Coinbase review

General Overview

• The easiest way to buy Bitcoin
• More than 30 million customers
• 30+ cryptocurrencies supported depending on region
• Bad support and customer service
• Website stops working when trading volume increases greatly

Coinbase is one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges. It started in 2012 and in the beginning it offered only buying and storing of Bitcoin. With time, Coinbase started adding more cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum and Litecoin. Overall, it is intuitive and easy to understand. Therefore, perfect for Bitcoin newcomers.

Key advantages of Coinbase include:

• The easiest way to Buy Bitcoin with credit/debit card
  Buying any cryptocurrency with a credit or debit card is super easy.
• USD wallet is covered by FDIC up to $250,000
  Only for US residents. Your USD money in Coinbase are covered by the FDIC.
• Very safe and secure exchange
  Coinbase is between the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world

Cryptocurrency support

Coinbase.com supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies, including:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Link (LINK)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Ripple (XRP)
• EOS
• 30+ other

The cryptocurrency support is rather low compared to exchanges like Binance. Moreover, Coinbase rarely adds new cryptocurrencies. Therefore, if you’re looking for the latest crypto coin, Coinbase.com is not your site.

Furthermore, the availability of certain cryptocurrencies and its fees depend on your country and payment method used.

Security

Coinbase is in the top 10 of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. This is according to a security research company CER. The following security features are in place:

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Deposits, withdrawals, and password changes need to be confirmed by phone or email
• Email and mobile notifications

Coinbase requires email and mobile phone confirmation before moving any money out of the account. The attacker must have access to your email and phone, simultaneously to be able to steal the money.

In addition, US customers have up to $250,000 coverage by FDIC, in case Coinbase gets hacked.

Country availability

Coinbase is currently available in more than 100 countries. However, only in the 37 countries listed below, users can buy or sell cryptocurrency.

• Andorra
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Guernsey
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Jersey
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• San Marino
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

All supported 100+ countries can securely send and receive cryptocurrencies. The Vault service is also available for these countries. This service is useful for securely storing big amounts of cryptocurrency.

Trade Volume

Coinbase is among the most popular exchanges, therefore having one of the biggest trade volumes. There are a lot of buyers and sellers, so you won’t have problems to make your orders.

However, when the trade volume gets too high, the Coinbase website tends to go down and stop working. As a result, you might not be able to buy or sell cryptocurrencies at that time. Fortunately, the outings typically last for several hours only.

Fees

The fees of Coinbase are relatively high compared to other cryptocurrency exchanges. They vary depending on your country and payment method used.

Buy and sell fees

Coinbase charges 2 fees for buying or selling cryptocurrency:

1. They take 0.5% spread of the current price of the cryptocurrency. It means you get 0.5% less coins. However, this fee stays hidden and you don’t see it in the transaction summary.
2. Additional fee or “Coinbase fee” depending on your country and payment method used.
   

   Deposit amount	Fee
   $1-10	$0.99
   $10-25	$1.49
   $25-50	$1.99
   $50-200	$2.99
   $200+	%1.49 or 3.99% Debit card buys – 3.99% SEPA Bank transfer – free US Bank account – 1.49% Coinbase USD Wallet – 1.49% ACH Transfer – free Wire transfer – $10

Withdrawal fees

• Instant Card Withdrawal – $0.55 + up to 2%(1.5% for US)
• SEPA Bank transfer – €0.15
• ACH Transfer – free
• Wire transfer – $25

Payment methods

Coinbase supports 9 different payment methods. The availability of the payment method and the operations allowed depend on your country. See the table below:

You can find more detailed information about the payment methods for each of the supported countries by Coinbase: United states, European union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore

Mobile app

Coinbase has a simple and easy to use mobile application. You can buy, sell, send and receive cryptocurrencies. It can also convert one type of cryptocurrency to another. Furthermore, the app supports automatic buy or sell of cryptocurrencies. In addition, you can set alerts when the price of a cryptocurrency reaches certain level.

With the Coinbase mobile app you can also view the current prices of the most famous cryptocurrencies.

There is a portfolio section in the app that displays all the currencies that your account has. It nicely displays the amount of your portfolio over time.

Finally, the Coinbase mobile app is available for both iOS and Android platforms.

Identity verification

Coinbase have 3 levels of identity verification. Each level allows you to use more features and with bigger amounts. However, the available features and limits depend on your country.

1. Phone number verification
2. ID document verification
3. Proof of Address

Interestingly, to enable sending and receiving cryptocurrencies you’ll need to complete all 3 levels of identity verification. This means providing your:

• mobile phone number
• picture of your national ID or drivers license
• Address document, like utility bill

You can also verify your phone number using the mobile app. However, if you want to complete the full account verification you’ll need to visit this page using your browser.

Summary

To sum up, Coinbase is one of the most famous exchanges in the world. It has relatively high fees, but the easy to use site and the excellent security makes up for them. Unfortunately, it supports only 40 crypto coins. Overall, it is perfect for beginners who want to quickly buy Bitcoin or 40 other cryptocurrencies.