Binance vs Binance.US: what is the difference?

The difference between Binance vs Binance.US is who each exchange serves. Binance.com is the global platform for users outside the United States. Binance.US is a separate company, operated by BAM Trading Services, that uses the Binance name and logo and serves US customers under US registration rules. The two share a brand but have different apps, coin lists and legal setups.

Is Binance available in the US?

Not the global version. Binance announced in 2019 that it would block US customers and launched Binance.US for them instead. The Justice Department later found that the global exchange kept many US users anyway, especially high-volume traders. People in the US who want to use the Binance brand are pointed to Binance.US, which in its 2025 year-end letter said it is a US-regulated platform supporting more than 190 cryptocurrencies. It also said it had restored US dollar deposits and withdrawals after nearly two years of limited cash services. State availability can vary, so it is worth checking the Binance.US site for your state.

What happened in the Binance legal cases?

On November 21, 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, failing to register as a money transmitting business, and breaking US sanctions law. It agreed to pay about $4.3 billion and to keep an independent compliance monitor for three years. Founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and resigned as CEO. He served a four-month prison sentence, and President Trump pardoned him in October 2025, according to Reuters. In October 2026 the head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Tysen Duva, told Bloomberg the department was reviewing whether Binance was meeting the terms of that 2023 settlement. He gave no details and did not say Binance had broken it.

Separately, the SEC sued Binance, Binance.US's operators and Zhao in June 2023. In May 2025 the SEC and the defendants agreed to dismiss that case with prejudice. Our guide to what the SEC does in crypto explains how these cases fit into wider policy.

Who is the Binance CEO?

Richard Teng became CEO of Binance in November 2023 after Zhao stepped down. On December 3, 2025, Binance named co-founder Yi He as co-CEO alongside Teng, and as of October 2026 the two share the role. Binance.US has its own leadership, with Norman Reed as CEO.

What is Binance Coin, and does it work on both?

Binance Coin, now called BNB, is the token tied to the Binance ecosystem and its BNB Chain. It is covered in detail in our guide on what BNB is. Both exchanges have historically let users pay trading fees with BNB for a discount, though fee terms differ between the two platforms. For a broader primer on how trading platforms work, see what a crypto exchange is.