Cryptocurrency is still a reasonably new concept compared to Fiat. While Fiat has existed worldwide for centuries, the idea of cryptocurrency was introduced in the mid-90s. Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, was released as open-source software in 2009. Since then, there have been more than 9000 other cryptocurrencies in the marketplace with a market capitalization exceeding billions of dollars. In the late 2010s, cryptocurrency exchanges emerged onto the scene, and in just a few years, they have millions of users who use their trading platforms daily. We are picking two of the most renowned exchanges that have such a large number of users among them and comparing the services they offer, the fees they charge, and which one is considered better than the other.

Binance

Binance was founded in 2017 and registered in the Cayman Islands by a Chinese developer named Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume.

By bit

Bybit was founded in 2018 by Ben Zhou, who formerly worked at XM (one of the world’s largest forex and CFD trading brokerage firms). Compared to Binance, Bybit has a low trading volume.  We will not dwell much into the history of these crypto exchanges;

How to Register

Binance and Bybit have a relatively simple registration process. All they require from you is your email id and a password for either their desktop or a mobile application (Bybit doesn’t have a desktop application at the moment). Once you sign up, they will send you a verification number via email, which you must provide on their verification page. Once you have done that, you will gain excess to the main interface of both apps, where you can see the different cryptocurrencies listed on their platform, their current market value, and their trading volume. This signup process is just the first step, though, and here is where users will notice the first difference in both these crypto exchanges.

While Bybit is happy to allow you to trade with just your initial credentials of the Email ID, there is a limit on how much you can trade and withdraw with only these credentials. In the case of Bybit, a user can trade on their exchange but can only withdraw 2 BTC per day from the crypto exchange. If they want to extend their withdrawal limit, they must provide the exchange with a KYC verification. Binance, on the other hand, wouldn’t allow its users to trade or withdraw unless they give their KYC verification.

KYC (know-your-customer) verification is almost required by all regulators that act as a safeguard for platforms to protect users against hackers, money launderers, or market manipulators. Binance was lenient in its practice of not asking for KYC verification in its early days. But due to unfortunate incidents when the exchange was hacked, they have become stringent observers of this policy. Their blog has even compiled a table comparing their KYC policies against their competitors. To trade in Binance, you would have to be a Tier 1 user, where you will need to provide your email ID, photo ID, and selfie check before you are allowed to trade.

Tier
	Requirements	Email	Yes	Yes
Unverified		Trade	No	Yes
	Features	Withdrawal Limit	–	2 BTC per day
		Email	Yes	Yes
		Name	Yes	Yes
		ID info input	Yes	Yes
	Requirements	Photo ID	Yes	Yes
Tier 1		Selfie Check	Yes	Yes
		Proof of Address	No	No
		Trade	Yes	Yes
	Features	Withdrawal Limit	$50,000/day	50 BTC/day
		Email	Yes	Yes
		Name	Yes	Yes
		ID info input	Yes	Yes
	Requirements	Photo ID	Yes	Yes
Tier 2		Selfie Check	Yes	Yes
		Proof of Address	Yes	Yes
		Occupation	Yes	No
		Trade	Yes	Yes
	Features	Withdrawal Limit	$2M/day	100 BTC/day

So Bybit makes a less strict initial impression on its new users than Binance. However, Binance argues that these steps are necessary to safeguard its customers’ assets. As for the perks the users enjoy after verifying their accounts, ByBit takes the lead in Tier 1 competition, where their withdrawal limit is significantly higher than Binance keeping into account the current value of BTC. Their Tier 2 withdrawal limit is very close, however. 

Note: The withdrawal limit of Bybit Tier 2 registered users is $1.94M for the current BTC value on 29/09/2022 and may be subject to changes according to the latest market value of BTC.

How to Deposit

• Debit/Credit card (Visa or MasterCard). First-time users need to fill out their card information and billing address. Once the card information is added, users can enter the amount they want to spend when buying a cryptocurrency. After selecting the type of FIAT currency (for example, EUR, USD, RUP, PKR, JPY, AED, etc.), they enter the desired deposit amount. Once the transaction is successful, the amount will be shown in their crypto wallets.
• Bank Transfer. After selecting the bank transfer method, the exchanges will route users to the page where they will ask them about their preferred FIAT currency option. Once the currency options are selected, they will ask users for their bank account information. After filling in the required details, the desired transfer amount should be submitted. Once the task is completed, the exchange would ask for a wait of 3 or 4 business days before the amount is translated into their exchange wallets. In case of any amount deduction made and the nonappearance of funds on their exchange wallets after the requested time, the users will be refunded their amount in 7-10 business days.
• P2P trading. In this method, there are traders available on the exchange, which provide users with coins in exchange for FIAT currency. There is a list of traders available online at any given time. These traders are called Advertisers. In the P2P portal, the advertisers’ names are displayed along with their completion rate. The higher the completion rate of an advertiser is, the more reliable it is to purchase crypto from them. Each advertiser has its maximum and minimum transfer limit. Once the order is placed, the user will send FIAT on account of the selected advertiser, who will then send you crypto after receiving the funds. This process would have to be completed 15 minutes before the session is expired. In case of non-completion of payment, both Binance and Bybit have set out a list of scenarios they ask the users to look at before making any transactions.
• Third-Party payment channels.

Both exchanges don’t charge any fee for the deposits made. The third-party payment channels may charge fees for facilitating a user’s deposit request on the exchange. 

How to Withdraw

Binance and Bybit have options for withdrawing cryptocurrency on their desktop and mobile apps. 

Binance

After logging into a Binance account, a user will move the mouse to click on the Wallet tab. Similarly, the mobile app will tap on the Wallet tab. When this is done, they click on (Fiat and Spot). Then the option of Withdraw will appear. From there, they will Select the crypto tab and choose the cryptocurrency they want to withdraw, e.g. BTC. After selecting the cryptocurrency, they will choose BTC on their trust wallet and Receive it. Users will be asked to copy their BTC address and paste it onto the BTC recipient address on the Binance withdrawal page. Once the users submit their request, they will receive a six-digit code which they will be asked to Submit to confirm their transaction. Users can see their outgoing withdrawals in their transaction history. The complete steps of the ByBit withdrawal process are mentioned on their website page. 

Bybit

On Bybit, users must select the Assets tab on either their desktop or mobile app. Once selected, they will be asked to choose the crypto they want to withdraw. The withdrawals can be made only from a Spot account. If any user has currency in their Derivative versions, they must transfer it into their spot account first. After selecting the desired currency, the user will be asked if they have linked their withdrawal wallet with their Bybit account. If no, then they will be asked to link their withdrawal wallet first. If yes, they will be asked to select from the list of addresses the user has submitted. In the case of just one address, they will see the option of that particular address. After selecting the address user will enter the amount and press Submit. The user will be directed to a verification page where he will be prompted to enter the verification code sent to him via email. When the code is verified, then the transaction will be completed. The complete steps of the ByBit withdrawal process are mentioned on their website page.

Trading Fees

Both exchanges have variable withdrawal fees for different types of trading options and various cryptocurrencies.

The complete list of Binance trading fee structures is given here.

The complete list of Bybit trading fee structures is shown here.

Signup Bonus

Bybit and Binance both offer signup bonuses to new users.

Binance 

To be eligible for a welcome bonus on Binance, a user must be referred to Binance by an affiliate registered with the campaign promotion. Each Binance affiliate has a unique referral link embedded with the welcome bonus. Without the affiliate referral, a new user wouldn’t qualify for a signup reward. Once the user signs up through a registered affiliate’s referral link, they must complete a series of tasks highlighted in the task center in a given timeframe. After completing the task, he may get rewards like:

1. $5 spot cashback voucher on a first-time deposit of $100 within five days of registration.
2. $20 spot cashback voucher with spot trade of ≥ $1000 within seven days of registration.
3. $25 cashback voucher with spot trade of ≥ $20000 within seven days of registration.

Bybit

First-time Bybit users who make a first-time express purchase, deposit, or P2P trade of ≥ $200 within seven days of signing up can get up to $50 in BTC:

1. Signup + deposit ≥ $200 to get $10 in BTC.
2. Signup + deposit ≥ $800 to get $20 in BTC.
3. Signup + deposit ≥ $1500 to get $30 in BTC.
4. Signup + deposit ≥ $3000 to get $50 in BTC.

Therefore, both Binance and Bybit offer up to $50’ worth of signup bonus, but Bybit doesn’t require a larger initial deposit from its new users compared to Binance.

Markets

• Spot Market: A spot trade is the sale or purchase of a cryptocurrency at any given time for immediate delivery. Immediate delivery means that the buyer and seller are involved in a successful transaction of a currency, therefore, satisfying the needs of both sides for trading now. A simple example of a spot trade can be explained in a scenario where suppose a user buys a BTC worth $25000 in a spot market on that day. After a few months, the price of 1 BTC rises to $50000. The user is then eligible to take a profit of $25000 which he can use to buy other cryptocurrencies or withdraw the profit from his spot account into his funding wallet. From there, the user can transfer it into his bank account or use it for any other trade.

• Futures Market: A futures trade is a derivative product of the cryptocurrency market. Futures is the most traded derivative in today’s crypto market. There are two types of futures trade in the cryptocurrency market. Delivery Futures and Perpetual Futures. Futures are traded with leverage on margin trading, allowing investors to take higher risks and profit from the price fluctuations of different crypto investments. Margin trading is performed by the investor with the trust provided by the broker or the exchange. Margin trading uses the principle of leveraged investment, allowing small capital as a margin to amplify your potential profits while trading and magnifying your potential risk of loss, enabling investors with limited capital to trade in the financial markets.

The significant difference between the spot and future markets is that in the spot market, the trade you are doing with any cryptocurrency is your commodity. In future trading, users don’t own the crypto asset they are trading. Instead, they are determining any cryptocurrencies rising or falling value and opening a long or short trade accordingly. If they are successful in their prediction or calculations that the market is moving in the direction they have predicted, they will earn a profit on that future trade. Otherwise, they will incur losses if the market moves in the opposite direction.

Binance

Binance offers spot trading on more than 1600 token pairs. The average trading volume on Binance in a 24-hour time frame is approximately $12.5B. In futures trading, Binance also has a substantial trading volume which reaches roughly $49.2B on 200+ token pairs. Users can take a Maximum Leverage of 1:100 in Binance futures.

Bybit

Bybit is very much behind Binance in terms of trading volume. On average, Bybit sees $400M worth of trading in the spot market in a 24-hour time frame. Bybit offers spot trading on 300+ token pairs. In futures trading, Bybit offers 100+ token pairs and has trading volume reaching up to $10.2B in the 24-hour time frame. Users can take a Maximum Leverage of 1:100 in Bybit futures.

Accounts Security

Since cryptocurrency exchanges hold billions of dollars worth of assets, they are susceptible to unwanted attention from hackers. Binance is no stranger to such unwanted attention as they have been recipients of a few hacking attacks on their exchange. In 2019 Hackers managed to steal 7000 Bitcoin from its hot wallet. In March of 2022, Binance was the victim of another hacking incident in which hackers, identified by the US government as North Korean hackers called Lazarus Group, managed to steal $615M worth of cryptocurrencies from an account. Binance has set up a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), an emergency insurance fund established for users who are victims of any attack on their crypto wallets in the Binance exchange. Binance ensures that the affected users who have lost their lost cryptocurrencies are compensated fairly.

Bybit has managed to avoid such a dilemma till today. They, however, don’t have any compensation protocols set up either in case of any attack on their exchange.

Customer Support

Customer support is an essential tool that any crypto exchange must possess. Not all new users are familiar with the workings of the crypto exchange. Even after reading all the instructions provided by the exchange, they may have one or two questions that may need an answer, and there is no better equipped than the customer support staff to help them navigate through their problems. Users may also face issues like nonpayment of funds in P2P trading or session expiring due to external circumstances during trading activity.

Bybit

Bybit offers 24-hour around-the-clock multilingual customer support. In addition, Bybit has a live chat feature where users can get in touch with support staff to resolve any of their queries. Their email id is support@bybit, where users can send their questions and complaints.

Binance

Binance has a virtual chatbot that directs users to the FAQ page. If a user sees his question in the already list of questions posted on the page, they can copy that exact solution and see if the problem is resolved. If he is not successful, they are instructed to raise a support ticket via an online form on the exchange, and a representative from Binance will send you an email to help you with whatever issue you are facing. The positive thing about being a Binance user is that they have a significant following on social media channels. If a user isn’t getting a quick response from the Binance representative or if the user doesn’t easily interpret the solution provided, then many experts on social media platforms would be able to help you.

Features Summary

Features
Mobile App	Yes	yes
Desktop App	Yes	No
Customer Support	Chatbot	Live Chat
Maximum Leverage	100x	100x
Spot Fee	0.1%	0.1%
Futures Fee (Maker)	0.01%	0.01%
Futures Fee (Taker)	0.05%	0.06%
Deposit Fee	Zero	Zero
Withdrawal Fee	Yes, Varies from blockchain to blockchain	Yes, Varies from blockchain to blockchain
Demo Account	Yes	Yes
Joining Bonus	Yes	Yes
Supported Coins	387	317
Token Pairs (Spot)	1600+	300+
Token Pairs (Futures)	200+	100+
Bot trading	Yes	Yes
Fiat supported	50+	6+
Weekly Visit	17,041,042	3,913,754

Other Available Features

Crypto Staking

Crypto staking is when a user locks up their crypto assets for a defined set period to help support the operation of a blockchain. They can earn more cryptocurrencies in return for their help keeping the blockchain operations. Many blockchains use the POS consensus method in which participants who want to support the blockchain by validating new transactions and adding new blocks must stake set sums of cryptocurrency. Staking ensures that only authorized and legitimate data and transactions are added to a blockchain. In case of insufficient validation or submission of fraudulent data, users may lose some or all of their stake as a penalty; therefore, the staking activity must be taken with extreme caution and proper knowledge of the concept. Users who validate correct data and legitimate transactions earn crypto as a reward. 

Bybit and Binance both have extensive cryptocurrency staking options for their users. They offer a relatively similar group of cryptocurrencies to the stake, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stablecoins, and Layer 1’s like AVAX, Solana, and other POS tokens.

Bybit does seem to pay out slightly higher interest in their awards, which could indicate that Binance takes a more significant fee from users who want to stake.

NFT Market Places

NFTs or Non-Fungible tokens are blockchain-based tokens that represent a unique asset. The NFT can be a piece of art, media content, or digital content. An NFT can be considered a special irrevocable digital certificate of ownership for a given asset.

Binance and Bybit offer NFT Marketplaces allowing their users to trade stablecoins, Bitcoin, and ETH for non-fungible tokens. Both platforms have a relatively limited diversity of NFTs because the large bulk gets minted on popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea or Rarible.

Conclusion

Based on all the stats available on both Binance and Bybit, Binance has taken a clear lead over Bybit in terms of the services available, the market cap it shares compared to the rest of the cryptocurrency exchanges, and the number of users that have registered an account on Binance. However, it doesn’t mean that Bybit has fallen behind by offering mediocre services. Most professional traders with more significant experience in the cryptocurrency market prefer using Bybit over Binance. There are a couple of reasons that experienced traders prefer using Bybit more often than Binance.

• Bybit is more user-friendly compared to Binance. Early users also find the Bybit application easy to use compared to Binance.
• Bybit offers more rewards than Binance to traders. Recently they have offered a chance for traders to win up to $4200 worth of prize money in crypto. Binance also offers prize-winning opportunities to traders, but they don’t offer prizes as high in value as Binance.
• Bybit has desirable features like a start-of-the-art mark and index pricing mechanism that helps avoid unfair liquidation.
• It has powerful system APIs that refresh market data at every 20ms frequency.
• Bybit’s customer service center is swift in providing solutions to problems faced by their users compared to Binance, where the problem-solving team increases with to and fro emailing their support staff.
• Bybit also has strict security protocols to safeguard assets. Most of the assets are stored offline, meaning there are next to zero chances of users’ funds being stolen by hackers in case of an attack. These security breach incidents don’t mean Binance is less safe for its users. The two major previous breaches have forced the exchange to take necessary steps to make its security system foolproof.

All in all, both exchanges have significant benefits which attract users to these exchanges. In the end, a user can select either one of the two options or even both to create their cryptocurrency account and start trading.