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Coinbase is one of the world’s largest Bitcoin brokers, owned and operated by Coinbase Inc. The exchange is based in San Francisco and is fully licensed to carry out money-based transactions not only in the UK, EU and U.S. (registered as MSB with FinCEN), but also in other countries in the world. Additionally, the exchange also owns an eMoney License from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) in the UK.
Coinbase Exchange is fully compliant with various consumer protection laws, including The Bank Secrecy Act as well as the local money transmission laws and regulations within U.S. states. It is one of only a handful of cryptocurrency exchanges which protects customers’ digital assets with an insurance policy. This allows them to claim funds if the exchange loses its coins in cases of cyberattacks or any other security breach.
The following Coinbase review will look into several aspects of the exchange to provide you with an all-rounded and detailed overview. Although Cryptimi does its best to provide you with accurate and to up-to-date information, we strongly recommend for you visit Coinbase.com for any updates which might occur afterwards.
Disclaimer: Personalized $5 reward offer is displayed when users place their first trade. Limited time offer and while supplies last. Offer available to new users who have previously not created an account. Offer not available to new users who were referred to Coinbase through the Referral Program or who have previously opened an account using the different contact information. Coinbase may update the conditions for eligibility at any time, at its sole discretion. See Terms and Conditions.
Cryptocurrency is not regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is not subject to protection under the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme or within the scope of jurisdiction of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service. Investing in cryptocurrency comes with risk and cryptocurrency may gain in value, or lose some or all value. Capital gains tax may be applicable to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Disclaimer: Personalized £5 reward offer is displayed when users place their first trade. Limited time offer and while supplies last. Offer available to new users who have previously not created an account. Offer not available to new users who were referred to Coinbase through the Referral Program or who have previously opened an account using the different contact information. Coinbase may update the conditions for eligibility at any time, at its sole discretion. See Terms and Conditions.
Coinbase takes extensive security measures to protect customers’ funds. It states that it stores more than 98% of customers’ funds on offline cold storage wallets to protect them against potential thefts or hacks. Additionally, it offers an insurance policy to cover the losses that may occur as a result of employee theft or other kinds of security breaches.
To guarantee data privacy, all sensitive information (such as bank account numbers) provided by customers is stored only after it is encrypted using the AES-256 encryption.
Coinbase offers 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) to protect customers’ accounts from unauthorised access. In case you lose access to your account, Coinbase offers support to recover the account after verifying your identity. It is also possible to update your 2FA authentication device if the current device is lost or broken.
How does Coinbase compare to other trading platforms?
Your capital is at risk
81% of retail CFD accounts lose money
72% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Even though Coinbase allows its customers to buy or sell decentralized digital currencies, it functions as a centralized broker. The trading value of the cryptocurrencies is set at a fixed price by Coinbase and users have no control over it. Irrespective of this, many traders find this feature beneficial as it helps them to quickly complete their purchases when compared to the P2P or other kinds of trading platforms, such as LocalBitcoins.
With its user-friendly interface, Coinbase makes it easy for first-time buyers to quickly purchase Bitcoins or altcoins, without encountering any issues.
More advanced users might prefer using Coinbase Pro, which is a separate exchange offering advanced trading tools and data. Coinbase Pro is ideal for serial traders and has even started to introduce margin trading to select users.
Coinbase provides two types of wallets to store your cryptocurrencies: Standard Wallet and Vault.
The standard Coinbase wallet is ideal for storing a small number of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Coinbase will generate a new wallet address for every transaction or whenever the funds are moved between the wallet and cold storage.
To find your wallet address to deposit crypto in your Coinbase account, navigate to the Addresses page after logging on to your account. To receive cryptocurrency, you must provide the given wallet address. Similarly, you can also send cryptocurrency from your wallet to another Coinbase wallet or to an external wallet.
Generally, the standard wallet can be used to store the following cryptocurrencies: BTC, BCH, ETC, ETH, LTC and ZRX. Nevertheless, there might be some restrictions based on your geographical location. You should think of this wallet at your typical checking or current account at a bank.
The vault is the best option if you want to store a large number of digital currencies. Although, you can also use the vault to receive funds (like the standard wallet), but you would need to complete some additional security steps in order to withdraw funds from your vault.
Coinbase offers two types of vaults namely: Individual and Group. As the name implies, an individual vault requires only a single person’s approval to withdraw funds, whereas a group vault requires approval from 2 or more persons. Whichever type of vault is chosen, it will take at least 48 hours to withdraw funds. The vault can hold any currency supported by Coinbase and operates in a similar way to a savings account in a bank.
Last year, Coinbase had withdrawn the support for Multisig Vault so it is good to point out the fact that new members are unable to use this wallet.
You could also check out our other recommended crypto wallets in addition to Coinbase’s wallet services:
Coinbase offers two types of accounts for its users: Individual and Business.
To create an individual account on Coinbase, do the following:
After completing the captcha and agreeing to the terms, click the ‘Create Account’ button. You should receive a confirmation email from the Coinbase team. Click the activation link on that email to activate your Coinbase account.
To log in to your Coinbase account, follow the below steps:
Screenshots are shown for illustration purposes only. Actual product may vary.
You should next enter the 7-digit, 2-step verification code sent to your mobile phone and click the ‘Submit’ button. Should you wish, Coinbase gives you the option to select the checkbox “Don’t ask me for the code again for 30 days …” to disable the 2FA authentication for a month.
Since Coinbase strictly abides by the KYC/AML laws in the US and other jurisdictions, all users need to verify their identity by providing passport, driving license or other photo ID issued by their government. You should upload the documents via webcam, mobile camera or file upload because Coinbase will not accept scanned images or emailed copies of the documents.
While uploading the required documents, you should ensure that the entire ID is fully visible and the image is free of any distortions. Otherwise, it will not be accepted and you will have to resubmit. Once your ID is verified, you will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using your Coinbase account.
Apart from having a verified account, you can opt to provide additional documents in order to get a higher level account. The higher your account is, the higher the transaction limits are.
When buying digital currencies on Coinbase using credit or debit cards you can make instant purchases, whereas a bank transfer or SEPA payment will take 2 to 4 business days, depending on your location. Depending on your country of residence, you can purchase digital tokens using one or more fiat currency, such as USD, EUR, CAD, GBP and AUD. The fees for your purchases vary based on the payment method.
The following sections will explain how to purchase some of the major coins on Coinbase. Upon completing the steps you should receive the digital tokens in your wallet instantly. if you’ve opted for a card payment. Otherwise, the processing time varies depending on your bank.
Alternatively, please visit our Buy Litecoin Guide to learn more about how to buy LTC using different payment methods.
Follow the below steps to sell or cash out Bitcoin or other digital currencies on Coinbase.
Once your digital currency is sold, the funds will be automatically transferred to the chosen payment method.
Check out our recommended crypto casinos where you can deposit and play with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, once you withdraw from Coinbase:
Coinbase currently allows users to buy any of the following cryptocurrencies listed below:
Bitcoin (BTC) Ethereum (ETH) Ripple (XRP) Litecoin (LTC) Bitcoin Cash (BCH) EOS (EOS) Stellar Lumens (XLM) Ethereum Classic (ETC) Zcash (ZEC) Augor (REP) Dai (DAI) USD Coin (USDC) 0x (ZRX) and Basic Attention Token (BAT).
As we are writing this Coinbase review, the platform has recently introduced additional coins and tokens. These include:
In addition, the exchange supports a variety of other cryptocurrencies with certain restrictions. The full explanation of these exceptions can be found here.
Coinbase accepts users from more than 30 countries worldwide.
Buying, selling, and converting of cryptocurrencies is available only in the following countries:
United Kingdom, United States, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Almost all other countries are allowed to either buy cryptocurrencies, convert them or both, but not all can sell them for fiat currency. A full and updated list of country features can be found here.
If a country is not listed in the above section and link, then it is not possible to buy or sell cryptocurrency on Coinbase. Other kinds of services, such as fund transfer and Coinbase Vault are available to anyone located anywhere in the world. If your country is not listed, we recommend that you consider Coinmama.
Every cryptocurrency exchange will have its own fee structure and spending limits. No Coinbase review would be complete without this information.
Coinbase exchange does not charge any fee to store fiat or digital currencies on its wallet or to transfer cryptocurrency from your Coinbase account to any other wallet.
The exchange’s main fees are transactional. It will charge a flat fee or variable percentage fee, depending on your transaction amount, payment method and location. For US-based customers, Coinbase applies a 3.99% base rate on all exchange transactions.
Coinbase will always display the market price of a digital asset after adding a 0.50% or a spread of 50 basis points. For example, if the market price for Bitcoin was $6,000, then the price on Coinbase will be $6,030.
US, UK and EU: Standard Buy or Sell – 1.49%, Credit/Debit card (Instant Buy) – 3.99%
Australia: Credit or Debit Card Buys – 3.99% (Selling not allowed)
UK: Bank Wire – Free (Deposit), 1 GBP (Withdrawal)
EU: Bank Transfer (SEPA) – Free (Deposit); 0.15 EUR (Withdrawal)
US: ACH Transfer – Free (Deposit), Wire Transfer – $10 (Deposit); $25 (Withdrawal)
There are different levels in your Coinbase account and the buying or spending limits vary based on your level. For example, Level 2 members will be allowed to buy up to $25,000 per day using their bank account. Coinbase also allows customers to sell their full balance without any restrictions.
Navigate to the ‘Limits’ section on your account page to view your current level along with instructions to advance to the next level.
Coinbase provides different types of payment methods for its users based on their geographical location.
Coinbase also offers the opportunity to withdraw fiat currency to your PayPal account. This feature is currently only available in selected regions.
After selecting your desired payment method, it should be linked to your Coinbase account. Once you add the payment method, Coinbase will send two small verification amounts to your bank account or card. You should enter those two values correctly on the payment settings section of your Coinbase account. Only then, will the verification process for your payment method be completed.
Coinbase exchange aims to provide maximum protection to customers’ accounts by enforcing several security factors like two-factor authentication (2FA), device verification, and strong passwords. By default, 2FA is enabled for all transactions and the user can opt to receive the authentication code via SMS or using the authenticator apps like Google Authenticator and Authy.
The exchange uses the concept of device verification to eliminate cyber-attacks. When you create your new Coinbase account from a computer or mobile device, it will store the IP address of the device. In the future, if any attempt is made to log into your account from other devices, you will receive an email notification. You should click the confirmation link on that email to authorise your new device.
With regard to the password, Coinbase requires you to create an extremely strong password during the account creation process. It’s good to point out that it will not accept a weak password.
In case you experience any issues with your account, you can contact the Coinbase Customer Support via email or phone. Coinbase has two separate lines, one for its UK-based customers and the other for US/International customers. The phone support is available for 24/7, 365 days a year.
Alternatively, you can ask general account related questions to the Coinbase support bot called Ada, to get quick answers. You also have the option to create and submit a request using the form available on the Support page of their website, by simply clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Customers can also ask questions on Reddit, as Coinbase has created an exclusive subreddit (r/Coinbase) especially for them. Due to security reasons, Coinbase users are advised to never ask specific questions about their personal account or data on Reddit.
To buy or sell cryptocurrencies on the go, you can download the Coinbase mobile app which is available for both iOS and Android platforms, whether you are an Apple or Android user.
Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and is constantly developing new or improved services. The best way to find out the latest information about its new features is to check out its blog, which can be accessed from the bottom of this page. You should also check out the exchange’s social media pages, as any updated will most probably be shared there first.
Coinbase exchange is an excellent choice for novice traders as they can buy and sell cryptocurrencies much faster than with other exchanges. Moreover, funds are easily stored and access, through an in-built, multi-currency wallet, secured by state-of-the-art security and an insurance policy. Coinbase ranks amongst the best-performing reputable exchanges, and it is easy to see why.
With Bitcoin in your account, enter the destination wallet address and proceed with the transaction.
In your Coinbase account, go on the ‘Activity’ page and click on the ‘Close Account’ button.
To transfer Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from Coinbase you need to input the destination wallet address and follow the exchange’s instructions.
Coinbase is a highly secure cryptocurrency exchange which is regulated and which insures user funds.
Coinbase operates in a very competitive market and keeps upcoming developments secret until they are released. It is very hard to guess which coin will next be added to the exchange.
A multifaceted London-based cryptocurrency exchange, CEX.io was launched in 2013. This exchange supports FIAT payments and has offers both personal and corporate accounts. Read this review to learn more.
One of the world's oldest Bitcoin brokerage services, Coinmama has its headquarters situated in Slovakia. It accepts buyers from around the globe and has 8 of the most popular cryptocurrencies to choose from, including ADA & XRP.