Contributor, Benzinga
August 26, 2020

The trading platform you use to move your money will likely make a huge difference in how well you do it. You’ll have much more success if you align yourself with an interface, infrastructure and fee structure that match your strategies. 

eToro and Binance are two of the most popular crypto exchanges in the world. They have the same basic function — to allow traders to move in and out of assets — but the ways they facilitate this are fundamentally different. This comparison focuses on how these platforms help you access markets and shape your decision about which is more effective for you.

*eToro USA LCC does not offer CFDs, only real Crypto assets available. Information is not intended for U.S. users.

***Cryptocurrency is offered by eToro USA LLC (“the MSB”) (NMLS: 1769299) and is not FDIC or SIPC insured. Investing involves risk.

***Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.

eToro vs. Binance Fees

Binance makes use of a fixed 0.1% trading fee that you can reduce by 25% if you are using the BNB token to pay. You will also pay a minimum $10 fee for any credit card purchase. The actual fee for 1 purchase is 3.5%, but it never goes lower than $10. If you trade bigger lots, you get reduced fees as well.

eToro uses a variable fee structure that goes up if you are dealing with less liquid assets or trading pairs. The platform makes its money on the spread between the buy and ask price. If you are trading popular assets like bitcoin or ether, you can expect to pay 1%. This percentage may go up to 3.5% if you are dealing with less popular assets. You also pay $25 if you want a payout. Deposits are free of charge.

Better platform: Binance. Although you may feel like you are paying more when you deal with the eToro spread, Binance actually pulls less from your pockets over time. You gain access to the crypto markets and cryptocurrency investors can more easily manage their portfolios at a lower cost. If you are trading big lots, you’re definitely better off with Binance. Binance also includes Binance Lans, Binance Markets Limited, Binance Coin and Binance Holdings. With a diversified exchange, you will see better access to the financial markets of your choice.

eToro vs. Binance Financial Instruments

Binance offers traders access to more than 150 coins and growing. eToro offers access to 32 cryptocurrencies. However, eToro has a wider selection of financial instruments for trading those coins.

Both platforms offer access to major crypto protocols. If you’re in the market for smaller alt coins, Binance is the preferable choice.

Better platform: eToro. The platform is built specifically for trading cryptocurrency and offers better financial instruments.

eToro vs. Binance Customer Support

eToro has users in 170 countries, but Binance actually offers support in more languages — 7 at this writing. Combing through both online FAQs, Binance seems more thorough. The customer support tickets also seem to get resolved more quickly at Binance, with a turnaround time of about 24 hours. Binance also has a live chat option that you can take advantage of during listed hours. Neither platform has phone support.

Although eToro has a basic FAQ, there is very little centralized help if you need more information after this. You are better off asking the eToro community than the customer support. After all, eToro is built to be a trading community and it puts its resources there rather than in hand holding. Both companies are fairly good at getting back to you if you make your questions public on social media, however.

Better platform: eToro. The platform is built to provide access for beginner traders, and it does. The customer service is more robust at Binance overall. But if you make a few friends on the eToro platform, you may get an inside track to quick answers.

eToro vs. Binance Ease of Use

The eToro experience is set up for utility. It’s added lots of features like margin trading and sophisticated option setups but it always seems to know how to house these features so they don’t get in the way.

Better platform: eToro. When it comes to crypto, there are few platforms easier to use. The user interface makes use of standardized features that casual traders see on commercial platforms like Yahoo! Finance. If you want utility, eToro is your platform.

eToro vs. Binance Accounts and Features

The eToro CopyTrading feature has yet to be matched by any platform. CopyTrading allows you to easily mimic the buys and sells of your preferred eToro trader. You can dedicate percentages of your portfolio to different traders as well, basically giving you the ability to create your own mutual fund of managers. Outside of this, however, Binance is catching up to eToro. 

With the recent addition of margin trading, Binance now has all of the basic functions that eToro boasts. eToro still offers its users the benefit of a wider portfolio. You can access a greater variety of options and switch between them with relative ease. 

Better platform: eToro. eToro also offers 1-click trading and fixed spreads, both important tools if you want to participate in higher frequency trading. eToro also has demo accounts and accounts created specifically for Islamic traders, both features Binance has yet to incorporate.

Overall Winner: eToro

If you are trading crypto exclusively, eToro is hard to beat — especially because of its 1-click trading and fixed spreads. eToro also offers demo accounts and accounts created specifically for Islamic traders, both features Binance has yet to incorporate. 

If you’re getting into trading specifically to take advantage of copying an established participant, the eToro CopyTrader feature is unmatched in the industry. It’s what makes eToro popular in arguably the widest spectrum of countries of any trading platform.

eToro offers more utility if you want to move between asset classes or trade using a forex standard. If you prefer the securities market, then eToro is your platform only because Binance simply does not do business in this space. Remember, no matter which platform you choose, experienced traders have a crypto wallet they can use to protect their investments, make financial decisions after extensive research and are quite careful in the crypto space because of its volatility.

Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.

Copy Trading is a portfolio management service provided by eToro (Europe) Ltd. which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply. 

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.

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