Binance and Huobi are two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. With a combined daily trading volume of over $80 billion, Binance is the biggest crypto derivatives platform in the world. Huobi Global isn’t far behind, with a volume of over $12 billion.
Both the exchanges are feature-rich, support hundreds of cryptocurrencies, and offer derivatives and other advanced trading products. But which one is better and why? Here’s an in-depth comparison between Binance and Huobi.
Huobi vs Binance: Supported Cryptocurrencies
Both Binance and Huobi support multiple cryptocurrencies and crypto products. Let’s run a quick comparison between the cryptocurrencies offered by the two crypto futures platforms.
Binance
Binance has over 400 cryptocurrencies, and the company continues to add new coins to the list. You’ll find all the big names on the exchange, such as Bitcoin, Ether, Polkadot, Cardano, and more. Simultaneously, you’ll also find a lot of newly listed cryptocurrencies.
Binance offers a wide range of trading products to choose from. It allows you to buy and exchange cryptocurrencies. For advanced traders, Binance has a robust trading platform that supports spot trading, margin trading, and derivatives trading. In derivatives, Binance provides futures settled in stablecoins and other cryptos, vanilla options, and leveraged tokens.
Binance also offers other crypto products, like staking, crypto loans, crypto wallet, NFT, and more.
Huobi
Huobi has over 300 cryptocurrencies, and you’ll find all the renowned cryptocurrencies on this exchange. Apart from being a user-friendly instant exchange, Huobi Global has spot trading, margin trading, and derivatives. In derivatives, you get coin-margined futures, coin-margin swaps, and USDT-margined contracts.
Huobi, like Binance, has finance options like staking, prime pool, crypto loans, and slot auctions.
Verdict: It’s a tie, as both exchanges support hundreds of cryptocurrencies and other crypto products.
Trading Fees
Binance and Huobi both have a tiered fee structure, where your trading fee depends on your last 30-day trading volume. Let’s compare the trading fees of the two exchanges.
Binance
Binance futures has ten trading fee tiers: VIP 0 – VIP 9. Users in the first tier have a 30d trading volume of under 50 BTC or a BNB balance of under 50 BNB. The market maker/taker fee is 0.100%/0.100%, respectively.
Users with a trading volume of over 150k BTC and a BNB balance of over 11,000 BNB are in the final tier. For them, the fee is 0.02%/0.04%. Please note that you can get a flat 25% discount on the spot trading fee if you use BNB for fee reductions.
Huobi
Huobi has recently updated its fee structure and slashed the fees. Huobi categorizes its users into normal users and professional users (part of the professional trader tiered fee program).
All users with a 30d trading volume of less than 1,000 BTC are normal users. For normal users, there are six tiers: Level 1-6, depending on their HT holdings. The base fee rate for all users is 0.20%, though you get a discount based as your level increases. The fee rate is 0.18% for Level 1 users and 0.07% for Level 6 users.
Users with a trading volume of over 1,000 BTC and an HT balance of over 2,000 HT are professional users. For them, a market maker/taker structure is applicable. There are nine tiers. Level 1 users need to pay 0.0362%/0.0462%, and Level 9 users need to pay 0.097%/0.0193%.
These fees are for spot trading only. For derivatives fees, visit this page.
Verdict: Huobi is the winner here, as it charges a lower fee than Binance.
Account Funding Methods
Binance and Huobi both accept stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and fiat currencies. Let’s delve deeper into the account funding methods supported by the two exchanges.
- Binance
Binance supports fiat deposits; however, the supported cryptocurrency methods depend on the currency you want to deposit. For example, you can deposit EUR using bank transfer, credit/debit card, cash balance, third-party payment gateway, and P2P trading.
For USD transfers, bank deposits, credit/debit cards, third-party payment gateway, and P2P trading. For INR transfers, only P2P trading and third-party payment gateway are available.
- Huobi
The process is the same for Huobi as well. It accepts fiat currencies, though the deposit methods depend on the currency you want to deposit. For EUR deposits, credit/debit cards, EUR balance, SEPA, and IDEAL are the available payment options.
For USD, only credit/debit cards are available. For INR deposits, you can use credit/debit cards, UPI, and bank transfers.
Verdict: It’s a tie, as both exchanges accept fiat deposits.
Opening Account & Account Limits
Binance and Huobi both offer a seamless account opening process. Let’s see how you can create an account on these exchanges, along with their KYC requirements.
- Binance
To open an account on Binance, visit the Binance website and click on Register Now. Fill the form, confirm your email, and you are all set to use the exchange’s services.
Binance doesn’t have mandatory KYC requirements, but unverified users have a daily withdrawal limit of 0.6 BTC only. Also, they can only use up to 20x leverage. Verifying your identity unlocks all limitations.
- Huobi
To open an account on Huobi, visit the Huobi Global website and click on Sign Up in the top right corner. Fill in the registration form and confirm your identity to open an account. You can now use Huobi’s services.
Huobi has four verification levels. All users are at Level 1 by default, and Level 1 users can’t deposit or withdraw any funds. You’ll need to upgrade to at least Level 2 to start trading and investing. You can upgrade further if you want to increase your limits.
Verdict: Binance has a slight edge over Huobi, as it allows unverified users to deposit and withdraw funds.
Ease Of Use & Interface
The trading platforms of Binance and Huobi are similar in many ways. Let’s compare the platform and interface of the two exchanges.
Binance
Binance has a seamless instant exchange section where you can buy crypto and put them in your wallet. If you want to trade cryptos, you can use the Binance trading terminal.
Binance has an industry-leading trading platform. It has two charting systems; one is its proprietary system, and the other is powered by TradingView. The TradingView version has more features, such as multiple time frames, drawing tools, and indicators.
Other sections on the trading interface are a depth chart, order book, live traders, order history, and assets overview. There’s a user-friendly order form that lets you place buy and sell orders. Binance supports the following order types: limit, market, stop-limit, and OCO. You can use up to 10x margin.
Binance also has a mobile app that brings the complete functionality of Binance Desktop on mobile. You can create an account, deposit and withdraw funds, and trade cryptos from the mobile app.
Huobi Global
The trading interface of Huobi is highly advanced. Like Binance, it has two charting systems: a proprietary system and TradingView. Both are good, though TradingView has more features.
The terminal has a watchlist on the left, and you can also mark your favorite pairs to access them from the quick menu. Below the chart, there’s the order form to place orders. Huobi supports limit, market, stop-limit, and trigger orders.
The right side of the terminal has the order book and live trades. The bottom area shows open orders and open history. In the order form, you place regular, 3x long, 3x short, 5x margin, and credit card orders. Huobi also has a mobile with all the features. To know more, check this guide on how to short on Huobi guide.
Verdict: It’s a tie, as both Binance and Huobi have fantastic trading platforms with user-friendly interfaces.
Security Features
Security is inarguably the most important factor to consider before choosing a cryptocurrency exchange. Let’s compare the security features provided by the two exchanges.
- Binance
Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchanges out there. It stores over 95% of its users’ funds in a multi-signature cold-storage wallet to prevent adversaries from getting access to it.
Other security features include two-factor authentication (2FA), manual withdrawal verification, IP allowlisting, SSL encryption, and cutting-edge cloud infrastructure. Binance also has an insurance fund to protect users from malicious market movements.
However, Binance was once hacked in 2019, and funds worth millions of dollars were compromised.
- Huobi
Huobi is also a secure crypto exchange with a solid track record. It has never been hacked, and the exchange had even helped Bitmart, another crypto exchange when it lost millions of dollars to hackers.
Coming to security infrastructure, Huobi takes all the measures needed to provide a safe experience to all its users. It stores users’ funds in cold storage wallets and implements features like two-factor authentication, SSL encryption, IP allowlisting, and more.
Verdict: It’s a tie, as both Binance and Huobi take similar security measures.
Customer Support
Customer support is another essential factor to keep in mind before signing up for a crypto exchange. Let’s compare the customer support provided by the two exchanges.
- Binance
Binance offers good customer support. It has a vast knowledge base where you can find helpful articles, guides, videos, and FAQs. There’s also a virtual assistant that answers common questions. If you want further assistance, you can submit a ticket, and the team will respond by email.
- Huobi
Huobi also has a comprehensive knowledge base that comprises the latest news, guides, articles, and FAQs. You’ll find answers to all common questions there. If you want to contact the support team, you can raise a ticket from the support section.
Verdict: It’s a tie, as both exchanges offer customer support by email and have a vast knowledge base.
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Is Binance a safe exchange?
Yes, Binance is a safe exchange. It hasn’t been hacked since 2019, and it implements all the security features as per industry standards. Therefore, you can open an account and start trading on Binance without worrying about security.
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Is Huobi a safe exchange?
Yes, Huobi is a safe exchange. It has never been hacked before, and the team pays close attention to security and user experience. Hene, there’s no need to worry about security risks.
You can create an account on Huobi and start trading with confidence. Huobi also has mandatory KYC for depositing and withdrawing funds.
Conclusion
Binance and Huobi are both fantastic cryptocurrency exchanges, and there is no clear winner. The two exchanges are pretty identical.
You could choose Binance if you want to explore the latest trading and finance options. Binance offers more products and features than any other exchange out there.
Huobi could be a good choice if security is your topmost priority. The exchange has not been hacked yet, which is rare in a time when crypto exchanges are lucrative targets for adversaries.
Overall, both exchanges are similar, and you can choose any one as per your preferences.
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