Robinhood vs. Binance: Brokerage-Free Trades or Unbeatable Selection of Crypto?

Beginner Friendliness

Robinhood makes full efforts to keep its services beginner-friendly. It has a dedicated segment on its official website, where it elaborates on the basics of investing. It starts with the fundamentals of the financial markets and explains what one should do to analyze a stock and to prepare himself before diving into the world of investing. It slowly moves on to options trading, ETFs, and the essentials of portfolio diversification.

Apart from making sincere efforts to groom an informed and aware investor community, Robinhood keeps it simple for new investors to join. All that one needs to have is an iOS device running iOS 11 and newer or an Android device running Android 7 and newer. For users who want to run it on their browsers, Robinhood Web supports all major browsers, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. It works on both Macs and PCs. Anyone who is 18 years or older and has a valid Social Security Number can use Robinhood Crypto to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other currencies 24/7 and commission-free. You can also use Robinhood Financial to invest in more than 5,000 stocks, including most US equities and exchange-traded funds, and 650 global stocks through American Depository Receipts or ADRs.

A user can download the Binance app only by scanning a QR code on its official website. It is also available on the iOS app store and Google Play Store, and compatible with multiple operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and Linux. A user can start trading by creating a free account with his/her email id or mobile number. To perform spot trading on a set of coin pairs, all one needs to do is select the pair, set the spot or margin, and place a market order for quick trade at the best price. Since new users prefer fiat currencies to make crypto purchases, Binance allows a variety of fiat payment methods, including bank deposits, credit or debit cards, bank transfers, and other third-party payment options, such as Simplex.

Overall, both platforms are beginner-friendly. But, in terms of the depth and variety of the crypto-specific knowledge resources, Binance is comfortably ahead of Robinhood’s investor tutorials.

Trust & Security

Robinhood stores its crypto assets in a mix of online (hot) and offline (cold) storage, where the majority stays in the more secure cold storage with some held online for daily operations. Robinhood offers crime insurance, underwritten by certain underwriters at Lloyd’s and placed by Lloyd’s registered broker, Aon. This insurance offers protection from losses generated from thefts, including cybersecurity breaches.

Robinhood follows an operationally secure crypto management policy where the transfer of coins needs approval from a select group of people who are rotated constantly, without any prior internal or external disclosure. Robinhood Crypto comes under the purview of FinCEN as a money services business and also complies with the tenets of the Bank Secrecy Act and money transmitter laws of individual US states.

To keep its users’ accounts secure, Binance follows the two-factor authentication or 2FA policy. Its 2FA policy gives the options of both SMS and Google authentication, with a preference for Google authenticator since it is safer and free from the threats of SIM swapping. With a Binance app’s device management feature, a user can always check the devices that can access the app. If a user fails to recognize a device or identifies a device that has currently become redundant, he/she can remove it from the list.

If a user does not have any specific preference for a wallet, Binance offers the provision of using the Trust Wallet, one of the most trusted and secured products in the crypto wallet market with a user base of more than 10 million. You can also deploy an anti-phishing code on all your Binance emails, helping you identify whether the emails are genuine. You can also leverage the Binance API to maximize your experience with the Binance trade engine. It also supports U2F-compatible authenticators, granting the user access to the account only if the key is plugged into the computer or paired with it wirelessly.

Both Binance and Robinhood follow industry-accepted best practices when it comes to securing their users’ funds. No one emerges as a significantly better player in this regard and stands neck to neck.

Fees

Robinhood crypto allows commission-free trading. However, it often becomes difficult to ascertain the actual trade fees that you might end up incurring when you use Robinhood for crypto trades. Robinhood charges a payment for the order flow. All trades on Robinhood essentially come to market makers for execution. These market makers pay Robinhood a fee, calculated as a percentage of the trade. However, there are no official disclosures on how much this percentage typically is.

On the other hand, Binance has a very transparent and well-laid-out fee structure. There are 10 trading fee rate categories starting from the VIP 0 level going up to VIP 10. The VIP 0 level implies those who have a less than 50 BTC monthly trade volume of between 0 and 50 BNBs in their balance. The VIP 9 level implies those who register more than 15,000 BTC in monthly trade volume and or more than 11,000 BNB in their BNB balance. The maker fees vary from 0.0200% to 0.1000% between VIP 9 and VIP 0, whereas the taker fees vary from 0.0400% to 0.1000% between VIP 9 and VIP 0. The BNB holders qualify for 25% off on their trading fees, and 10% off on their USDⓈ-M futures trading fee rate.

Sign-Up Process

To open an account in Robinhood, you need to apply to the Robinhood app. In a few days, the app sends an email confirming the approval or asking for further information. The app takes five to seven days to review the verification documents. The document types that Robinhood may ask for to verify and activate your account include your driver’s license, state ID, passport photo page, bank statement, social security card, permanent residency card, and 3210 letters.

Registration on the Binance app is much easier, quicker, and relatively hassle-free than Robinhood. After opening the Binance app, you need to click on the login or register option at the top left-hand corner. Next, you will have to insert your email address and password.

After studying the terms of use carefully, you will have to click on ‘Register’. The password should follow the standard internet protocol for passwords and include at least one uppercase letter and one number, with at least eight characters in total. Once you’ve clicked on the ‘Register’ option, you’ll be asked to complete a jigsaw puzzle. On successful completion of the puzzle, Binance will send a confirmation mail to the registered mail id. The mail will have a verification code for you to enter within 10 minutes. Once you enter the verification code correctly, your account gets opened successfully.

Evidently, the Binance sign-up process is quick and seamless and happens in minutes, while the Robinhood sign-up may take days.

Available Cryptocurrencies

Robinhood supports the following seven cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Litecoin. It also supports real-time market data for the following currencies: Bitcoin Gold, Dash, Lisk, Monero, NEO, OmiseGO, Qtum, Ripple, Stellar, and ZCash.

Binance has a much wider supported currencies list. It offers more than 500 choices for altcoins to its non-US users. For US-based users, the Binance exchange supported currencies list is much shorter, but still much wider than Robinhood. In the US, Binance supports at least 52 altcoins. Apart from Bitcoin, the supported currency list of Binance includes BNB, BUSD, Ethereum, Tether US, 1 INCH, Aave, Cardano ADA, Algoard, and many more.

Standout Features

Robinhood gains the maximum of its market momentum by promising commission-free trade. Also, if you have a Robinhood Instant account, you will get instant access to your funds up to $1,000 to trade cryptocurrency.

Binance, on the other hand, supports a massive range of cryptocurrency options to buy along with high liquidity. You can buy crypto using USD, EURO, Pound Sterling, and other fiat currencies along with stablecoins such as BUSD, CUSD, Paxos, Tether, and True USD. With its OTC trading facilities, users get large crypto OTC block trading facilities on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It offers you access to unlisted pairs, such as LTC/XRP, without any third party involved in your settlement.

Conclusion: Binance Better for Diversified Trading Opportunities

Your selection would obviously depend on the exact services you want from your crypto trade facilitator.

If you are looking for a variety of trading pairs and a wide range of assets that you can pick and choose from, you must go with Binance. Even if you are a new trader in the crypto market, Binance will help you with 24/7 customer support.

On the other hand, if you have made up your mind to trade only in high market cap currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, you may opt for Robinhood, given that you would not have to shell out extra money as broker charges or trading commission fees.