On Binance's spot market, you won't find a simple "Buy BTC" button. Instead, you'll see pairs like "BTC/USDT," "ETH/BTC," and "BNB/USDT." These are trading pairs, and understanding them is the foundation of token swaps.
Basic Structure of a Trading Pair
A trading pair is written as A/B, meaning you use coin B to buy or sell coin A.
- A = Base currency — the coin you want to trade
- B = Quote currency — the coin you use to pay or receive
For example, BTC/USDT means you're buying or selling BTC using USDT. When you hit "Buy" on this pair, you're spending USDT to get BTC. When you hit "Sell," you're selling BTC in exchange for USDT.
Common Quote Currencies
The most commonly used quote currencies on Binance include:
- USDT: The most popular — the vast majority of coins have a /USDT pair, and prices are intuitive (close to USD)
- USDC: Another USD-pegged stablecoin with plenty of trading pairs
- BTC: Some altcoins have /BTC pairs, handy for users who already hold Bitcoin and want to swap directly
- BNB: Binance's native token, used as a quote currency for some pairs
Beginners should start by looking at USDT-denominated pairs only, since USDT is pegged to the US dollar and makes it easy to judge price movements.
How to Quickly Find a Trading Pair
On the Binance App's trading page, there's a search box in the upper-left corner. Just type the name of the coin you want to buy. For example, searching "SOL" will show all available pairs like SOL/USDT, SOL/BTC, and so on.
The web version works the same way — search in the trading pair list on the left side of the trading page. You can also filter by tabs like "USDT," "BTC," or "BNB" to find pairs with a specific quote currency.
One Coin Can Have Multiple Trading Pairs
For example, ETH has multiple pairs on Binance: ETH/USDT, ETH/BTC, ETH/BNB, and more. Which one to choose depends on what you're holding:
- Holding USDT → pick ETH/USDT
- Holding BTC and want to swap directly for ETH → pick ETH/BTC
Different pairs have different liquidity levels. Generally, /USDT pairs have the deepest order books and the smallest slippage. If you just signed up for Binance and are ready to start trading, sticking with USDT pairs will keep things simple.