Coinhako vs Binance Singapore – Which To Choose?

Last updated on June 6th, 2021

Coinhako and Binance Singapore are the more prominent platforms that you can use to trade crypto in Singapore.

However, how are they different, and which one is better?

Here’s what you need to know:

The difference between Coinhako and Binance Singapore

Coinhako gives you access to a wider variety of cryptocurrencies on their platform compared to Binance Singapore (30 vs 8). However, the trading and withdrawal fees are higher on Coinhako. If you are looking to own a wider variety of currencies, Coinhako may be better for you.

Here’s an in-depth comparison between these 2 platforms:

Founder

Coinhako is a cryptocurrency exchange that is based in Singapore and founded in 2014.

Meanwhile, Binance Singapore was launched much later in 2019. It was launched as a separate exchange from Binance.com.

Number of currencies

Coinhako allows you fully trade 21 tokens. However, it has limited support for 9 other currencies:

Full support for 21 tokens

Coinhako allows you to Buy, Sell, Swap, Send or Receive 21 currencies on their platform.

Swapping refers to you switching between one cryptocurrency to another.

Some of the more well-known ones include:

1. BTC
2. ETH
3. DAI
4. LTC
5. XRP

Limited support for other tokens

Coinhako also has a few tokens that you can have on their platform. However, the functions that you can use with them are quite limited:

You are able to buy XMR and THETA, which can’t be found on other crypto exchanges that support SGD.

For trade-only tokens, you can only Buy, Sell or Swap these currencies. You are unable to send or receive them from external wallets.

For USDT and USDC, these are rather complicated. You are able to receive both USDT and USDC from external wallets.

However, they will be converted into USD and be credited into your USD wallet on Coinhako.

If you wish to withdraw from your USD wallet, you can only do so in the form of USDT or USDC too.

Binance Singapore only offers 8 currencies

Meanwhile, Binance Singapore allows you to trade in 8 cryptocurrencies.

This includes:

1. BTC
2. ETH
3. BNB
4. LTC
5. BCH
6. XRP
7. NEO
8. LINK

The number of currencies on Binance Singapore is lower compared to Coinhako!

Methods of funding your account

Both exchanges allow you to deposit SGD using your Xfers account.

Xfers is a payment solution that allows you to transfer your money securely into the crypto exchanges.

It sort of acts like the middleman between your bank accounts and the exchanges.

For Coinhako, you will need to deposit your funds from Xfers into your SGD wallet.

Meanwhile, you can purchase crypto directly from your Xfers wallet with Binance Singapore. You do not need to transfer your SGD from Xfers to Binance Singapore.

Coinhako allows you to deposit via bank transfer too

Coinhako allows you to send your SGD to their platform using FAST transfer as well.

The good thing is that you do not incur any fees. However, the FAST transfer may take longer to process compared to Xfers Direct Charge.

Buying crypto

After you’ve funded your account, you will need to purchase your crypto. There are a few ways you can do so:

#1 Credit card

You can purchase crypto using a credit card for Coinhako.

However, this option is not available for Binance Singapore.

Buying crypto using a card can be rather costly! This is because the fees charged by their payment providers are usually quite hefty.

#2 Instant buy (Coinhako and Binance Singapore)

When you purchase crypto on Coinhako or Binance Singapore, you aren’t able to set the price.

You can only buy the crypto at the prevailing market rate, which you can see on the ‘Buy’ page.

If you check the current price on sites like CoinMarketCap, it may be slightly different from what you see on either platform.

You are buying crypto directly instead of trading

When you are purchasing crypto on either exchange, you are buying it directly based on the prevailing market rate.

This is slightly different from trading, where you get to choose the limit price that you pay!

As such, the exchange rate of the crypto that you’re paying may differ slightly.

If you wish to determine the price that you buy or sell crypto, you can switch to Gemini’s Active Trader platform instead.

Withdrawal of funds

Coinhako allows you to withdraw your funds to your bank account.

Meanwhile, Binance Singapore only allows you to withdraw to your Xfers wallet.

This is slightly more troublesome as you’ll have to go to Xfers and withdraw your funds to your bank account.

Sending and receiving crypto

Both Coinhako and Binance Singapore allow you to send and receive crypto from external wallets.

You can only send and receive the 21 currencies on Coinhako.

For those currencies that you can’t send or receive them, the functions will be greyed out.

Some of these currencies include AAVE and ADA.

Binance Singapore allows you to send and receive all 8 cryptocurrencies

Meanwhile, you are able to send and receive all currencies on Binance Singapore.

This is useful if you want to send these crypto to another exchange to buy ‘rarer’ altcoins.

Fees

The most important thing when it comes to trading crypto are the fees. You should try to minimise your fees as much as possible!

Here are some of the fees you may incur when using either platform:

#1 Depositing and withdrawing fees

Here are the fees you’ll incur when depositing into or withdrawing from these platforms:

Platform	Deposit Fee	Withdrawal Fee
Coinhako	0.55% (Xfers), 0 (Inter-bank)	$2 SGD per withdrawal
Binance Singapore	None	None

If you intend to make frequent deposits and withdrawals, Binance Singapore may be more suitable.

#2 Buying and selling crypto

Here are the fees that you’ll be charged for both exchanges:

Coinhako charges a flat 1% fee

You will need to pay a flat 1% fee for any transaction you make with Coinhako.

The best part is that you are not charged a minimum fee! Even if you buy a small amount of crypto, you will still only be charged 1%.

However for a limited time, you can use the promo code ‘COINGECKO‘ to trade at only 0.8%.

Moreover if you are buying crypto using a credit or debit card, you will also be charged a 3% processing fee! This fee is charged by the payment provider and not by Coinhako.

Binance Singapore charges 0.6% for each trade

When you make a buy or sell order on Binance Singapore, you will be charged 0.60%.

This is slightly lower than the 1% you’ll pay with Coinhako.

#3 Sending and receiving fees

You may want to send or receive your crypto from an external wallet.

The fees that you incur when sending or receiving from Coinhako are dynamic. This depends on the network traffic and miner fees that Coinhako incurs.

For Binance Singapore, the withdrawal fees are fixed. This depends on which crypto you’re sending:

Crypto	Withdrawal Fee	Minimum
BTC	0.0004	0.001
ETH	0.01	0.02
BNB	0.001	0.002
LTC	0.001	0.002
BCH	0.001	0.002
XRP	0.25	2
NEO	0	1
LINK	0.7	2

You will not be charged any fees if you want to send NEO.

If you want to receive crypto from an external wallet, no fees are charged by either exchange.

However, you’ll need to consider the fees you incur when sending crypto from your external wallets!

You can consider Gemini which does not charge you any fees for your first 10 withdrawals per month.

Minimum amount

Here are the minimum amounts you’ll need to have to buy crypto on either platform:

Platform	Minimum Amount
Coinhako	$45
Binance Singapore	$20

The minimum amount for Binance Singapore is slightly lower.

Security

You may have heard of how crypto exchanges can be hacked, and these hackers can steal your crypto!

So how do these exchanges try and combat this?

Coinhako stores the majority of your currencies in a cold storage

Coinhako mentioned that they store the majority of your crypto in their ‘highly secure’ cold storage accounts.

Meanwhile, only a small percentage of your funds will be stored on their exchange. This helps to facilitate liquidity where you are able to sell or withdraw your funds.

If hackers are able to gain access to your holdings, they will only gain access to a small percentage on the exchange.

To get the rest of your funds, they will need to hack the cold storage account. This is much harder to do!

As such, most of your crypto with Coinhako will be safe and secure.

Coinhako also allows you to use 2FA apps like Authy to make your account extra secure.

Even with these measures, Coinhako was still hacked on 21st Feb 2020. Thankfully, only 20 users were affected, and any assets that were lost were reimbursed by Coinhako.

Binance Singapore does not disclose their security measures

Unlike Coinhako, Binance Singapore does not disclose the security measures they have put in place. This may be slightly worrying if you are very concerned about security.

Binance.com faced a security breach in 2019. However, Binance Singapore declared that the breach did not affect their exchange.

Although the platform is quite new, Binance Singapore has not been hacked so far.

Platforms

Here is how Coinhako’s web platform looks like,

and their mobile app.

Meanwhile, Binance Singapore only has a web platform.

In my opinion, Binance Singapore’s platform is slightly ‘less stable’. Moreover, it doesn’t really have the same ‘professional’ feel compared to Coinhako.

Verdict

Here is a comparison between Coinhako and Binance Singapore:

	Coinhako	Binance Singapore
Year Founded	2014	2019
HQ	Singapore	Singapore
Number of Currencies	30	8
Funding Methods	Xfers FAST	Xfers
Methods of Buying	SGD Wallet (Direct Buy) Credit / Debit Card	SGD Wallet
Withdrawal of Funds	Bank Account	Xfers
Deposit Fees	0.55% (Xfers) 0 (Inter-bank)	None
Withdrawal Fees	SGD$2 per withdrawal	None
Trading Fees	1%	0.60%
Sending Fees	Dynamic	Depends on currency
Minimum Per Trade	$45	$20
Security	Cold storage +  hot wallet	Not specified
Platforms	Web +  mobile app	Web only

So which platform should you choose?

Choose Coinhako if you want to buy a wider variety of cryptocurrencies

Coinhako allows you to buy more cryptocurrencies directly from SGD on their platform.

The only platform that has more trading pairs with SGD is Tokenize.

If you intend to diversify your portfolio and buy different currencies like DOGE or ZIL, then Coinhako is a better platform for you.

While you pay higher transaction fees, you are able to gain access to more currencies!

Choose Binance Singapore for lower fees

Binance Singapore has lower fees compared to Coinhako (0.6% vs 1%). Moreover, withdrawing your SGD to Xfers is free, while you will need to pay $2 for every withdrawal with Coinhako.

You will have significant cost savings if you intend to trade a lot of crypto!

However, the main drawback with Binance Singapore is the number of cryptocurrencies on the platform.

Your choices are very limited compared to Coinhako.

If you intend to diversify your portfolio across many different currencies, then it may be worth paying the high fees with Coinhako!

Conclusion

Both platforms offer you a way to buy crypto directly from your SGD.

However, here are some considerations when you’re choosing between these 2 platforms:

1. The currencies that you wish to own
2. The fees that you wish to incur
3. The accessibility of the platform (Binance Singapore only has a web platform)
4. The minimum amount you wish to have for each trade

Are you passionate about personal finance and want to earn some flexible income?