Is Binance safe?

The short answer.

Safety

3/5 Self-published Proof of Reserves and the SAFU fund, not a full independent audit.

Regulation

2/5 US guilty plea with US$4.3B in penalties; A$10M penalty in Australia.

Worth knowing

• The 2023 US guilty plea, US$4.3 billion in penalties and a court-appointed monitor.
• A A$10 million penalty in Australia in 2026 over how its derivatives business classified clients.
• Not available to US residents, and what you can use varies a lot by country.
• Reserve reports are published by Binance itself rather than a full independent audit.

Ratings are Nodora’s own, from published sources, and are not a guarantee. A good rating does not protect you from scams, lost passwords or a falling market.

Who can use Binance

Binance's terms list the United States as a restricted location, along with places such as Ontario in Canada and Malaysia. Americans use Binance.US, a separately operated platform with its own terms, fees and list of unsupported states.

Elsewhere, the features you get depend on where you live, including which deposit methods, products and protections apply. Read the terms for your country before funding an account.

The 2023 US guilty plea

In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty in the US to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, failing to register as a money transmitting business and violating US sanctions law. The Justice Department required US$4.3 billion in penalties and forfeiture and imposed an independent monitor. Founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program and stepped down as CEO.

The CFTC's parallel case was part of the same set of resolutions. The case concerned compliance failures, not the loss of customer funds, but it's essential context for how the business was run.

The Australian derivatives penalty

In Australia, ASIC sued Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives, in December 2024. It alleged that hundreds of retail investors had been wrongly classed as wholesale clients, so they missed out on required consumer protections when trading crypto derivatives between July 2022 and April 2023.

Binance admitted the contraventions, and in 2026 the Federal Court ordered a A$10 million penalty. About A$13.1 million had already been paid to affected clients in 2023, and the business's Australian financial services licence was cancelled at its own request in April 2023.

Reserves and the SAFU fund

Binance publishes Proof of Reserves reports. Since 2023 they use zk-SNARK proofs, which let you confirm your balance is included without exposing other users' balances, and check that no account has a negative balance hiding liabilities.

These reports are published by Binance rather than being a full independent audit of its finances. Its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), set up in 2018, is meant to cover users in extraordinary events, but it isn't insurance in the regulated sense.

How to protect yourself on any exchange.

1. Turn on two-factor authentication

   Use an authenticator app instead of SMS where the exchange offers it.

2. Check the web address

   Fake login pages are the most common way accounts are emptied. Type the address yourself or use a bookmark. How to spot crypto scams ↗

3. Do not store everything on an exchange

   Coins you plan to hold for years are safer in a wallet you control. Wallet security guide ↗

4. Test withdrawals early

   Send a small amount out before you need to move a large one, so you know the limits, fees and delays.

How Binance compares on safety.

Our safety and regulation ratings for all 13 exchanges, highest combined score first.

1. 1CoinbaseSafety 4 · Regulation 4.5 · Details4.25
2. 2CoinSpotSafety 4 · Regulation 4.5 · Details4.25
3. 3Crypto.comSafety 4 · Regulation 4 · Details4
4. 4CoinJarSafety 4 · Regulation 3.5 · Details3.75
5. 5Independent ReserveSafety 4 · Regulation 3.5 · Details3.75
6. 6SwyftxSafety 4 · Regulation 3.5 · Details3.75
7. 7BTC MarketsSafety 3.5 · Regulation 3.5 · Details3.5
8. 8KrakenSafety 4 · Regulation 3 · Details3.5
9. 9OKXSafety 3.5 · Regulation 2.5 · Details3
10. 10Digital SurgeSafety 2 · Regulation 3.5 · Details2.75
11. 11BinanceSafety 3 · Regulation 2 · Full review2.5
12. 12KuCoinSafety 3 · Regulation 1.5 · Details2.25
13. 13BybitSafety 1.5 · Regulation 2.5 · Details2

Common questions.

Is Binance safe to use?

Binance publishes Proof of Reserves and has an emergency user fund, but it has a serious compliance record, including a 2023 US guilty plea and a 2026 Australian penalty. No exchange is risk-free; keep only what you need on it.

Can Americans use Binance?

Not Binance.com. Its terms list the United States as a restricted location. Americans can use Binance.US, a separate platform with its own terms and unsupported states.

Why did Binance pay US$4.3 billion?

In 2023 Binance pleaded guilty to US anti-money-laundering, unlicensed money transmission and sanctions violations. The Justice Department required US$4.3 billion in penalties and forfeiture and appointed a monitor.

Next steps.

Visit Binance ↗Official site