherlands in 2023 and stopped accepting new UK users the same year. Japanese residents must use Binance Japan. From 1 July 2026, residents of the European Economic Area cannot open accounts, deposit or place new spot orders. Sanctioned countries and regions are also excluded. The official list of prohibited countries is the reference for the full list.

Can I redeem Binance Simple Earn Flexible at any time?

Binance says flexible products can be subscribed and redeemed at any time. Earnings accrue every minute at the real-time APR, some coins also offer a bonus tiered APR, and rates change. The earn account is separate from the spot account used for trading, so assets must be moved in before they start earning.