Binance vs Gemini: fees, regulation and who can still use them

For EU residents, the Binance vs Gemini comparison ends before it starts: neither exchange can take you on. Binance has no MiCA licence and has limited EU users to withdrawals since 1 July 2026. Gemini closed all UK and EEA accounts on 6 April 2026. For readers elsewhere the choice is clearer than it looks: in the US you can use Gemini but not Binance.com, and in most other countries Binance is far cheaper, with a much heavier regulatory record.

We checked both exchanges’ fee schedules, licence registers and filings on 23 October 2026, and every figure in this Binance vs Gemini crypto exchange comparison comes from those official sources. For more detail, read our Binance review and Gemini review. Crypto is volatile, and you can lose all the money you invest.

Binance vs Gemini: the short answer

Your country decides the Binance vs Gemini question, not the fee table. In brief:

• You live in the EU: neither. Use a MiCA-licensed exchange; see the options below.
• You live in the US: Gemini. It is a regulated, US-based exchange and custodian. The catch: entry-level trading fees of 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker are high.
• You live elsewhere outside the EU (Gemini serves only the US and Singapore): Binance, if it is available in your country. The catch: a 2023 US guilty plea and an unfinished search for an EU licence.
• You care most about the lowest trading fee percentage: Binance, at 0.10%, or 0.075% with the BNB discount.

Binance vs Gemini for EU residents: why neither works

Neither Binance nor Gemini can open an account for someone living in the EU in October 2026, for different reasons. Binance never obtained a MiCA licence; Gemini had one and chose to leave.

Binance applied to Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission in January 2026 and withdrew the application on 24 June 2026, after reports that the regulator was leaning towards rejection. Since 1 July 2026, when MiCA’s transition period ended, it no longer onboards EU users and has suspended deposits, new spot orders and Earn, keeping withdrawals open. No Binance entity appears in ESMA’s interim MiCA register (update of 22 October 2026). Binance had already left the Netherlands in 2023.

Gemini announced in February 2026 that it would leave the UK, the EU, other European markets and Australia, with up to 200 job cuts, about 25% of its staff. Accounts became withdrawal-only on 5 March 2026 and closed on 6 April 2026. Gemini partnered with eToro to help customers move their assets. ESMA’s register still lists a Maltese MiCA authorisation for Gemini Intergalactic EU Ltd from August 2025 without an end date, but the licence is not in use for retail clients. Gemini had left the Netherlands earlier, in November 2023.

Where EU readers can go instead

EU residents need one of the cryptocurrency exchanges that is both MiCA-authorised and actually serving customers, with euro fiat deposits by SEPA bank transfer. Three examples we have checked:

• Bybit EU: authorised by Austria’s FMA, with a flat 0.25% spot fee (€2.50 on €1,000) and card, Apple Pay and Google Pay top-ups.
• Crypto.com: authorised by Malta’s MFSA; 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker on its Exchange, free SEPA bank transfer deposits. See Binance vs Crypto.com.
• Gate: authorised by Malta’s MFSA, with 0.10% spot fees.

For a side-by-side look at two of them, read Bybit vs Crypto.com.

What are Binance and Gemini?

Binance is a global crypto exchange founded in 2017. Binance offers spot, futures, margin trading and Earn products across roughly 500 digital assets on one platform, and it says it reached 250 million registered users by January 2025. Its licences page lists three entities in Abu Dhabi, approved by the FSRA in December 2025.

The Gemini cryptocurrency exchange is a US exchange and custodian founded in 2014 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and based in New York. Its parent, Gemini Space Station, Inc., listed on Nasdaq (ticker GEMI) in September 2025, so it reports like a traditional finance company. Gemini reported about 601,000 monthly transacting users and $15.9 billion of assets on the platform at the end of 2025. Binance doesn’t publish active users in the same way, but with 250 million registered users its user base is far larger. Gemini focuses on regulatory compliance in the US.

Binance vs Gemini fees

In any cryptocurrency exchange fee comparison, Binance comes out cheaper: 0.10% for maker and taker spot orders, or 0.075% if you pay fees in BNB. Gemini’s ActiveTrader schedule, dated 1 September 2026, starts at 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker, which is high for an order-book exchange.

Gemini prices its markets in US dollars and Singapore dollars, but the percentages work the same for any amount. For an order worth €100 or €1,000:

A €1,000 market order costs €11.00 more on Gemini than on Binance. You pay the lower maker rate when you place limit orders that wait in the order book, so limit orders roughly halve the cost on Gemini.

Gemini ActiveTrader tiers

Gemini’s fees vary based on trading volume or asset balance over 30 days. The steps include 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker from $10,000, 0.25% and 0.50% from $25,000, and down to 0% and 0.02% at $250 million. Binance’s VIP tiers also lower fees by 30-day volume or BNB balance. For a basic trading account of a few hundred dollars a month, the entry tiers above are what you will pay.

Instant buys, fiat deposits and withdrawal fees

Gemini’s instant and recurring orders include a spread in the quote plus a variable fee shown before you confirm; Gemini’s annual report says the convenience fee is typically around 1% above the market price, roughly €10 on €1,000. In the US, paying by debit card costs 3.49% and PayPal 2.50%, or €3.49 and €2.50 on €100. We did not verify the fees for ACH transfers or a wire transfer from a US bank account to a Gemini account, so check them on Gemini’s fee page before you deposit by bank transfer.

Withdrawal fees for bitcoin differ too. Binance’s public API listed 0.00002 BTC on 23 October 2026, a dynamic network fee. Gemini shows a dynamic network fee before you withdraw, like most exchanges.

Binance vs Gemini: supported assets and fiat currencies

Binance supports far more digital assets: 500+ on its global platform, against 65+ at Gemini (67 assets marked tradable in Gemini’s disclosures of 21 May 2026). Gemini supports the major assets such as bitcoin and ether, but if you want smaller altcoins, Gemini has a narrow list compared with other exchanges.

Fiat currencies follow the same pattern. Binance’s global platform lists 13, including the euro, the US dollar, the Brazilian real and the Turkish lira. Gemini supports only the US dollar and the Singapore dollar, which reflects its two remaining markets.

Trading features for advanced traders: futures, margin and earn

Both exchanges offer an advanced platform beyond spot trading, but in different markets. Binance runs USDⓈ-M futures at 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker for a regular user, plus margin, copy trading and staking on its global platform. Gemini offers perpetuals at 0.02% maker and 0.07% taker at its lowest tier, margin trading, staking, a US credit card and prediction markets through Gemini Titan, a CFTC-designated contract market. In April 2026 the New York Attorney General sued Gemini Titan, alleging that its prediction markets operated unlicensed gambling in New York.

On a €1,000 futures position, the entry-level taker fee is €0.50 at Binance and €0.70 at Gemini.

Ways to earn interest and crypto rewards carry their own risks, as Gemini Earn showed. Gemini’s lending partner Genesis froze withdrawals in November 2022 after the FTX collapse, locking Earn users’ assets until an in-kind recovery in May and June 2024 (about $2.2 billion, per Gemini’s annual report). Binance’s Earn is suspended for EU users, and its staking reflects the global platform.

Regulation, security and customer funds

Gemini has the stronger US regulatory position; Binance publishes more about its reserves. Neither has a clean record.

Gemini: Gemini Trust Company is a limited purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and acts as a qualified custodian. Gemini says custody uses offline cold storage, geographically distributed hardware security modules and multi-party computation to protect the private keys. It has completed SOC 1 and SOC 2 examinations, which are security certifications for its controls. We found no proof-of-reserves attestation on its official pages. We found no major hacks of Gemini’s own wallets in the records we checked, but data breaches at third-party vendors in 2022 exposed some users’ email addresses and phone numbers, and a 2024 breach at a service provider of one of its ACH banking partners affected about 15,000 users.

Binance: Binance publishes Merkle-tree and zk-SNARK proof of reserves and says it holds user assets 1:1. Its SAFU fund was converted to 15,000 BTC (about $1bn) in February 2026, and Binance says it will top it up if it falls below $800m. In 2019 hackers stole 7,000 BTC (about $40m) from a Binance hot wallet, and SAFU covered the loss.

Regulatory track record

Both exchanges have paid large penalties. The main entries:

• Binance: fined €3.3m by DNB (2022); left the Netherlands and paused UK sign-ups (2023); pleaded guilty in the US to anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations and agreed to pay about $4.3bn, with founder Changpeng Zhao stepping down (2023); the SEC dismissed its civil lawsuit (2025); withdrew its MiCA application (2026).
• Gemini: a NYDFS consent order over Earn with a $37 million penalty plus a $40 million contribution to Earn users, and a New York Attorney General settlement requiring a further distribution of about $50 million (2024); a $5 million CFTC settlement (January 2025), which Gemini and the CFTC jointly moved to vacate in May 2026; the SEC dismissed its Earn lawsuit (January 2026); a securities class action over the IPO (March 2026).

A licence, a SAFU fund or a SOC report is not a guarantee. Keep only what you trade on any exchange, use an authenticator app for two-factor authentication, and move long-term holdings to your own wallet.

Which crypto exchange is easier to use?

Gemini is the more user friendly option for beginner traders in the US: a compliant exchange with a mobile application and instant buys. Opening a Gemini account requires full identity verification before you can trade or withdraw. Support runs through a help centre and a web request form. The Binance app and API are aimed at a wider range of traders, from beginners to professional traders, but we could not confirm Binance’s support channels or KYC rules from official pages.

Binance vs Gemini: who should choose which?

When comparing Binance and Gemini, choose by where you live first, then by cost. By reader:

• EU resident: neither. Pick a MiCA-licensed exchange such as Bybit EU, Crypto.com or Gate.
• US beginner buying small amounts: Gemini is available and regulated, but compare its 1.20% taker fee and instant-buy costs with other US exchanges. Our United States guide lists the options.
• Active trader outside the EU and the US: Binance, for lower fees, more trading opportunities and the larger user base, if you accept its regulatory history. Binance offers far more coins, too.
• Long-term holder who wants a regulated US custodian: Gemini, keeping in mind the Earn losses of 2022 to 2024.

Who should look elsewhere: anyone in the EU or the UK, anyone who wants low fees in the US, and anyone who wants proof of reserves from Gemini.

Final verdict: Gemini in the US, Binance elsewhere, neither in the EU

The Binance vs Gemini verdict depends on your address. Gemini wins in the US, where Binance.com isn’t available. Binance wins on cost and choice almost everywhere else outside the EU, at 0.10% per trade against up to 1.20%, but carries the heavier record. In the EU, neither is an option, so choose a MiCA-licensed exchange. Whichever platform you use, crypto can lose its entire value, so only invest money you can afford to lose.