Goodbye Binance... I'm Leaving You Today

By Cryptofab | Cointune | 28 Aug 2023

Maybe some of you are fans of Pink Floyd's album "The Wall" like me... And if you are fan of this album, you probably know these words:

Goodbye crual world... I'm leaving you today... Goodbye... Goodbye... Goodbye...

Well, if you replace "crual world" by Binance, it makes: "Goodbye Binance... I'm leaving you today".

However, you may wonder: why do I leave Binance? Well, let me explain... Note: The text below is extracted from a story that I published on Medium.

Why I decided to ditch Binance

Despite the FUD around Binance and the advantages of self-custodial wallets, most Binance users do not want to leave Binance centralized exchange because it is easy to use, whereas it looks complicated to use Ethereum layer-2 rollups or EVM layer-1 chains.

I’ve been using Binance for a while now, and I’ve been pretty happy with it. It’s easy to use, has a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, and the fees are reasonable. However, I decided to move my assets to a self-custodial wallet like MetaMask.

There are a few reasons why I made that decision. First, I wanted to have more control over my own keys. Second, I wanted to be able to use my assets on decentralized applications (dApps). DApps are applications that run on the blockchain, and they often require you to have your own wallet.

I know that there are some people who are hesitant to move their assets to a self-custodial wallet. They worry about losing their keys or getting hacked. However, I think the benefits outweigh the risks. If you take the necessary precautions, you can keep your assets safe.

One way to make it easier to manage your assets on a self-custodial wallet is to use a tool like DeBank. DeBank is a DeFi dashboard that allows you to track your assets across multiple wallets and exchanges. It also provides information about gas fees and other metrics.

Why most Binance users still use it

Binance users may not want to have their own self-custodial wallet through MetaMask for a few reasons:

They don’t want to have to manage their own keys. This is a valid concern, as losing your keys can mean losing your assets. However, there are ways to mitigate this risk, such as using a hardware wallet or writing down your keys and storing them in a safe place.
They’re worried about getting hacked. This is also a valid concern, as self-custodial wallets may be vulnerable to hacking. However, there are things you can do to protect your assets, such as using a cold wallet like Ledger.
They don’t want to pay the gas fees associated with using Ethereum. This is a valid concern, as gas fees can be high on Ethereum. However, there are layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism that can help to reduce gas fees.

How I finally moved out from Binance

To ditch Binance, I transferred my assets from my Binance account to my own MetaMask account by following a few steps:

First, I installed the MetaMask extension on my Chrome browser. You can also install it on other browsers like Firefox and Brave.
Then, I created a MetaMask account by clicking on the "Create a Wallet" button. I followed the instructions on the screen and saved my seed phrase in a safe place.
As next step, I added the Arbitrum network to my MetaMask account by going on chainlist.org.
Then, I swapped all my assets on Binance for ETH, went to my Spot wallet, clicked on the “Withdraw” button next to ETH, and chose Arbitrum as network.
After having withdrawn, I added other networks like Optimism, Base, Linea, Avalanche and Fantom to my MetaMask account by connecting it to chainlist.org.
Then, I used several bridges like Orbiter Finance, Hop Protocol, LayerZero’s Stargate and Connext, to transfer a portion of my ETH to each of the chains I had added and use some of their dApps.

Why I also started to use Debank

As shown on the picture below, DeBank allows me to see all my assets in one shot like on Binance, except that now I own the keys, so that’s my crypto!