Binance.US

Is Binance.US safe?

Binance.US is a licensed US exchange with a clean security record, run by a company that has spent three years paying for its connection to Binance. It has never reported losing customer money to hackers and it holds money transmitter licences in 32 states. But you have to take its word that your coins are all there: it publishes no proof of reservesProof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary and no audited accounts. We score it 62/100, well above the global Binance exchange (52) and well below Coinbase (80).

The useful way to think about it: the operational side looks sound, the transparency side does not.

Is Binance.US the same company as Binance?

Legally, no. The platform is operated by BAM Trading Services Inc., a subsidiary of BAM Management US Holdings, with its headquarters in Miami. Binance.com does not accept US customers, and its scores do not apply here.

In practice the line has been blurry. Changpeng Zhao founded both, and he was the majority owner of Binance.US when he pleaded guilty to a Bank Secrecy Act violation in November 2023. When the SEC sued in June 2023, it named BAM Trading alongside Binance Holdings and Zhao. It alleged that Sigma Chain, a firm Zhao controlled, was the main undisclosed market maker on Binance.US and inflated volumes through wash trading, and that BAM misled investors about controls meant to catch that kind of trading. It also alleged that Zhao and Binance could commingle customer assets. These were allegations, never tested in court: the SEC and the defendants agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice on 29 May 2025.

What happened to its licences?

Zhao's plea had a direct cost for Binance.US. On 30 April 2024 the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation revoked BAM's money transmitter licence, citing the felony plea, and Oregon customers had to move their funds out. North Dakota's regulator also moved to revoke its licence in 2024, according to reports of the notice.

As of June 2026 the company lists licences in 32 states and territories, among them Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico, and says it serves 40 jurisdictions in total because some states do not license crypto exchanges. It has no New York BitLicenseBitLicenseNew York's licence for crypto businesses, issued by the state's financial regulator (NYDFS). It is one of the strictest crypto licences in the US.More in the glossary, and Texas and California are not on its licence list. Compare Kraken or Coinbase, which hold a BitLicense and licences in Europe as well.

A state money transmitter licence does mean something. It brings bonding, minimum net worth, rules on what customer money can be invested in, and regular exams. It is a weaker check than a securities regulator, and it only covers the US.

Can you check your money is there?

Not from public information. The Binance.US trust page says all balances are held 1:1, that the majority of crypto is in offline US-based cold storageCold storageKeeping crypto keys on a device or medium that is not connected to the internet, which protects them from most online attacks.More in the glossary, and that it has passed a SOC 2 Type II audit and ISO 27001 certification. Those certifications test security controls. They say nothing about whether assets match liabilities.

We found no Merkle-treeMerkle treeA way to combine many records into one short code, so that each person can check their own record is included without seeing anyone else's.More in the glossary proof of reservesProof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary that lets you confirm your balance was counted, no accountant's attestation and no audited financial statements. BAM Trading is privately held and not required to publish accounts. The global Binance exchange runs its own monthly proof of reserves, but it covers that exchange's customers, not Binance.US.

This is why reserves is the weakest factor on this page. It is also the factor that matters most after FTX, where the problem was not a hack but a gap between what customers were owed and what the exchange held.

What protects your money if Binance.US fails?

The terms, updated in June 2026, help on paper. They say the crypto in your account is beneficially owned by you, held in omnibus wallets for your benefit, and that USD balances are kept in Treasury bills, a brokerage cash sweep or accounts at insured banks, separate from company funds and not voluntarily available to creditors in a bankruptcy.

Two limits apply. First, there is no FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary or SIPC cover for your crypto, and the terms say your fiat wallet is not FDIC insured either. Second, no court has yet decided how a US exchange's omnibus crypto wallets are treated in a bankruptcy, so "beneficially owned by you" is a promise, not a tested result.

The 2023 to 2025 period also showed a practical risk: when the SEC sued, Binance.US lost its banking partners and could not take or send dollars from July 2023 until February 2025. Customers could still withdraw crypto, but cashing out to a bank account meant moving coins elsewhere first.

How to use Binance.US more safely

1. Use an authenticator app or a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary for 2FATwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary, not SMS, and set a withdrawal address allowlist so coins can only go to wallets you control.
2. Keep only what you trade on the platform. With no proof of reservesProof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary, you have less evidence about solvency here than at exchanges that publish one.
3. Check that you are on binance.us, not binance.com, and ignore anyone on social media offering "Binance support".
4. If you live in a state where Binance.US is unlicensed or may withdraw, as Oregon residents found in 2024, watch for notices about moving funds and act early.

How we scored it

Security history (88) is the strongest factor: no reported theft of customer funds. Reserves (35) is the weakest, because nothing is published that lets anyone check the 1:1 claim. Legal record (45) reflects the SEC case, since dismissed, and the Oregon revocation tied to Zhao's plea. Licensing (62) gives credit for 32 state licences but not New York or any licence outside the US.