How to open and verify a Binance account: a step-by-step guide
Opening a Binance account takes four steps: register with an email address, a phone number or a Google, Apple or Telegram account; complete identity verification; secure the account; and make a first deposit. Registration takes a few minutes. Binance says verification is usually reviewed within 48 hours. This guide follows each step as Binance's own help pages describe it on 8 November 2026, with screenshots of those pages, and points out the details that most often cause trouble later.
First confirm that Binance can serve you: it does not accept residents of the United States, Canada or the Netherlands, it stopped taking on new users in the EU from July 2026 and in the UK from 2023, and several countries have their own local Binance company. If it can, register, add a referral code at the last step if you have one, complete verification with an ID that has not expired, then turn on a passkey or an authenticator app, an anti-phishing code and the withdrawal whitelist before you deposit.
Before you start: can Binance serve you?
Binance's List of Prohibited Countries, updated on 5 January 2026, names three groups. Anyone located in, resident in or a citizen of the United States. Anyone located or resident in Canada or the Netherlands. And anyone in Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Crimea and the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Binance's terms of use, effective from 27 October 2026, also forbid using a VPN to get around these restrictions.
Some places are not on the list but are still closed to new users. Having not obtained MiCA authorisation by the 1 July 2026 deadline, Binance stopped onboarding new users in the European Union from that date and limited existing EU accounts to managing positions and withdrawing. It stopped accepting new UK users in October 2023.
In other countries Binance works through a local company, and that is the one you should use: for example Tokocrypto in Indonesia, Binance TR in Türkiye, Binance Japan and Binance Australia. Binance.US is a separate company for the United States. A local company has its own sign-up, terms and fees, and this guide does not cover them. If you are not sure whether you are allowed to open an account where you live, read our checklist by country first.
What is happening at Binance right now
In late October 2026 Binance announced a security incident in which funds were stolen, and suspended withdrawals. It began reopening withdrawals in phases on 1 November. Its recovery update of 4 November said Binance had replenished about 98% of the stolen assets from its own resources and would cover the losses, not its users. Its update of 6 November said withdrawals were reopening asset by asset and network by network, and that deposit services remained open.
For a new account, the practical consequence is simple. Before you deposit a coin, open Binance's withdrawal page or network status page for that coin and that network and confirm that withdrawals work. If they do not yet, wait until the latest recovery update lists that coin and network. Our Binance status page shows how Binance's public API has been answering; it does not cover withdrawals.
Step 1: register
Go to the Binance site by typing the address yourself or through a link you trust, and choose Sign Up. A personal account can be registered with an email address, a phone number, or a Google, Apple or Telegram account. A company needs an entity account, which starts from the "Sign up as an entity" link and cannot be changed into a personal one later.
- Enter your email address or phone number and accept the terms of service and privacy notice.
- Enter the six-digit code Binance sends you. Binance says the code must be used within 30 minutes.
- Set a password of at least eight characters, with at least one uppercase letter and one number. Binance's help page lists shorter steps for Google and Apple sign-ups, without the code and password.
- The last screen asks for a referral ID. It is optional. If you arrived through a referral link it is already filled in; if the code shown is wrong, you can edit it before you confirm.
The referral step is the only chance to add one. Binance's help pages say a referral cannot be modified once it is linked, and its referral FAQ says nothing can be corrected after the new user has registered.
This is a referral link. It has no effect on any figure on this page — see Method.
Step 2: complete identity verification
Every new user has to complete verification before using Binance's products, including crypto deposits and trading. Existing users who have not verified are limited to withdrawing, cancelling orders and closing positions.
- Open Account, then Identification, and choose Get Verified.
- Choose your country of residence, the country that issued your document, and the document type: an ID card, a passport or a driving licence, depending on what that country offers.
- Upload the front and back of the document from your device, or scan the QR code to continue on your phone. Binance notes that manual upload is not offered in every country.
- Complete the liveness check: allow camera access, remove hats, glasses and filters, and make sure the light is good.
- Confirm your personal details. They must match your document, and they cannot be changed after you confirm them.
Binance asks users not to refresh the browser during verification. It says applications are usually reviewed within 48 hours, and that some take longer. The current help page does not publish limits for each level; it says to check the Identification page, which shows your own limits after you log in.
Proof of address
Binance may also ask you to verify your residential address. Its help page lists what it accepts: utility, internet or landline bills, bank or credit card statements, and letters from a government body, among others. The document must show your name, your address, the date of issue and who issued it. Payslips and medical bills are not accepted, mobile phone bills only in some countries, and post office boxes and virtual offices not at all.
The document must be no older than six months in most countries, three months in some, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Italy and Spain, and two months in India. It can be a PDF, JPG or PNG. A national ID card or residence permit that shows your address can serve as proof of address, but not if it is the same document you used to verify your identity. Binance says address checks can take up to one to two working days.
If verification is rejected
Binance does not publish a single list of rejection reasons, but its verification and address pages describe what a valid submission looks like. Most rejections come from one of these:
- Personal details that do not match the document exactly, including the order of names and the date format.
- A document that has expired, or a document type not offered for your issuing country.
- A photo that is blurred, cropped, black and white, edited, or has glare across the text.
- A proof of address that is too old, shows a different name, or is missing the full address and postcode.
- A refreshed or closed browser in the middle of the process.
Fix the cause before you try again. Sending the same photo a second time rarely changes the result.
Step 3: secure the account before you deposit
Binance's security tips say to always enable two-factor authentication and to use a passkey or an authenticator app as an alternative to SMS. Set up these four things before you put any money in:
- A passkey or an authenticator app. Passkeys are under Security, then Passkeys (Biometrics), and work with iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager or a hardware security key. Changing your authenticator later disables withdrawals and P2P trading for 24 hours.
- An anti-phishing code. Set it under Account, Security, Advanced Security. It must be six to eight characters, using at least three of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits and underscores. Every genuine Binance email and SMS will show it.
- The withdrawal whitelist. Turn it on under Settings, Withdrawal. Withdrawals then go only to addresses you have saved, up to 200 of them. Changes to these settings can suspend withdrawals for 24 to 72 hours, which is the point: an attacker cannot change them and withdraw at once.
- Binance Verify. Before you trust a website, an email address, a phone number or a social media account claiming to be Binance, check it on Binance Verify. Binance says it never asks for funds or tokens in private messages.
Step 4: make a first deposit
To deposit crypto, open Deposit, choose Deposit Crypto, pick the coin and then the network, and copy the address or scan the QR code. The network must be one the sending wallet supports; Binance warns that funds sent on the wrong network might be lost and not recoverable. Coins such as XRP, XLM and EOS also need a memo or tag. Send a small amount first and wait for it to arrive.
To buy with a card, Binance accepts Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay, with up to five linked cards. Your bank may treat the purchase as a cash advance and charge its own fee.
P2P requires completed verification and at least one two-factor method. You pay the seller directly, then mark the order as paid. Binance allows at most two open orders, and three cancellations in a day suspend buying for that day. If the crypto is not released after you have paid, open an appeal inside the order instead of contacting the seller elsewhere.
Binance trading fees for a new account
On spot trades, a regular account pays 0.100% as maker and 0.100% as taker. Paying fees in BNB lowers both to 0.075%. VIP 1 starts at a 30-day trading volume of at least $1,000,000 together with a BNB balance of at least 5 BNB. Withdrawal fees are separate and depend on the coin and network. Our guide to what a market order really costs shows why the fee is only part of the cost of a trade.
Common questions about opening a Binance account
How long does Binance verification take?
Binance says identity verification is usually reviewed within 48 hours, and that some cases take longer. Address verification can take one to two working days.
Can I add a referral code after I have registered?
No. The referral ID is entered at the last registration step, and Binance says it cannot be modified once linked.
Can I use Binance without verification?
No. New users must complete verification before depositing or trading. Accounts that were opened earlier and never verified can only withdraw, cancel orders and close positions.
Can I open a second account?
A personal account can create up to five sub-accounts, which is the supported way to separate funds. A second personal account under the same identity is not.
Checklist
- Confirm that Binance, and not a local Binance company, is the one that serves your country.
- Register through an address you typed or a link you trust.
- Enter a referral code at the last step if you have one.
- Verify with an unexpired document and details that match it exactly.
- Set up a passkey or an authenticator app, an anti-phishing code and the withdrawal whitelist.
- Check the latest recovery update and the network status for the coin you will deposit.
- Send a small test deposit first.
Related reading: Before you open a crypto exchange account · How to open and verify an OKX account · Binance API status and uptime
Sources
Binance · How to register · Binance · Identity verification · Binance · Proof of address · Binance · List of Prohibited Countries · Binance · Licences · Binance · Security tips · Binance · Anti-phishing code · Binance · Withdrawal whitelist · Binance Verify · Binance · Fee schedule · Binance · Recovery Update #7 · Binance · Recovery Update #9 · Binance · Passkeys · Binance · Terms of Use · Cointelegraph · Binance EU limits · How we measure
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