Binance Clone Script: How to Build Your Own Crypto Exchange in 2023

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Binance is one of the world’s largest and most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. It was founded by Changpeng Zhao in 2017. His exchange has grown rapidly to become a prominent player in the crypto space, offering a range of services related to digital assets and blockchain technology.

Binance has gained immense popularity in the world of crypto for several reasons: wide range of cryptocurrencies, liquidity, low trading fees, user-friendly interface, security, multiple services beyond trading (staking, lending, futures trading, and more, providing users with various options to engage with their crypto assets), innovation and constant development, global presence, active community and support.

Binance’s growth and popularity have been fueled by its commitment to providing a comprehensive and user-friendly platform with an extensive range of services, along with a focus on security and innovation within the cryptocurrency industry. Today we will dive deep into the topic of cryptocurrency exchanges and figure out how to build a Binance clone exchange or your unique crypto exchange for free.

Who definitely need their own crypto exchanges

First of all, let’s speak about the benefits of building your crypto exchange and what types of companies should definitely have their own crypto exchange.

Banks

Modern banks that keep up with the times understand that the future belongs to blockchain, so they may be interested in building their own crypto exchange. This is the opportunity to expand the services they provide, for example, offer a new asset class to diversify the clients’ investment portfolios. Cryptocurrencies are also a convenient way to make cross-border payments and so on.

Investment and hedge funds

Cryptocurrencies and particularly stablecoins can be used for hedging against volatility or specific risks in traditional financial markets. Also, some funds may use exchanges to participate in IEOs or token sales, allowing them to invest in promising blockchain projects at an early stage. Beyond cryptocurrencies, funds may use exchanges to invest in blockchain technology companies or projects, leveraging the potential of distributed ledger technology.

Brokerage firms

The intersection of traditional financial services and the cryptocurrency space offers opportunities for brokerage firms to expand their service offerings, tap into new markets, and meet evolving customer demands. Cryptocurrency exchanges operate globally, providing brokerage firms with access to a diverse range of markets beyond traditional exchanges. This access enhances liquidity and allows for a broader set of trading opportunities. Moreover, brokerage firms use exchanges to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and mitigate legal risks associated with cryptocurrency trading.

What preparations you need before building your crypto exchange

First, you should choose a platform. If you want to keep all the data safe, make sure that they are stored in one place — yours. That means you need to choose not white-label providers but open-source and self-hosted ones. The biggest differences between an open source platform and a white label are also:

• Accessibility. Open source involves access to the original source code for collaborative development. White label typically involves buying pre-existing products or services for rebranding and resale.
• Control and customization. With open source platforms, developers can modify and improve the software freely. With white labels, customization is usually limited to branding and minor adjustments.
• Ownership. In open source platforms, ownership rights are shared or maintained by the open-source community. In white labels, the product is usually owned by the company that created and sold it for rebranding. The only platform that is truly open-source and self-hosted is OpenCEX.

By the way, the best things in our lives are free, and so is OpenCEX. They collaborate with the famous Hummingbot that can provide liquidity for your future crypto exchange. Of course, you can choose any platform you like but we recommend not to take risks.

Once you have chosen a provider, rent a virtual or cloud server, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), that meets the minimum requirements. You need full access to this server (root), shared hosting won’t work.

After that, link the IPv4 address you received when purchasing the server to your domain. If you don’t have a domain yet, you can use such systems as Nip.io or Sslip.io. If you did this, then sign up for a Google account and get reCAPTCHA V2 keys (invisible). After that, get the SMTP server credentials for sending emails (any will do, e.g. Mailgun).

Then register accounts on Infura and Etherscan, and create API keys. You will also need BTC and ETH addresses (required), as well as BNB and TRX addresses (optional) for cold storage of these cryptocurrencies when users deposit them on your exchange. If you don’t have them yet, you can use any multicurrency wallet like Trust Wallet and generate BTC, ETH, BNB, TRX addresses.

You can take it a few steps further by adding full BNB Chain or TRON support (for any BEP-20 or TRC-20 tokens), SMS verification (Twilio), KYT (Scorechain), and KYC (Sumsub).

When you finish the preparation, install your crypto exchange using this detailed guide.

After the installation

Once you successfully complete the installation, your Binance-like exchange will start operating in basic mode. Let’s look at the main steps to effectively manage the exchange:

1. Save the file save_and_delete***.txt and its content.

After a successful installation, the file save_and_delete*.txt will be saved on the server. It contains important technical data necessary to manage the exchange. To open the file and save the data, enter the following commands in the console:

cd /app/opencex/backend/
ls

Find a file named save_and_delete***.txt and enter the following command:

cat <filename>

The file will open in the console; select and save it on your local computer. To delete the file, enter the command:

rm <filename>

The file contains blocks: bot info, admin info, BTC info, ETH info, BNB info, TRX info.

2. Log in to the admin panel.

To enter the admin area for the first time, you will need superadmin credentials. Go to the URL <your-exchange-domain.com>/ADMIN_BASE_URL, where ADMIN_BASE_URL is a parameter specified during the installation. Login to the admin panel will open. A detailed manual on what to do after the installation is here.

So, we have told you the main steps of building your cryptocurrency exchange. As you can see, you don’t need to have a crypto empire or to be Changpeng Zhao to create your own crypto exchange or the Binance clone script. Just read all the detailed guides that are published here.