With so many exchanges out there, how do you choose which one is right for you? Apart from obvious location limitations and the fact you may want to trade an obscure currency that isn’t listed in most of the available platforms, let’s try to see how to choose between two of the most popular exchanges on the web.

Binance is based in Hong Kong. It does not require an ID unless you want to have a higher level of membership; so unless you need that, you may maintain your anonymity.

Kucoin is also based in Hong Kong. Actually, both platforms were originally from China but had to move after the government crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

Fees

Fees are 0.1% on both websites. Binance offers no deposit fees, while withdrawal fees depend on the asset. Kucoin, however, offers dividends of 50% of the exchange earnings on its own token. Binance token is simply used to pay for fees on the platform, saving money compared to paying through different tokens.

Assets

Both platforms have a pretty wide choice of assets, with Binance offering up to 242 altcoins and Kucoin supporting 179. Other than trading through BTC and ETH, Binance offers the possibility to trade through its own token and Tether, while Kucoin offers trading pairs with its own token, Tether, but also NEO and BTC Cash.

Authentication

Both platforms support two-factor authentication and have never been hacked, though there was a Reddit thread stating a Binance account was emptied of its funds. To be completely fair, the user goes on to explain he did not put two-factor authentication, so it’s not really on the website as much as it is on the user itself.

Binance did warn, though, of a number of phishing attempts, with several phishing websites appearing on search engines when people tried to find the exchange. Always double check that you are visiting the right website before enabling scammers to retrieve your password and information. Please, also enable two-factor authentication every time you are given the chance to any website.

No reports on Kucoin having had any sort of problem so far.

Customer Service

Kucoin has incredibly fast customer service. There’s a 24-hour telegram support chat with quick response rate. Binance also offers different ways to contact its support, with the main one being through tickets. There are reports of it taking up to a few days, with a Reddit user claiming it took him as long as two weeks to get an answer, but apart from that, it is an above average customer service compared to most exchanges.

Conclusion

There’s no clear winner between these two exchanges. Let’s start by saying they’re both really good and reliable platforms, so you should consider using one of them rather than some dodgy looking website making false promises. Binance has a wider range of altcoins, but Kucoin has a faster customer support. Fees and securities are basically the same. Maybe you could try Kucoin unless you’re looking for some obscure altcoin you can only find on binance, but you should probably look at the interface of both and see what seems better for you, personally.