Coinbase Review

coinbase.com
Best overall
Best overall
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Written by:
Calendar
Written on:
22 September 2022
Date
Last edit:
29 September 2023
Our rating:
8.72

8.72

Trading cryptocurrencies is a risky and speculative process, therefore approach it with caution.

Main summary

Founded in 2012, Coinbase is one of the leading crypto exchanges available in the market today. This American company has managed to grow around the world and become a very trustworthy crypto exchange for millions of investors. 

This crypto exchange supports over 100 digital currencies for trading and the number is growing constantly. Over the years, it has managed to attract over 73 million users globally. One of the biggest advantages is that Coinbase offers clients an original platform which can be a great option for beginners, as well as a pro version, which can be better for experienced crypto traders.

The crypto exchange is a great choice for those looking for convenience and for those who want to quickly convert one digital asset into another. But, what exactly is Coinbase, and why should you use this crypto exchange? Follow our Coinbase review to learn more.

Here Are the Pros and Cons of Coinbase

  • Beginner-friendly crypto exchange
  • Supports over 100+ crypto assets
  • Coinbase Pro offers lower fees
  • Available in numerous countries
  • Higher fees when compared to other exchanges
  • Lacks access to some altcoins

Coinbase fact sheet

Main features
Regulations Australia, Germany, Singapore, UK, US
Fees on deposits $0 for ACH. Wire transfers cost 10 USD, SEPA transfers cost 0.15 EUR
Fees on withdrawals $0 for ACH, Wire withdrawal costs 25 USD, SEPA withdrawal costs 0.15 EUR
Inactivity fees $0
Withdrawal fee amount $0
Minimum account activation $50
Deposit limit $25,000 a day through ACH deposits and no limits on crypto deposits
Withdrawal limit $100,000 per day for both fiat and crypto
Number of available crypto 150+
Built-in wallet -
Demo account Yes
Security
Own wallet Yes
Crime insurance Yes All USD blances are protected by FDIC insurance for up to 250,000 USD
Stores users assets on cold wallets Yes98% of users assets are stored in cold wallets
Multi-factor authentication Yes
Fees and limits
Crypto transaction fees 1% fee on all crypto transactions
Maker/Taker fees 0.5% These fees go down as your trading volume increases
Trading limits on BTC, ETH, USDT No Limits
Deposit/withdrawal
Deposit options AHC, SWITF, Wire, Debit Card, PayPal
Withdrawal options AHC, SWITF, Wire, Debit Card, Instant cashouts to bank account
Supported fiat currencies USD, EUR, GBP
Trading features
Margin up to 1:3
Futures trading Yes
Crypto staking Yes Supports 6 crypto stakings including ETH, SOL, ADA
Direct crypto swap Yes
OTC desk Yes
Automated trading bot - Supports third-party bots
Website
Number of available languages Inc. English, Spanish Portugues, Japanese
Available customer support options Email, Hotline, Live chat
KYC verification time 2-3 minutes
Active promotions New users recieve 5 USD on their first crypto purchase. Rewards are given in form of BTC
Education
Basic crypto guides Yes
Video guides -
Market news Yes
Special research tools Yes
Mobile trading
iOS and Android Yes
Basic and professional apps -
Most features available on mobile -
Show all

How Secure Is Coinbase?

The security and safety of their funds are among the top priorities for crypto traders around the world. There are several things that crypto exchanges can do to guarantee the highest safety and security of their client's funds.

Coinbase is a crypto exchange that has a very long history in the crypto industry. Over the years, it has managed to become one of the safest service providers in the market. But, how did this come about?

First, Coinbase is one of the crypto exchanges that is licensed and regulated in numerous jurisdictions around the world. This gives Coinbase the opportunity to ensure that its clients are kept safe at all times. 

Here is the list of regulatory bodies that have given out a license to Coinbase:

  • FinCEN of the US
  • Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany
  • Financial Conduct Authority of the UK
  • AusTRAC of Australia

Having so many licenses gives Coinbase the opportunity to offer trading services to investors around the world. 

Security measures adopted by Coinbase

To further ensure the safety and security of its clients, there are several security measures that Coinbase has adopted. These measures support the safety and security of the clients and ensure that even if something goes wrong, the exchange is able to support its clients. 

Coinbase offers traders the opportunity to become a member of a special crime insurance fund. Thanks to this fund, in the case of hacking or other third-party intervention that can cause investors to lose funds, they have the opportunity to retrieve the money lost or at least part of it.

There is a two-factor authentication required for traders whenever they try to log in to their accounts from a different location or a new device. This can ensure that traders keep their accounts safe and ensure that others do not get access to the account.

Another very important measure that the crypto exchange has taken is the fact that it uses cold storage to save the majority of the assets owned by its clients. In fact, over 98 percent of the assets are stored using cold storage. This is a very important measure ensuring the highest security of clients’ assets.

In addition to this, the crypto exchange also maintains special crypto insurance. Thanks to this, all the USD balance on your account is covered by FDIC insurance for up to $250,000.

What Can You Trade On Coinbase?

There are thousands of assets available for trading on Coinbase. Among them, traders can find Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and thousands of others. In total, there are over 3,000 crypto assets and pairs available for traders on Coinbase. 

coinbase crypto trading.png

Such a diverse array of offerings ensures that investors of any type can find something that they are looking for easily. It will let traders make the most out of their trading activities and allow them to invest in what they want to trade the most. 

You can trade using the strategy that works best for you. Whether you want to invest in cryptos long-term, or make quick profits by opening and closing numerous positions throughout the day, you can do so on Coinbase. 

Among the crypto assets that can be traded on Coinbase, you can find:

  • Bitcoin;
  • Ethereum;
  • Avalanche;
  • Cardano; 
  • USD Coin;
  • Dogecoin;
  • Solana;
  • Polygon;
  • Tether.

This is just a short list of the crypto assets that are available on Coinbase. There are many others that traders can invest in. If you want to have a highly diversified portfolio of crypto investments, Coinbase is a great option for you. 

It should also be noted that depending on the crypto assets that you are trading, there will be different restrictions regarding the minimum and maximum withdrawal amounts applied. Also, some of the coins available on Coinbase can only be traded for certain fiat currencies, for example, the US dollar, or converted to only several other cryptocurrencies. 

Depending on your location, Coinbase can also have additional restrictions regarding which coins you can access for trading. For example, PlayDapp can only be traded with fiat pairs with the USD.

Coinbase Fees & Commissions

When working on this Coinbase review, we found that the crypto exchange uses the maker-taker fee model. This is used to determine how much trading fees are charged during the opening and closing of buy or sell orders. 

This model works by charging different fees to those that are liquidity providers (maker orders) and liquidity takers (taker orders). According to this method, the fees are calculated based on the current pricing tier that you are in when placing the order, rather than the tier you are in after the trade is completed. 

If you place an order during the market condition when it is getting filled immediately you are a taker, and this means that the fee that you will have to pay will be between 0.04% and 0.5%.

On the other hand, if you place an order and it is not met immediately, the order is being placed on the order book. Once another trader opens a position that matches yours, you will be considered a taker, and the fee will be between 0% and 0.50%.

As we have already mentioned, the fees also depend on the pricing tier. Below, you can check out the table showing different pricing tiers and commissions charged.

Pricing TierTaker FeeMaker Fee
$0 - 10k0.50%0.50%
$10K - 50k0.35%0.35%
$50K - 100k0.25%0.15%
$100K - 1M0.20%0.10%
$1M - 10M0.18%0.08%
$10M - 20M0.18%0.08%
$20M - 50M0.15%0.05%
$50M - 100M0.15%0.05%
$100M - 300M0.10%0.02%
$300M - 500M0.08%0.00%
$500M - 750M0.06%0.00%
$750M - 1B0.05%0.00%
$1B - 2B0.04%0.00%
$2B +0.04%0.00%

The taker fee is also based on the total amount of the USD trading volume over the past 30-day period. 

Miner fees

The crypto exchange also charges additional miner fees, depending on their estimate of the network transaction fees. The miner fee is charged by the crypto exchange to ensure the clients are able to take care of their transactions in reasonable processing times.

Coinbase Trading Features

When it comes to trading on Coinbase you can expect a lot of features. Coinbase is one of the best exchanges to use for trading purposes.

Traders on Coinbase can use the spot trading feature for day trading. This is when you are purchasing the cryptos for the spot price from makers who have futures orders in place. Coinbase traders are also able to trade with futures and margins to further maximize their gains.

You can also stake 6 tokens on Coinbase to earn APYs on them. The tokens which are currently available for staking on Coinbase are Ethereum, Alogard, Cosmos, Tezos, Solana, and Cardano. But be aware that while staking your crypto it is locked and not available for you to trade with. In order to gain access to them, you have to unstake them and it can take a few days depending on for how long you locked them up.

Coinbase also has a good peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform where buyers and sellers can directly talk with each other and sell/buy crypto at the price they both see advantageous. Along with this Coinbase also has an OTC (Over The Counter) desk which facilitates larger transactions in an instant buy, this removes the possibility of slippages.

Lastly, if you don’t have enough time to trade or are an inexperienced trader you can always use automated trading bots on Coinbase. Coinbase does not provide a native trading bot and because of that, we will need to connect third-party trading bots using our private API keys.

The Website of Coinbase

When working on this review of Coinbase, we wanted to focus on many aspects of it to provide you with the full picture. After going through the website, we were able to find out that it has a lot to offer its clients.

The website of Coinbase is chock-full of important and detailed information about the exchange. There is also a special FAQ section created for Coinbase clients. This section can be very useful for traders who want to learn more about the services that Coinbase has to offer.

In addition to this, you can find detailed information about the available channels to connect the customer support representatives of the crypto exchange. The design of the website is highly intuitive, which makes finding any type of information very easy.

Research and Education

When it comes to becoming a successful crypto trader, it is very important to have access to high-quality educational material in order to get more accustomed to the market. The more you know about the market, the easier it is for you to make the right call when needed.

Coinbase education.png

Coinbase is one of the crypto exchanges that offer clients a wide range of educational opportunities. On the website of the crypto exchange, you can find a special section called Learn.

Under this section, you will be able to access all the available educational material that is offered by the exchange. This includes simple guides about the crypto trading market, explaining the basics of how crypto works. 

There are numerous video guides where professionals explain the market and the way it works in great detail. Offering traders so many educational opportunities had a huge impact on our Coinbase rating. 

The videos that you can find on Coinbase are full of details about the market and can be very beneficial for novice and experienced clients alike. 

Pros & cons of Coinbase education

ProsCons
Offers detailed guides on crypto basic termsNo crypto trading course
Offers news and analysis of crypto processes 
Offers video guides on the crypto market 

Customer Support of Coinbase

The customer support team is always available to provide much-needed help to traders. There are several channels through which you can contact customer support representatives. 

While there is no live chat option available on Coinbase, you can still receive help in a very timely manner. You can contact customer support through email. Depending on the topic you need help with, there are different emails to use. You can check out the addresses on Coinbase’s website.

If you prefer to call customer support, you can use these phone numbers: 

  • For USA or international clients - +1 (888) 908-7930
  • For UK clients - +44 808 168 4635
  • For Irish clients - 1800 200 355

You can also fill out the customer support form from the website of the exchange. Here, you will provide detailed information about the type of support you need. After doing so, you will send over the form and wait for the crypto exchange representatives to get back to you through your email.

Mobile Trading Experience on Coinbase

The mobile application of Coinbase is very user-friendly and easy to use. The mobile application is very intuitive and can be very easily used by even those with almost no experience in the market. 

The application is available on both iOS and Android devices. It offers crypto investors the opportunity to analyze the market and buy, sell, or hold crypto assets according to their own individual needs.

Steps to Get Started On Coinbase

While getting started on Coinbase is not a tiring process, it does take some time. There are several easy steps that you have to follow to open an account with this exchange. 

Step 1: Choose your platform

Your first step is to decide which type of crypto trader you are. Coinbase offers traders two different options - the regular Coinbase platform, and Coinbase pro. The biggest difference between the two is the user interface. 

In general, the Coinbase platform is a bit cleaner and easier to use than the pro version and offers traders the opportunity to easily buy and sell crypto assets. 

It is a great choice for beginner traders who do not want to spend time looking at data that does not mean much to them. On the other hand, the pro platform is created for highly-skilled traders and gives clients access to advanced charting and trading options. This account gives traders full control over their positions and decisions.

Spet 2: Open an account

Opening an account on Coinbase should not take traders a lot of time. It is actually quite an easy process. You can register both on the website of Coinbase or use the mobile app on your phone.

Coinbase account.png

After clicking the Get Started button on the website of the exchange, you will be redirected to the page shown above. You will first provide basic information about yourself and after this, you will be transferred to another page.

Step 3: Verify your account

Once you have created an account, it is time for you to verify it. The verification process is very simple and easy and should not take more than a day. All you have to do is to upload a government-issued ID and take a photo with the app or on the website of the exchange to verify your identity.

Step 4: Deposit funds & trading

After your account is verified, you will be able to add funds to your balance. There are numerous payment solutions available for the clients of Coinbase. This includes bank accounts, ACH payments, debit/credit card payments, wire transfers, e-wallets, and others.

Once you have deposited funds into your account, you will be able to start buying and selling cryptocurrencies. You can buy any of the available coins on the platform. You can also hold these crypto assets thanks to the Coinbase wallet.

Conclusion

After a detailed overview of the services Coinbase can offer, we are able to recommend this crypto exchange to our readers. There are a lot of services offered by the exchange and over 3,000 crypto assets to choose from. 

Coinbase is largely focused on ensuring the highest comfort for its clients. Because of this, we believe that it is one of the best crypto exchanges available in the market today.

FAQs on Coinbase

Can I trust Coinbase?

Yes, you can absolutely trust Coinbase. This is one of the safest and most secure crypto exchanges available in the market. It is licensed in several jurisdictions around the world and has managed to create a very safe environment for its clients by adopting numerous policies.

How do I withdraw money from Coinbase?

In order to withdraw funds from your account, you click “Cash Out” from your account menu. After this, you choose the amount of money you want to withdraw and choose the transfer destination. After you make your choices, you simply click on “Preview Cash Out” and make sure everything is correct. After this, simply click “Cash Out” and you are done.