Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted daily trade volume, has expanded its “Binance Lite” service to the Australian market, allowing residents to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) with fiat currency from more than 1,300 newsagents in the country.
Customers will be required to pass account verification procedures, including know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering.
Upon completing account verification at www.binancelite.com, customers will be able to place their orders online and deposit cash at a newsagent, where they will then receive Bitcoin in a matter of minutes. Currently, AUD is the only accepted fiat currency and only Bitcoin can be purchased.
The new method of purchasing Bitcoin will help to spur adoption and onboard new users throughout Australia, which is in line with Binance’s mission statement to increase the adoption and mainstream accessibility of crypto.
Binance Lite Has Enormously High Fees
While the widespread crypto community is celebrating the addition of another fiat onramp to crypto, Australian customers are not entirely satisfied with Binance’s new Australian onramp due to its extremely high fees.
When buying Bitcoin on Binance Lite, customers will be charged a 5% transaction fee, plus a goods and services tax (GST) which is 10% on commission. The fees can really add up, making Binance Lite one of the worst methods to buy Bitcoin.
Disgruntled Australian crypto users have been taking their frustration to Twitter, where they lambast Binance for introducing a fiat onramp with such high fees.
One Twitter user by the name of William Hau provided an example of the exuberant fees he would have to pay if he bought just 1 bitcoin, stating that the Binance fee is over $280 AUD and he has to pay GST on top of that.
5% commission fee + GST? so to buy 1 BTC = AUD 5645.81 x 5% = A$282.25 fee + GST? No thanks!
— William Hau (@whau78) March 20, 2019
Another Twitter user by the name of Josh urged BInance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to come up with a better fiat onramp solution for Australian customers, stating he hopes this is just the start of something better to come.
Not trying to spread hate here, but having to go to a merchant (newsagents of all places), is incredibly inconvenient as an on-ramp solution. @cz_binance
Hoping that this is just the start and a digital solution is otw
5% transaction fee + GST is not helping your case either— josh (@jqho1) March 20, 2019
Binance Fiat-to-Crypto Onramps
In addition to the newly launched Binance Lite fiat onramp for Australian residents, Binance is working hard to bring more fiat-to-crypto onramps in the future. Earlier this month, CZ hinted that Argentina will be next to receive a service similar to Australia’s Binance Lite.
Moreover, as previously reported by IIB, in January Binance added support for credit cards to be used in purchasing cryptocurrencies.
The development was made through a partnership with Simplex, a leading crypto payments rail that allowed Binance users to buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP) with Visa and Mastercard.
Purchasing crypto through this method only incurs a 3.5% fee, but it only supports the US dollar (USD) and the Euro (EUR).
Are Binance’s Binance Lite fees too high for Australian customers? What do you think a reasonable fee is? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
