Binance is one of the world’s top cryptoasset exchanges and the largest by trading volume. While the exchange, first launched by founder Changpeng Zhao in 2017, has roughly 30 million users, some clients occasionally find that they want to, or need to, delete their Binance account.
Whether to take a break from crypto trading, change to a different exchange or quit the process altogether, Binance makes it easy for users to make their account inactive. Here is a step-by-step guide for deleting your Binance account.
Decide Whether You Want to Inactivate or Delete Your Binance Account
While it is possible to completely delete a Binance account, consider whether you would rather simply inactivate it for the time being. Deleting an account will remove your personal information from the exchange, in addition to removing your trading account from the company.
However, you may decide that you would rather take a less permanent route by inactivating your Binance account. If you choose the latter, you always have the option to reactivate your account to use in trading again in the future. Disabling an account can also be used if you are worried about suspicious trading activity or that someone may be able to gain access to your funds and cryptoassets.
Make Sure to Withdraw Your Funds
Before deleting or disabling your Binance account, you want to make sure to withdraw any and all funds and cryptoassets that you have associated with the exchange. The process for withdrawing is simple and straightforward. If you have an account with another exchange you can always send your fund’s to that address.
Related article: How to Transfer Crypto from Binance to PayPal: Step-by-Step
Otherwise, cryptoassets can be sent from Binance to any personal wallet you may have. You can speed up the process by converting all your crypto into one asset, such as a stablecoin, to complete the withdrawal in one transaction.
Disabling Your Account
Once you have withdrawn your assets from your Binance account, the process for deleting the account should take less than ten minutes.
Make sure you are logged into your Binance account before continuing, then select the “Profile” button from the top navigation bar. This process can also be completed in the Binance app, which should have an “Account” option for you to click.
From your profile, click the “Security” tab, followed by the button that says, “Disable Account.”
At this point, you will have the option to either disable or permanently delete your account.
Disabling your account will allow you to log back in at a future date and reactivate for trading or other purposes. Rather than permanently wiping your account, it gives you the option should you like to return to Binance. It also avoids having to create a brand-new account with Binance in the future, should you decide to return, and go through the authentication process again. CryptoGlobe has published a guide on Binance’s authentication and verification process.
If you decide to disable your account, Binance will prompt you with several reminders. According to the exchange, disabling your account will result in all pending withdrawals being canceled. Therefore, make sure you have fully withdrawn your funds and completed the transactions prior to starting the process of disabling or deleting your account.
Disabling your account will also result in a hold being placed on your ability to trade on the exchange. The API keys for your account will be deleted, and any other devices that you have connected to the account will also be deleted from the system.
Should you choose to reactivate your account again in the future, Binance asks that you contact their support team. Users must wait at least two hours after disabling their account to begin the process of reactivation, so make sure that you are ready to disable your account before proceeding.
In addition to using the Binance web and app to deactivate your account, the exchange also allows you to disable your account via email notification. At the bottom of emails from Binance, such as for a password reset or authorizing a new device, the exchange lists a hyperlink for clients to “disable your account,” or contact their support team. This option can be useful for users concerned about their account’s security, such as after a suspicious login, and wish to disable their account immediately to thwart fraudulent activity.
Deleting Your Binance Account
If you decide you would rather delete than deactivate your account, keep in mind that the process is permanent and irreversible. Once you are sure of your decision and have fully withdrawn all your assets from the exchange you can proceed with selecting the “Delete this Account” option. Binance will provide the same prompt as disabling your account, reminding you that all pending withdrawals and open orders for the account will be cancelled.
Binance requires users to fill out a brief “Delete Account Application,” to proceed. You must enter either the email address or mobile phone number associated with the account that you desire to be permanently deleted. Once you have entered the correct email or number associated with the account, click the “Confirm to Delete,” button. Again, this process is permanent and irreversible.
Binance will then prompt you with an audit for your request to delete the account, including reviewing any remaining assets in the account to make sure they are less than or equal to 0.0001 BTC. In some situations, Binance may request that a user submit additional documentation, which can increase the audit time for the account deletion.
During the audit, Binance warns that a user will not be able to log in to their account or view their transaction history. In addition, the exchange reminds users that all open orders will be automatically terminated and no longer viewable from the account.
Users will not be able to migrate linked referrals from their deleted account, and the exchange warns not to continue depositing assets in the deleted account as they may become lost and irretrievable.
For users concerned about their personal and privacy information, Binance says that all “security item(s) and verified ID information” will be automatically removed from the exchange.
Why Can’t I Delete My Binance Account?
Some users of Binance will find that they are not offered the option to permanently delete their account and instead will only be able to disable it. This can vary by location and can be dependent on the laws and regulations established for your region. If you are unable to delete your account, try contacting Binance’s support team.
In certain areas, the terms and conditions of the exchange prevent the company from deleting accounts. In these cases, the support team says that disabling an account will still provide the security and de-identification benefits of deleting an account. Once disabled, Binance says that “no one will be able to use your documents or email address, or phone number,” effectively providing a workaround to outright deleting the account.
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