Binance tutorial for total beginners (2021) – Hands-on steps to buying crypto
Not sure where to start? Here are the basics of buying and trading on the popular crypto exchange.
As world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance sure has a lot to offer. But it can be a bit daunting when you're just starting out.
I cover the basics by running through my own experiences signing up to and trading on the platform. For a full run-down check out the video tutorial above.
How to sign up
You can create an account on either the mobile app or web. However, I find its desktop platform easier to navigate.
Once you've entered your details and signed in, you'll need to provide some ID to get your account verified. I found it easier to do this on mobile because it asks you to take a photo directly, rather than uploading an image.
Then it can take up to 10 days for the account to be verified, although it was shorter for me.
Once verified, you're all set to place your first order.
How to buy crypto
Something beginners might find confusing is that there are a few different ways to purchase cryptocurrency on Binance.
Binance splits its options into either "buy" or "trade" orders. You'll find these in the "buy crypto" and "trade" drop-down menus.
In both cases you're buying and selling crypto, but there are a few distinct differences.
The simplest method is to "buy" crypto using either a debit or credit card or by transferring cash onto your account (select "bank deposit") and then purchasing with the "cash balance" option.
The cash balance option charges no transaction fees while the card has a 2% commission. But the benefit to purchasing via card, aside from speed, is that it lets you set an ongoing purchase option.
So you can set an order to invest $X into X crypto every week, fortnight or month. This is also known as dollar-cost averaging and is a great way to ease into the market.
How to trade crypto
Your basic trade options are in the "trade" drop-down menu under "convert", "classic" and "advanced".
These give you more control over your buy and sell orders by letting you set a "limit" order. A limit order means you can set the price you'd like to buy or sell at.
For example, say Bitcoin's market price is $80,000 but you think it will drop. You could set a limit order for $75,000 and the order will go through once the price matches.
The other big difference here – aside from the windows looking vastly different – is the fees.
Trade limit orders charge a 0.1% commission from the crypto you're purchasing on every trade. Market orders (where you don't set a limit price) are free.
Instead, market orders (your "buy crypto" options) take a cut out of the spread (the difference between the actual market price and price you purchase it at). Although it's not clear exactly what this spread is, you can assume it will be more than the 0.1% commission charged to trade.
Set up your currencies
You can save on trade fees by purchasing BNB – Binance coin. When you choose to pay fees in BNB, the commission falls to 0.075%.
You'll just need to switch this on by navigating to the trading fee page at the bottom of the dashboard and toggling the "using BNB deduction (25% discount)" tab.
As long as you have some BNB in your wallet, Binance will automatically use that to pay for fees.
The other currency to consider purchasing is USDT, a type of stablecoin that mirrors the US dollar.
For the full tutorial check out the video above.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing.
