KuCoin vs Binance

Cryptocurrency exchanges are a big-business in 2018. With hundreds-of-millions of dollars of value stored in cryptocurrencies, it’s safe to say that crypto-exchanges are one of the most lucrative services offered on the internet today. With little-to-no regulation overseeing these exchanges, the risk to users can be huge, and it can be hard to determine which exchanges are the best choice for investors to use. Today, we are going to compare Binance and KuCoin, two of the most popular exchanges online, to outline the pros and cons of both services, so that you can make an informed decision.

KuCoin – The People’s Exchange

 

Official Site: https://www.kucoin.com/

Overview: KuCoin was initially hosted in mainland China, and moved to Hong Kong after massive regulations were imposed by the Chinese government. KuCoin has not seen the same massive growth as Binance but is nevertheless a well-established exchange with a clean UI and effective service structure for crypto-to-crypto exchanges. It is free to sign up to KuCoin, and their native token “KCS” incentivizes users by offering a 50% share of the platform’s total trading fees as a dividend to users who choose to hold KCS in their accounts.

Binance – Exchange The World

 

Official site: https://www.binance.com/

Overview: Binance was originally hosted in mainland China prior to the massive regulations imposed by the Chinese government, after which Binance relocated to Hong Kong. Since becoming re-established, Binance has become one of the world’s biggest and best crypto-to-crypto exchanges. It is free to sign up to Binance for basic users, and their interface is highly intuitive and smooth, making Binance a great place for beginners and advanced users alike.

Comparison

As always, we tried our best to quantify the exchanges to be able to compare them.

Data

#31 Worldwide ($37,286,092) – 24H Volume Ranking (CoinMarketCap.com) | ~ $1,740,000 less than Binance

2%

216k Twitter Followers – @kucoincom

30%

10k Reddit Subscribers –  r/kucoin | ~ 7k Less Than Binance

58%

#1 Worldwide ($1,776,224,628) – 24H Volume Ranking (CoinMarketCap.com)

100%

707k Twitter Followers – @binance 

100%

17k Reddit Subscribers – r/BinanceExchange 

100%

Binance is currently ranked #1 worldwide concerning 24hr volume. KuCoin has a much smaller volume and is ranked #31, attesting to the wider adoption of the Binance platform.

Fees

Both Binance and KuCoin offer very low transaction fees, at 0.1%. Binance provides a 50% reduction in fees (during the first year) to those who choose to use BNB tokens, but this discount reduces to 0% over 5 years. KuCoin offers 50% of all fees collected platform-wide to be returned evenly among users who choose to hold KCS tokens in their account. This adds diversification to the user’s portfolio, and provides the opportunity for more gains, making KuCoin the more affordable and interesting option.

Winner: KuCoin, although the difference is slight.

 

Trading Pairs / Supported Assets

KuCoin currently offers 310 assets and 6 trading pairs with BTC, ETH, USDT, NEO, BCH and its native currency KCS. KuCoin also adds newer assets sooner than other exchanges, Binance included, making it a good option for adventurous traders.

Binance currently offers 284 assets and 4 trading pairs with BTC, ETH, USDT, and its native currency BNB. Assets on Binance tend to see high trading volumes, and Binance lets the community vote on which assets should be added next.

Winner: KuCoin, but investors will have to determine which assets they would like to exchange in order to decide which exchange is best for them.

 

Customer Service

KuCoin is renowned for their effective, efficient and helpful customer support team. Thanks to a 24-hour telegram support chat service, and smaller user base, KuCoin is able to deal with customer support issues in timely fashion.

 

Binance is the world’s largest exchange by volume and has a gargantuan task in front of them when it comes to customer support. During times of high volume, technical difficulties and other similar issues, it is quite common to see Binance’s social media pages full of angry and frustrated customers who cannot get a response from the Binance team.

Winner: KuCoin, thanks to a smaller client base and a high priority given to customer support issues.

 

Security

KuCoin offers 2-factor authentication and has not yet been the target or victim of any large hacking attempts. As with any exchange, the odd personal attack on a user results in lost funds, and KuCoin’s customer service is reported to do everything they can promptly.

Binance has been the target of some very sophisticated hacking and phishing attempts. While it is always the user’s responsibility to enable 2-factor authentication for their accounts, large hacks, phishing attempts and coordinated malicious attacks are beyond the user’s control. Because Binance is such a large exchange, it is often the case that they have to face potential security issues. In early March, 2018, Binance thwarted a hacking / phishing attempt against its exchange, and retaliated by offering a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest of the hackers. The fact that the Binance security team was able to stop the attack, and that they have offered a sizable bounty has instilled a sense of trust in the platform like never before. Binance’s security concerns are much greater than that of KuCoin, and Binance is considered one of the most secure and advanced crypto-exchanges on the planet.

Winner: Binance, as they have a much larger security issue to solve, have been tested on a much larger scale, and have shown themselves to be one of the most secure exchanges on the internet. This said, both options appear to provide a safe environment at this time.

User-Experience and User-Interface

KuCoin’s UI looks clean and sharp, and some would say it is easier on the eyes than that of Binance. However, it does not offer the same lightning-quick response, with some actions causing a slightly annoying 2FA request to pop-up, and the browser rendering speed is noticeably slower for some users. KuCoin offers a high-performance engine, capable of more than 1-million transactions per second, and the architecture underpinning the service is as solid as anything else available today. KuCoin offers a unique incentive through its 50% distribution of fees to KCS holders, and as time moves on, it is likely to see KuCoin become an even more popular choice for would-be investors

Binance’s user experience is as good as it gets when it comes to crypto-exchanges. Their UI is intuitive, and every function provided is lightning fast. Their high-performance engine is capable of an astonishing 1-million transactions per second, and they offer an advanced version that gives an in-depth technical analysis of an asset’s movements in the market over time. Binance also offers trading-competitions to users, such as Lambo giveaways, in a pro-active attempt to keep interest in the platform high.

Winner: Binance, although KuCoin is a great exchange platform, it still cannot compete with Binance’s #1 user experience.

 

So what is better?

Binance is undeniably the #1 exchange on the planet right now. They have proven themselves capable of securing against organized attacks, they have a strong community, a massive volume and a great user experience. KuCoin is not as popular or established, and although they offer a great service, they will need more time to prove themselves as capable as Binance.

It is good to mention that users can have great experiences with both platforms, and KuCoin offers new assets sooner than most other established exchanges, making it a popular choice for adventurous traders. Ultimately, It is always up to the investor to choose the platform that suits his or her needs, and no matter which exchange you choose, Binance and KuCoin are great tools to use on your next moon mission.


If you do plan on going to the moon, consider taking me with you. I don’t eat much, and I make the purr-fect travel companion. Please let us know your thoughts below.

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