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Emma lives in Bogota, Colombia, where she owns the English-language newspaper The Bogota Post. She began her editorial career at a financial website in the U.K. over 20 years ago and has been contributing to The Ascent since the summer of 2019.
eToro and Binance are two well-known cryptocurrency platforms. The biggest difference between the two is that eToro is a cryptocurrency broker. It sells crypto alongside other investment products such as stocks, fractional shares, and ETFs. Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange, which means it sells a wide range of digital assets, including cryptos and NFTs, and other services. Read our full comparison of eToro vs. Binance to learn how they stack up in terms of fees, products, security, and more.
| Offer |
eToro
eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal. Limited time offer: Deposit $100 and get a $10 bonus. Terms apply. |
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| Rating |
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
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= Excellent
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= Fair = Poor |
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| Commissions |
1% for trading crypto plus spread, $0 commission for stocks & ETFs
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0.02% to 0.1%
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| Next Steps |
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It can be difficult to compare fees between platforms because different crypto exchanges use different fee structures. But generally speaking, Binance comes out ahead of eToro on fees. Let's say you have $100 in your account and want to buy Bitcoin (BTC):
On Binance, the fees differ depending on whether you use its straightforward 'Binance Convert' function or the spot trading platform. Binance also has a separate platform for U.S. users called Binance.US, but the fees are pretty similar.
Learn more: Binance review
There are no trading fees with Binance Convert. However, it does charge a small spread. This is the difference between the market price and the price you pay, and is built into the price you see on screen. At time of writing, the spread was about 0.1%, which is much lower than many similar platforms.
On the spot trading platform, you'll pay a maximum trading fee of 0.1%. This is reduced if you pay using the Binance Coin (BNB) and if you have a high trading volume. Binance also offers zero fees on certain Bitcoin and Binance dollar (BUSD) trading pairs.
eToro charges a 1% fee when you buy or sell crypto, plus an additional spread, which is built into the price you get quoted. This is not the highest trading fee on the market, but it's significantly more than Binance and other low fee platforms. eToro also charges a monthly inactivity fee if you don't use your account for over 12 months.
Learn more: eToro review
One area where eToro stands out is that it offers free debit card deposits for fiat currency (traditional money). These can cost several percentage points on Binance / Binance.US, depending on what currency you are using. Most platforms -- including eToro and Binance -- offer free deposits via bank transfer, but it is rare to be able to make free card deposits.
With over 600 available cryptos, Binance hits it out of the park in terms of its crypto selection. eToro's offering is more limited. However, that's partially offset by the fact that customers can also buy stocks, fractional shares, ETFs, and other investment products on the site. The eToro platform offers copy trading, a function that lets you mirror the trades made by other -- potentially more experienced -- investors. Plus, it has a demo account in case you want to experiment without spending any money.
Learn more: Available cryptocurrencies
As you can see from the table below, the crypto selection for U.S. investors is more limited on both exchanges. If you only want to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum (ETH), this won't be a problem. However, if you're an eToro customer in the U.S. there are some fairly big gaps -- for example, you can't buy top cryptos such as Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), or Polkadot (DOT). These are all available on Binance.US, Binance, and eToro's international site.
| Platform | Available cryptos |
|---|---|
| Binance | Over 600 |
| Binance.US | Over 100 |
| eToro | Around 75 |
| eToro (U.S. customers) | Over 25 |
Crypto wallets are a much-debated area of crypto investing. Some argue that if you leave your crypto on the platform where you bought it (also known as a custodial wallet), you don't fully own your assets. Others are nervous about the additional responsibility of taking full custody of their crypto, or don't want the hassle. There are pros and cons to both routes. However, if your crypto platform is hacked or fails and your assets are on that platform, your funds could be at risk.
It's pretty easy to move funds from eToro and Binance to a non-custodial wallet. However, Binance is a lot more flexible -- you can withdraw funds to almost any blockchain address on a host of wallets including MetaMask. Binance recommends Trust Wallet, a project it acquired in 2018. You can buy, sell, move, store, and stake assets from the Trust Wallet.
eToro also has its own non-custodial crypto wallet called eToro Money. You can move crypto from your account to the wallet, but it is a one-way road -- you can't move them back again. It's also worth bearing in mind that there are quite a few restrictions. For example, eToro says it can take up to five days to process withdrawals and it might ask for additional information.
The relative lack of regulation in the crypto industry makes it all the more important to consider platform security before you buy crypto. Sadly, you can't take it for granted that a crypto exchange is safeguarding your funds in the same way a bank will. Here's how Binance and eToro compare in some of the security factors we look for:
Both platforms store the majority of assets offline in cold storage, making them harder to hack. eToro and Binance both have strong user level protections such as two-factor authentication and high level encryption measures.
Third party insurance is reassuring as it means you might be able to recover funds following a platform hack. However, it rarely protects against user-specific crime, such as malware or a virus on your computer. Neither does it help if the whole exchange fails or files for bankruptcy.
Binance has been building an emergency fund that's designed to protect users for a number of years. In January 2022, Binance said the fund was valued at $1 billion, but it isn't clear under what circumstances it would dip into those reserves to help its users. Binance's CEO promised that if the platform goes bankrupt, user refunds would be prioritized. However, that information is not published on its website and there are no guarantees.
eToro has third party insurance for various non-crypto assets, but the policy doesn't extend to every country and, importantly, it doesn't include cryptocurrency. U.S. dollar deposits on both Binance and eToro are covered by FDIC insurance for up to $250,000. eToro also scores points for its transparency about what would happen in the event of bankruptcy. It says there are three levels of protection, including regulatory commitments.
Binance has had a number of issues with regulators around the world and is working to change its reputation for asking forgiveness rather than permission. As yet, it isn't yet clear if its efforts, for example, beefing up its compliance team, will be enough.
In order to offer stock investment, eToro has to follow stricter rules than ordinary crypto exchanges. The platform is registered with several bodies such as the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and is better placed to comply with any new regulation that gets introduced.
Looking through a purely crypto lens, Binance comes out ahead in many areas. That's because Binance is a business that's squarely aimed at crypto investors. It has a huge range of cryptocurrencies, low fees, and all kinds of advanced trading tools. In contrast, eToro is a brokerage that offers crypto alongside other products. It's a great option for people who want to manage a range of investments in one place or are interested in its social trading functions. Plus, its crypto selection and fees are excellent when compared with other crypto brokers.
It's worth noting that residents of Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, and New York cannot buy or sell crypto on eToro's platform. Binance.US is not available to people who live in Hawaii, New York, Texas, or Vermont.
It is interesting to compare Binance vs. eToro, but this is not necessarily an either-or scenario. I have accounts with both platforms and use them for different reasons. I use eToro to invest in stocks and ETFs. I use Binance for a lot of my crypto investing, particularly because it has such a huge range of interest-earning assets. It may be that neither eToro nor Binance appeals to you. In which case, check out our list of the best cryptocurrency exchanges and apps to find a product that is right for you.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent, a Motley Fool service, does not cover all offers on the market. The Ascent has a dedicated team of editors and analysts focused on personal finance, and they follow the same set of publishing standards and editorial integrity while maintaining professional separation from the analysts and editors on other Motley Fool brands.
Emma Newbery owns Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Binance Coin, BUSD, Solana, and Polkadot.
