Key takeaways
- Binance.US charged a 0.02% taker fee on most spot pairs as of 5 October 2026, against 0.80% on Kraken Pro and 0.90% on Coinbase Advanced at entry level.
- Binance.com does not serve US residents, and Binance.US excluded 16 states and territories, including Texas and New York, in its list updated on 3 June 2026.
- Kraken does not serve residents of New York or Maine, according to its US quick-start page updated on 30 March 2026.
- Coinbase changed its Advanced fees on 16 September 2026, setting US entry-level spot rates at 0.50% maker and 0.90% taker below $10,000 of qualifying volume.
- The simple Buy button on Kraken charges a 1% fee plus a spread, more than double the 0.40% maker rate on Kraken Pro as of 5 October 2026.
For a US resident picking one crypto account, Coinbase vs Kraken vs Binance comes down to two questions: what a trade costs and whether the exchange serves your state. On fees, Binance.US is cheapest by a wide margin, charging a 0.02% taker fee on most pairs according to its fee page retrieved on 5 October 2026. On reach, Coinbase and Kraken cover far more of the country.
The Binance most people have heard of, Binance.com, is not open to US residents at all. Americans get Binance.US, a separate company with a shorter coin list, and it turns away residents of 16 states and territories, Texas and New York among them. Coinbase also changed its pricing on 16 September 2026, so older comparisons quote fees that no longer apply.
The cheapest order book is worthless to you if your state is on the wrong list.
Coinbase vs Kraken vs Binance at a Glance
Every figure below was checked on 5 October 2026 against the exchange's own pages. The asset counts are the exception: they come from CoinGecko's exchange listings, captured at 06:49 UTC that day.
Coinbase
- Spot fee, entry tier: 0.50% maker, 0.90% taker on Coinbase Advanced for US accounts below $10,000 of qualifying volume
- Coins listed: 405 coins across 514 pairs
- US availability: Licensed in New York and Texas, including a New York virtual currency license
- Custody and reserves: No proof-of-reserves page; SEC filings report $245.9 billion held for customers at 30 June 2026
- USD rails: Automated Clearing House (ACH) bank transfers carry no Coinbase fee in either direction; wires available
Kraken
- Spot fee, entry tier: 0.40% maker, 0.80% taker on Kraken Pro below $2,500 of 30-day volume
- Coins listed: 722 coins across 1,433 pairs
- US availability: Closed to residents of New York and Maine; no cash transfers in four further states
- Custody and reserves: Proof of reserves dated 30 June 2026, with Bitcoin (BTC) reserves at 102.9% of client balances
- USD rails: ACH through Plaid and Fedwire deposits, both with no deposit fee
Binance
- Spot fee, entry tier: 0% maker, 0.02% taker on Binance.US; 0.10% each way on Binance.com
- Coins listed: 162 coins on Binance.US, against 499 on Binance.com
- US availability: Binance.US serves 40 states and territories; Binance.com serves none
- Custody and reserves: Binance.com publishes a reserve snapshot; Binance.US states a 1:1 full reserve without one
- USD rails: Binance.US offers free ACH, free incoming wires, $25 outgoing wires, and no dollar service in Kansas or Wisconsin
What Does a $5,000 Trade Cost on Each Exchange?
A $5,000 market order costs $45 on Coinbase, $40 on Kraken, and $1 on Binance.US at each platform's entry-level taker rate. A taker order fills at once against orders already waiting on the book. A maker order waits on the book until someone else fills it, which is why it costs less.
Here is the arithmetic. Coinbase's 0.90% taker rate, set out in its 16 September 2026 announcement, takes $45 from $5,000. Kraken's 0.80% Tier 1 rate, from its fee schedule, takes $40. Binance.US charges 0.02%, which is $1. Place the same order as a resting limit order and the bill falls to $25 on Coinbase, $20 on Kraken, and nothing on Binance.US.
A second case shows how the gap compounds. Buying $1,000 a month for a year means $12,000 of purchases, all below every first volume threshold. At taker rates that costs $108 on Coinbase, $96 on Kraken, and $2.40 on Binance.US. Binance.com would charge $12 at its standard 0.10%, but a US resident cannot open that account.
These rates cover only the advanced order-book screens. Kraken's schedule lists a 1% fee on its simple Buy button, plus a spread built into the price, and Coinbase's fee disclosures say its simple orders also include a spread. Tap the big green button and you pay more than anything shown above.
Why Is Binance.com Off Limits to US Residents?
Binance.com excludes US residents because its parent admitted to serving them illegally. On 21 November 2023, Binance Holdings pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions violations, according to the Justice Department release. The total financial penalty came to $4,316,126,163, and founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty and resigned as chief executive.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco put the lesson plainly in that release: "if you serve U.S. customers, you must obey U.S. law."
Attorney General Merrick Garland noted the same day that Binance had announced in June 2019 that it would block US users and launch a separate US exchange. That exchange is Binance.US, run by BAM Trading Services. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has since dropped its civil cases against all three. It agreed to dismiss them in February 2025 for Coinbase, March 2025 for Kraken, and 29 May 2025 for Binance, according to SEC releases and filings.
Which US States Does Each Exchange Leave Out?
Binance.US leaves out the most: 16 states and territories, according to its state list updated on 3 June 2026. The list includes Texas, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, Oregon, Connecticut, and Alaska. Residents of Kansas and Wisconsin can sign up but can only deposit crypto, because dollar deposits and bank links are switched off there.
Kraken's gap is narrower. Its US quick-start page, updated on 30 March 2026, says it does not serve residents of New York or Maine. Its licensing page adds that cash transfers are unavailable in Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Utah.
Coinbase's licenses page lists a New York money transmitter license, a New York virtual currency license, and a Texas license. For a reader in Texas, that leaves Coinbase and Kraken.
How Do You Know Your Coins Are Actually There?
You rely on reserve proofs and regulatory filings, and none of the three gives a complete answer. Custody means the exchange holds the private keys that control your coins on your behalf. Proof of reserves is a report showing that an exchange's wallets held at least as much of each coin as customers were owed on one date. Think of it as a warehouse stocktake on a single morning: it shows the shelves were full then, and says nothing about the following week.
Kraken's report, dated 30 June 2026 and prepared by an independent accountant, puts BTC at 102.9% and Ether (ETH) at 100.5% of client balances. Binance.com took its latest snapshot at 00:00 UTC on 1 September 2026. It uses a Merkle tree, a data structure that lets you check your own balance was counted, backed by zero-knowledge proofs. Binance.US says on its trust page that it holds all user assets in "1:1 full reserve" and keeps most crypto in US cold storage, with no snapshot published there.
Coinbase files financial statements with the SEC every quarter. Its 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026 reports $245.9 billion of crypto and stablecoins held for customers at 30 June 2026. Its 2025 filings add that it aims to keep no more than 2% of custodied assets in hot wallets, the ones connected to the internet.
What This Means Before You Open an Account
When you weigh Coinbase vs Kraken vs Binance, check your state before you compare fees. A Texas resident has no Binance.US option. A New York resident has Coinbase alone among these three, and anyone in Kansas or Wisconsin who wants to deposit dollars should skip Binance.US.
Then decide which screen you will use, since both simple buy buttons cost more than the order-book rates in this comparison. If you plan to buy regularly, learning to place a limit order on the advanced screen cuts your costs most directly. Our guide to buying bitcoin safely covers moving long-term holdings off any exchange into a wallet you control.
Varuni Trivedi, Block Insider's Content Head, reviewed this comparison. None of this is financial advice.
Which Exchange Fits Which Reader
Coinbase suits a reader who puts regulatory reach and public disclosure first and can accept higher fees, including anyone in New York. Kraken suits a reader who wants the longest coin list and a dated reserve report at a fee just under Coinbase's. Binance.US suits a cost-focused trader in one of its 40 states and territories who can live with 162 coins. Binance.com suits no US resident at all.
The fee tables leave one gap. They show what each exchange charges per order and are silent on the price your order fills at. On a thin order book, slippage, the gap between the expected price and the filled one, can cost more than the fee, and no published schedule shows it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Binance.US the same company as Binance.com?
Binance.US is run by BAM Trading Services, a separate US company registered with FinCEN as a money services business and licensed as a money transmitter in 32 states, according to its trust page. It also lists far fewer coins: 162 against 499 on Binance.com in CoinGecko data captured on 5 October 2026. Accounts and balances do not carry over between the two.
Does Coinbase publish proof of reserves?
Coinbase has no proof-of-reserves page. It reports customer holdings in its quarterly SEC filings instead, and its 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026 put crypto and stablecoins held for customers at $245.9 billion on 30 June 2026. A quarterly filing covers the whole company's balance sheet, while a reserve snapshot matches coins to customer balances on a single date.
Can you lower Kraken Pro fees without trading more?
Yes. Kraken's cross-platform tiers let assets held on the platform count alongside trading volume. Holding $20,000 on Kraken qualifies an account for Tier 3, at 0.22% maker and 0.38% taker, according to the fee schedule retrieved on 5 October 2026. On a $5,000 market order, that cuts the fee from $40 to $19.
How much does Binance.US charge to withdraw dollars by wire?
Binance.US charges a flat $25 for an outgoing wire, plus any fee your own bank adds, according to its fee page retrieved on 5 October 2026. ACH deposits and withdrawals are free, and incoming wires carry no Binance.US fee. Card purchases cost 3.99%, so a bank transfer is the cheaper way to fund the account.
Do Coinbase One members pay lower trading fees?
Coinbase One is a paid subscription that removes trading fees on simple buys and sells, with limits, according to Coinbase's fee disclosures. Members can still pay a spread built into the quoted price, and the benefit excludes the separate 1% fee on simple limit orders. For Coinbase Advanced, the Coinbase One page lists 25% off spot trading fees, up to 100 USDC a month.
