Goodbye, Binance Canada: A Review

If you’re looking to buy and sell crypto, you’ve got plenty of crypto exchanges to choose from, but Binance is leaving Canada. 

Binance was one of the top crypto exchanges in the world, and many Canadians used it to trade their favourite crypto coins. However, Binance was not allowed to operate in Ontario due to the Ontario Securities Exchange’s demands to protect Ontario consumers.

After the Canadian government increased crypto regulation, Binance decided to pull out of Canada. The company will send emails to Canadian clients about how to withdraw their assets.

However, Binance was a global darling. Let’s take a closer look at what the Binance crypto exchange was, including people used it, its features, and where it’s available.

Could You Legally Use Binance In Canada?

When it operated in Canada, Binance was available everywhere in Canada except Ontario. In 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) started cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Ontario that did not comply with the Securities Act. Exchanges were given a deadline of April 19, 2021, to meet these regulations, but a handful did not. 

Binance decided to cease operations in Ontario in order to avoid any hassles of trying to remain in compliance with the Act. At the end of June 2021, Binance stopped serving Ontario-based crypto clients. 

Who Is Binance? 

Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that operates all over the world. Originally headquartered in Hong Kong, Binance is now based out of the Cayman Islands. 

The platform offers a wide range of features that experienced crypto traders will find attractive. More than 300 cryptocurrencies are available to trade on the platform. Traders can also take out cryptocurrency loans to help fund their investments. 

Binance also has its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin.

Binance Features

The Binance crypto exchange features several interfaces for traders with different levels of trading experience:

Convert – For Beginners

Newbie crypto traders will find the Convert interface easy to use. Simply select the type and amount of cryptocurrency you want to purchase to initiate your trade. As long as you link your card to your account, you can buy hundreds of cryptocurrencies quickly and easily. 

Classic Or Advanced – For Advanced Users

The Classic interface is the next step up from Convert and is suitable for traders with a little more experience who are looking for a few more features to help them make sound purchasing decisions. This mode includes a stop-loss option, which allows you to set a limit on trades. That means your crypto will sell automatically as soon as the price reaches a specific level, or buy automatically when the price drops. The charts in this mode have more analytical functionality to support more complex technical analysis.

Margin – For Those With An Appetite For High Risk

Highly advanced traders looking to maximize profits might want to take a look at the Margin trading mode, which features a combination of spot and futures trading. This allows traders to leverage crypto trades using borrowed funds. While the risk of buying on margin is higher, the potential returns are also much greater. 

Find out whether it’s better to buy crypto directly or as an ETF

Types Of Crypto Assets Offered By Binance

Binance offers over 300 cryptocurrencies. Here are just a few of the more popular ones available:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Binance Coin
• Tether
• Ripple
• Bitcoin Cash
• Shiba Inu 
• Litecoin
• Cardano
• Monero
• Dogecoin
• Solana
• Theta

Transferring Money To Your Binance Account Using Fiat 

Usually, crypto has to be tied to a fiat currency- a government issued currency not backed by a physical asset like gold. Think the US dollar and Euro. If you don’t already possess cryptocurrency, you can get started by funding your Binance account using fiat currency. Binance accepts several fiat currencies, such as USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, HKD, RUB, PHP, and others.

The way you can fund your account depends on the exact fiat currency you’re using. For instance, GBP can only be used to deposit funds into your account using Visa or Mastercard. On the other hand, you can deposit EUR using Visa, Mastercard, SEPA transfer, and P2P Express. 

When it operated in Canada, there were no deposit fees for crypto deposits, there may be a deposit fee associated with funding your account using fiat, which can be as much as 3.5%.

Interestingly, you could not fund your Binance account using CAD. You had to buy crypto with Canadian dollars by using a debit or credit card. Or, you can buy crypto on another platform with CAD, then transfer that crypto to your Binance account.

Transferring Money To Your Binance Account Using Cryptocurrency

If you already owned crypto, you could use it to fund your Binance account. In fact, deposits made using crypto were free.  

To fund your Binance account using crypto, all you needed to do was:

1. Select “overview” under the Wallet tab. Then click deposit crypto. 
2. Then you chose the coin you want to deposit and the network it’s coming from. You needed to be sure to choose the network that matches the withdrawal network. If not, you risked losing your assets during the deposit. 
3. After you chose your coin and deposit network, Binance gave you the address to transfer the crypto, either via an alpha-numeric address or QR code. This usually took just a few minutes, though it might have taken up to 24 hours to complete. 

Check out if you should store your coins in a hot or cold wallet.

How You Traded On Binance 

There were other ways to buy crypto on Binance besides depositing money into your account. You bought cryptocurrency using CAD with a credit or debit card, through P2P Trading, or a third-party payment provider.

Using A Debit or Credit Card To Make A Trade On Binance

The fastest and easiest way to buy crypto was by using your debit or credit card, especially if you were using CAD. You had to:

1. Click on “Buy Crypto” on your dashboard
2. Click “credit/debit” 
3. Choose CAD as the currency
4. Enter the dollar amount (minimum of $20)
5. Select the crypto you want to buy 
6. Enter your debit or credit card details to link it to your account

Using P2P Trading To Make A Trade On Binance

You could also buy cryptocurrency on a peer-to-peer exchange (P2P), which is a marketplace that allows crypto trades between other users. The P2P exchange supports 6 different currencies:

• USDT
• BTC
• BUSD
• BNB
• ETH
• DOGE
• DAI

There are more than 150 payment methods available, and no fees are charged. 

Using A Third-Party Payment To Make A Trade On Binance

There were 2 options available for trading crypto using third-party providers on Binance: Simplex and BANXA. With Simplex, you paid with Visa and MasterCard, while BANXA allowed you to pay with Visa, MasterCard, or Bank Transfer. 

Binance Fee Structure

Deposit Fees

There were no fees for depositing crypto into your Binance account. To deposit fiat currency into your account the fee structure depended on the currency and method of deposit.

Withdrawal Fees

There was a flat fee to withdraw crypto from your Binance wallet to an external wallet, depending on the crypto being transferred.  Binance’s withdrawal fees were automatically adjusted based on the market.

Trading Fees

Binance charged a maximum trading fee of 0.1% to buy crypto tokens. If you used Binance Coin (BNB) to pay your trading fees you’d receive a 25% discount. If you had BNB in your account, your trading fees would automatically be withdrawn from your BNB balance.

Binance FAQs

Final Thoughts

Binance facilitated your crypto trades. It had over 300 cryptocurrencies available and multiple ways to fund your account and buy crypto. For a time, Binance was be an ideal platform to get your hands on these digital assets.