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Binance vs. Kucoin: What Works Better For Canadians?

Oleg Galeev

Last updated September 19, 2024

Binance vs. Kucoin featured image

Binance and Kucoin are two of the world’s biggest and well-known cryptocurrency exchanges available for Canadians, but how do they fare for Canadians looking to buy crypto? The OCryptoCanada team did some extensive research to see how these two crypto giants compare.

Binance has announced its exit from the Canadian market on 30 September 2023, citing regulatory uncertainties. As a result, we can't recommend Binance over Kucoin.

Description

Binance was founded in 2017 and is based in Malta. It averages $2 billion in daily volume and executes 1.4 million transactions per second. Canadians can purchase and trade hundreds of different coins with advanced order types. Binance stopped operating in Canada in July 2022.

Kucoin is a sort of Canadian-friendly cryptocurrency exchange that offers peer-to-peer crypto trades, lending, and futures trading. Kucoin is suitable for more advanced traders looking for advanced charting and order types. Kucoin has 8 million

Coins

400+ including BTC, ETH, XRP, DOGE, USDT

500+ coins

Fees

Low
0.1% to 0.02% buy fee depending on VIP level

  • Low maker/taker trading fees ( 0.005%/0.025% to 0.1%/0.1% for class A coins)
  • Free deposits
  • Variable withdrawal fees
  • KCS holders get 20% discount on trading fees

Pros

  • Good for Canadians looking to buy and trade altcoins
  • DEX/P2P trading
  • Advanced order types
  • Margin trading
  • Derivatives and futures trading
  • Stock token trading
  • 400+ coins
  • Low fees
  • Simple or advanced interface
  • Low fees
  • Wide range of altcoins available
  • Advanced order types
  • Crypto lending
  • Futures trading
  • Fast crypto purchases
  • Peer to peer exchange
  • Anonymous trading

Cons

  • No Interac e-Transfer
  • Not available in Ontario at the moment
  • Platform is confusing for beginners
  • No fiat to crypto pairs
  • Must buy USDT to trade
  • Previously hacked
  • Not compliant in Ontario (but you can still use it though)

Account Limits

N/A

Low

Methods to buy

Credit/debit, SWIFT bank transfer with USD

  • Credit/debit card 
  • Third party Bank transfer

Security

2FA, coins held in cold storage with multi-signature wallets, KYC verification process

  • $275 million stolen in 2020 hack
  • 2FA available

Mobile and Desktop Trading

Binance has a rating of 4.6 stars on the Apple App Store with 22,000 ratings. On Google Play, it has 4.5 stars with 271,000 ratings.

Binance’s app allows its users to switch between the Lite and Pro interfaces making it suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.

Binance’s app interface also closely resembles its desktop counterpart, though, at first glance, it does not seem as user-friendly and intuitive as Coinbase. Binance offers its users multiple ways to purchase crypto depending on the type of trade you want. On its desktop platform, you can select “Convert” for a quick debit or credit purchase, or “Classic” or “Advanced” for more trading types.

Kucoin is slightly different than your average crypto exchange. You won’t be able to deposit Canadian dollars directly. You’ll have to go through a third-party such as Banxa to deposit fiat. Kucoin does, however, accept credit and debit card payments, but you’ll need to check if your Canadian bank allows crypto transactions.

There are no fiat to crypto pairs, so you cannot buy bitcoin or other crypto directly with your dollars. You’ll need to first purchase Tether USDT on Kucoin and then trade that for the crypto you want.

The Kucoin exchange can be quite confusing for beginners.

Binance Canada

Binance has a rating of 4.6 stars on the Apple App Store with 22,000 ratings. On Google Play, it has 4.5 stars with 271,000 ratings.

Binance’s app allows its users to switch between the Lite and Pro interfaces making it suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.

Binance’s app interface also closely resembles its desktop counterpart, though, at first glance, it does not seem as user-friendly and intuitive as Coinbase. Binance offers its users multiple ways to purchase crypto depending on the type of trade you want. On its desktop platform, you can select “Convert” for a quick debit or credit purchase, or “Classic” or “Advanced” for more trading types.

Binance desktop platform (Convert)

Binance Convert

Binance desktop platform for advanced users

Binance Advanced

Binance Lite App for beginner users view

Binance Lite App for beginner users

Binance Advanced mobile view for Canadians

Binance App for advanced users

Kucoin

Kucoin is slightly different than your average crypto exchange. You won’t be able to deposit Canadian dollars directly. You’ll have to go through a third-party such as Banxa to deposit fiat. Kucoin does, however, accept credit and debit card payments, but you’ll need to check if your Canadian bank allows crypto transactions.

There are no fiat to crypto pairs, so you cannot buy bitcoin or other crypto directly with your dollars. You’ll need to first purchase Tether USDT on Kucoin and then trade that for the crypto you want.

The Kucoin exchange can be quite confusing for beginners.

There are advanced charting and order types available, plus you can trade on margin and trade futures contracts if you wish.

To buy USDT quickly, go up to the top menu and select the “Fast Buy” option. Here, you can purchase USDT using your credit or debit card or via the P2P exchange, or via a third party transfer. Once you have your USDT, then you can trade it on the Kucoin exchange under “spot trading”. Select the trading pair e.g. USDT/BTC and then choose your order type e.g. market order.

The Kucoin app has a 3.7-star rating from over 2,000 reviews on the Apple App Store and a 2.7-star rating from over 12,000 reviews on Google Play. Many people complain that the app crashes or that there are certain features lacking such as the ability to filter order history by trading pair.

Kucoin’s app is a bit more simple than its desktop exchange but it’s still confusing for beginners. There are lots of features, tabs, and menus. Buying USDT is easy since you do not need to verify your account. Simply sign up with an email and you can buy crypto in seconds using your credit or debit card under the Fast trade option. From there though, you will need to navigate to the spot trading page and select the trading pair you want.

Kucoin crypto exchange desktop interface

Kucoin desktop interface

Kucoin desktop app (Fast Trade)

Kucoin desktop app (Fast Trade)

Kucoin app screenshot

Kucoin app interface

Kucoin app while trading

Kucoin app interface while trading

Security Compliance

Binance offers world-class security meaning your coins are in relatively safe hands. It offers two-factor authentication, so you can prevent unauthorized access to your account.

Keep in mind, Binance has been hacked before. Back in 2019, hackers stole 7,000 Bitcoin along with customers’ 2FA codes and API tokens. The hackers used phishing and viruses to gain access to the exchange. However, because Binance holds most of its digital assets in cold storage, the hackers only got away with what was in the hot wallet – about 2% of Binance’s Bitcoin holdings at the time.

As long as you take precautions, and transfer your crypto off the exchange to an external cryptocurrency wallet, you should be safe.

Kucoin provides world-class security meaning your coins are in relatively safe hands. It has two-factor authentication, so you can prevent unauthorized access to your account.

Keep in mind, $275 million worth of crypto was stolen from Kucoin by North Korean hackers in 2020. Later, $200 million of the stolen funds was recovered. Still, it doesn’t bode well for Kucoin. If you have funds on the exchange, it’s best to move them to a private crypto wallet

Both Binance and KuCoin provide world-class security, ensuring your coins are in relatively safe hands. Both exchanges offer two-factor authentication, so you can prevent unauthorized access to your account.

Binance also offers crypto address whitelisting, which means you can select which addresses can withdraw your cryptocurrency. Whitelisting helps prevent your funds from being transferred to an address you don’t recognize.

In 2020, $275 million worth of crypto was stolen from Kucoin by North Korean hackers. Later, $200 million of the stolen funds was recovered. Still, it doesn’t bode well for Kucoin. If you have funds on the exchange, it’s best to move them to a private crypto wallet

There is very little information on Kucoin’s website regarding its security measures, so trade with care. You can, however, set up Google Authenticator for two-factor authentication. 

Regulatory Compliance

Binance has no restrictions for Canadians, except for Ontario residents. You can use it at full capacity whether it’s a simple buy order at market price or a more advanced order type. 

In June, 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission stated that Kucoin was illegally offering its residents securities and derivatives trading, but Kucoin did not respond to this. As a result, Kucoin is still available in Ontario as well as the rest of Canada. You can use Kucoin at full capacity whether it’s a simple buy order at market price or a more advanced order type. Bear in mind, Kucoin does not allow Interac e-Transfer to deposit Canadian dollars to your account. Instead, you will have to use a debit or credit card or a SWIFT transfer with USD.

To sign up and start trading on Kucoin you only need to provide your email address. There is a daily limit to how much you can withdraw (1 BTC or 400 CAD) but you do not need to verify your account unless you want to get higher withdrawal limits. This poses the question how compliant Kucoin is. It is not easy to find compliance information on Kucoin’s website, but a press release from June, 2020 announced Kucoin was partnering with Chainalysis to help prevent money laundering and fraud on its platform. 

In June, 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission stated that Kucoin and Binance was illegally offering its residents securities and derivatives trading, but Kucoin did not respond to this. Binance faced the same allegation and has since ceased operations in Ontario.

Canadian residents can use both Binance (except Ontario residents) and Kucoin to their full capacity whether it’s a simple buy order at market price or a more advanced order type. Bear in mind, neither platform allows Interac e-Transfer to deposit Canadian dollars to your account. Instead, you will have to use a debit or credit card or a SWIFT transfer with USD on Binance or Kucoin. Both Visa and Mastercard are accepted on Binance. 

Customer support

Binance offers 24/7 support and a live chat option. In addition, Binance also has helpful FAQs and online ticketing service for their customers. Binance replied to our concern within a day.

Kucoin offers helpful FAQs and online ticketing service for their customers as well as 24/7 support and a live chat option.

Both Binance and Kucoin offer helpful FAQs and online ticketing service for their customers. Both offer 24/7 support and a live chat option. Neither exchange offers a phone support service.

Conclusion

Both Binance and Kucoin are great cryptocurrency exchanges for Canadians that offer a wide selection of coins. However, Binance is more popular among Canadians for several reasons (except for the ones who live in Ontario). If you’re mostly interested in trading altcoins then Binance is the clear winner, especially because it has some of the lowest fees of any exchange and Binance is safer. If you hold Binance’s own coin Binance coin (BNB) fees are even lower. Once you become more experienced with trading cryptocurrency, you might be tempted by Binance’s advanced trading orders. 

Binance has announced its exit from the Canadian market on 30 September 2023, citing regulatory uncertainties. As a result, we can't recommend Binance over other crypto exchange. In this case, we can recommend Coinbase to you.

On top of these two, we would recommend Coinsmart for a number of reasons. Why? Check on our Coinsmart review.

Author

Oleg is a Canadian citizen & crypto expert who has been trading since 2016. He started out with Coinbase, Kraken and Peer-to-Peer exchanges. After some time, centralized exchanges started charging crazy fees to their users.

He decided to review different crypto exchanges that operate in Canada and start a Youtube channel in order to educate Canadians on what kinds of things are going inside each one while giving them unbiased advice. On top of that, Oleg also has experience with NFT, airdrops, and crypto staking and he is constantly checking on new crypto assets.

His writing has been featured in popular Canadian media sources such as Toronto Sun and Ottawa Citizen.