I'm also reading lots of complaints on how long Binance takes to verify accounts. Is this an issue?
yes, when I made mine it said up to 14 days
I've looked at Binance several times now but I don't like the fact that I have to hook up a bank account directly (no e-transfer).
It likely works different here in the US. They create a bank account here in the US for the user at Prime Trust, which is a FDIC insured bank.
Please note binance.US is separate from the rest of the world, because here in the US we have stricter/different regulations.
I created an account with Kraken, and they did not require a bank account. However, I think they were going to charge me a fee for bank deposits and with drawls.
Every video, blog, and forum post out there tells you in no uncertain terms what a 'bad idea' it is to mine directly to an exchange, so I didn't even consider it.
There are number of downsides/upsides to mining to an exchange depending on perspective:
Reduced fees - Every transaction made before cash out is beneficial to large mining operations so they can make more $.
Reduced marketing - an entire ecosystem of wallets, services, and fees are simply avoided if you mine directly to the exchange. Far less people have a chance to sell you anything.
Greater chance of cash out - When you sell your coin for USD, your decrease demand by fulfilling supply. This decreases the over all value of the coin and harms whales / larger holders with a vested interest in the price increasing. Mining directly to exchange makes cash out easy.
Increased security - These exchanges incorporated in reputable countries run better security then you can. This makes it very difficult to steal your coin. If you keep your wallet on your computer, there are a number of drive by malware programs designed to empty it.
Increased usability - Coin mined directly to an exchange is almost never lost. Coin printed on a piece of paper is lost all the time. Remember, large holders want supply to be restricted so demand and price increase.
Elimination of privacy - mining directly to the exchange (government regulated and tracked) disallows criminal activity / tax evasion
Increased traceability - mining directly to the exchange makes ownership of your coin more accurately tracked from day 1, even if resold. If it is later used for criminal purposes, there are firm data points for tracing the money on the blockchain making it more difficult to hide criminal transactions. It effectively narrows the search window.
Ideological failure - The libertarian ideal of cryptocurrency is to get the government out of the money supply. Mining directly to the exchange is mining directly into the government controlled financial system.