Three of the international exchanges that are usually being compared with each other are Binance, Huobi, and OKEX. The three exchanges are constantly competing with regards to various crypto marketplaces, including spot trading, futures trading, fiat-to-crypto services, and even their own cryptocurrencies.
While all three exchanges can trace their origins to Asia, each of these exchanges have their distinct advantages when it comes to running crypto buying and selling platforms. In this article, we compare Binance, Huobi, and OKEX to each other on certain characteristics of their fiat channels, or the platforms where you can buy crypto using fiat. For every question, each exchange will be awarded up to five points depending on how well they perform.
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How widespread are their fiat-to-crypto networks?
Binance: The exchange has fiat onramps in over 232 countries and territories when it comes to credit/debit card purchases for the instant Buy Crypto service. It also has direct banking channels covering Nigeria, UK, EU, Australia, Ukraine, and Brazil. In addition, it offers multiple payment solutions via local popular wallets or third-party payment companies like Papara in Turkey, ADVcash in Europe, and Simplex globally.
Huobi: On its crypto purchase page, there are 34 currencies listed as available options. The exchange also lists MasterCard and Visa as payment options, although the Visa option is available for “most European countries and Australia” and the MasterCard option can be used for the UK, Australia, Poland, and Gibraltar.
OKEX: Its website only lists CNY as the fiat option, although its sister exchange OKCoin serves “all the countries in the world” except for 10 countries.
Scores: Binance – 5, Huobi – 2.5, OKEX – 3.5
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How flexible are their payment channels?
Binance: The exchange supports SEPA (for Europe) and FPS (for the UK) payment networks — the most commonly used payment systems in Europe and the UK — enabling faster transfers via banking deposit and withdrawal, compared to international wire transactions. It also allows its customers to use their Visa and Mastercard credit/debit cards for deposits.
Huobi: Silvergate Bank, a crypto-focused bank based in the U.S., provides fiat deposit and withdrawal services for Huobi through international wire transfers as part of the Silvergate Exchange Network.
OKEX: This exchange’s various partnerships enable it to support SEPA and international wire transactions.
Verdict: While all exchanges offer adequate payment channels for buying crypto on their respective platforms, Binance’s payment channels allow for more instant transactions through multiple payment gateways. After all, you wouldn’t be able to support both SEPA and FPS if you haven’t built a network of multiple payment channels.
Scores: Binance – 5, Huobi – 3, OKEX – 3.5
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Which currencies are accepted?
Binance: Both the Euro (EUR) and the British pound (GBP) are accepted on Binance, whether through its several payment channels or deposits made via Visa or MasterCard credit/debit cards.
Huobi: Silvergate Bank’s wire transactions support multiple currencies, but deposits of local currencies to Huobi may take between three and five business days.
OKEX: This exchange supports EUR and US dollar (USD), both through SEPA and wire transactions.
Verdict: Only Binance supports both EUR and GBP transactions instantly. Huobi appears to also support both currencies, but the length of time it takes for wire transactions to complete may prove to be a disadvantage. OKEX’s support of USD may be good for some transactions in Europe, but the lack of GBP support via FasterPayment could be an inconvenience.
Scores: Binance – 4, Huobi – 3.5, OKEX – 3.5
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How much do we pay in fees?
Binance: Deposit charges on Binance cost 0.50 EUR or 1.95 GBP, while withdrawal transactions include fees worth 1 EUR or 1.95 GBP. When making deposits through Visa or MasterCard credit/debit cards, there’s an additional 1.8% charge for your transaction.
Huobi: The exchange itself does not charge fees for deposits and withdrawals. However, those transactions are subject to bank charges. And upon checking the latest wire transfer charges from Silvergate Bank, wire transfers for depositing on Huobi can cost between $30 and $65. These charges also apply when you withdraw from Huobi to the bank via wire transfer. In addition, according to Huobi’s basic fee rate list, fiat-to-crypto transactions are subject to a maker fee of 0.7%.
OKEX: SEPA-related deposits and withdrawals are charged a 0.20 EUR fee. Deposits done via international wire are free of charge from the exchange side, but are subject to bank changes, while withdrawals may cost up to 35 EUR per wire.
Verdict: Out of the three exchanges, Binance charges the highest deposit fees (although there isn’t much of a difference compared with OKEX), as well as the lowest withdrawal fees. Huobi earns extra points for having no fees for deposits, but the hefty tag price that comes with wire transfers result in disadvantages for both Huobi and OKEX.
Scores: Binance – 4, Huobi – 2.5, OKEX – 4
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Are there limits in deposits and withdrawals?
Binance: You can deposit between 20 EUR and 15,000 EUR per transaction. There are set deposit limits of 50,000 EUR per day and 500,000 EUR per month. You can execute checkout transactions worth up to 5,000 EUR daily, and this limit can go up to 10,000 EUR if you verify your address.
Huobi: You can deposit at least 100 USD to Huobi through Silvergate wire transfer.
OKEX: There is a 1 EUR minimum amount for SEPA-related deposits. For international wire transfers, the minimum deposit amount is 5,000 EUR.
Verdict: Binance beats Huobi’s minimum deposit amount, though it lags OKEX’s SEPA-related minimum. Considering that SEPA and FPS transactions have faster processing times compared to international wire transfers, each exchange can make a case for the merits of their respective transaction limits set.
Scores: Binance – 4, Huobi – 4, OKEX – 4
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FINAL VERDICT: By summing up the scores from the questions above, we arrive at the conclusion that Binance offers a more compelling crypto buying/selling platform for global users, with an apparent advantage in Europe. While the three exchanges were able to match up quite evenly in other aspects, Binance was able to rise up to the rest of the competition through its wide acceptance of payment channels and currencies.
Please keep in mind that results may vary per country. You may also have a different set of factors that you consider for which exchange you prefer, but for this particular round, Binance wins convincingly.
TOTAL SCORES: Binance – 22/25, Huobi – 15.5/20, OKEX – 18.5/20
