Coinbase Review

In this extensive Coinbase review, you’ll learn how this popular centralized exchange works and what its main trading and investing products are. We’ll also discuss its trading fees, supported coins, and payment methods. In addition to that, you’ll learn how Coinbase One, Coinbase Advanced, and Coinbase Prime differ and which is the best option for you.

To make an unbiased review, we created an account on Coinbase and tested its main services and features, which helped us single out its main advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, you’ll find out how Coinbase fares against its main competitors, like Binance and MEXC, in terms of supported coins, deposit methods, trading fees, and products.

Without further ado, here’s what you need to know about Coinbase:

What is Coinbase?

Coinbase is a centralized crypto exchange. It was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, making it one of the oldest crypto exchanges. At the time of writing, Coinbase is the third-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume, right behind ByBit and Binance. This centralized exchange was initially headquartered in San Francisco, California. However, in 2020, it became a remote-first company, meaning it no longer has a home base.

Coinbase boasts 120 million users and is available in over 100 countries, including the US. However, some services may be limited or unavailable in certain states. For example, USD wallets are available only in 22 US states.

Is Coinbase Secure?

Coinbase has faced several compliance challenges in the past. For example, in 2023, the exchange reached a $100 million settlement with the NYDFS to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program.

That same year, Coinbase was fined $3.6 million by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) for operating in the Netherlands without registration, and $5 million for selling unregistered securities to New Jersey residents. This is why its staking services are restricted in several US states. For example, California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Wisconsin residents won’t be able to stake a new principal, while the staking service is unavailable to New York residents.

Coinbase was also a victim of several cyberattacks. In 2021, hackers stole funds from 6,000 Coinbase users by bypassing its SMS-based two-factor authentication system. In 2022, Jared Ferguson sued Coinbase after losing $96,000 due to a SIM-swap attack. However, Coinbase refused to issue a refund, stating that its users are solely responsible for the security of their 2FA codes, emails, and passwords.

The aforementioned hacking incidents have led many people to question whether Coinbase is a safe platform. The short answer is still yes. Although Coinbase, like many other crypto exchanges, is not immune to cyberattacks, the platform uses advanced security measures to protect your funds.

It utilizes 2-factor authentication (with security key support), password protection, and multi-approval withdrawals. Coinbase also stores the majority of user funds in offline multi-signature crypto wallets. However, you’ll be able to additionally secure your crypto holdings by storing them in a separate account called the Coinbase Vault. Coinbase Vault, which enables you to set time-delayed withdrawals and multi-signature approvals.

Coinbase Supported Coins and Trading Pairs

Coinbase supports 300+ cryptocurrencies and 444 active trading pairs, as well as all EVM-compatible networks, from Solana and Arbitrum to BNB Chain and Polygon. You can use it to trade popular coins, like BTC, ETH, and SOL, and hot meme coins, like PEPE, BONK, and PENGU.

Many traders tend to invest in new coins that could be listed on Coinbase to take advantage of the so-called Coinbase Effect. Namely, the prices of new cryptocurrencies often increase significantly within the first few days after getting listed on Coinbase.

Coinbase Trading and Investing Products

When it comes to trading services, Coinbase supports spot, derivatives, and margin trading, which we’ll discuss in more detail in the following segment.

Coinbase Spot and Margin Trading

You’ll get to trade 550+ spot pairs, including popular coins like BTC, ETH, and SOL, as well as fiat trading pairs, like USD, EUR, and GBP, 237 USDC, and 22 stablecoin pairs. However, due to MiCA regulations, European users can’t trade using stablecoins like USDT, DAI, PAX, PYUSD, and GUSD.

In 2020, Coinbase disabled its margin trading service in the US due to new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) guidelines. However, you can trade with margin on the Coinbase International Exchange, which is available to non-US institutions in select jurisdictions.

Coinbase Derivatives

You can explore the world of derivatives by trading more than 150 perpetual and futures contracts. On that note, US traders can trade commodity contracts and Coinbase 50 Index perpetual futures (COIN50-PERP). On the other hand, users outside of the US, UK, and Canada also have access to Coinbase’s pre‑launch markets.

What we liked the most while testing this platform was its rewards. Namely, if you use USDC as collateral for your perpetual futures, you can earn up to 12% APY.

Coinbase recently launched 24/7 trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, making it the first CFTC-regulated exchange to do so. The exchange also plans to expand its 24/7 trading list to SOL and XRP.

Coinbase Earn

Coinbase allows you to generate passive income through its Earn service. That said, you can stake 131 assets, such as ETH, SOL, ADA, AVAX, DOT, and ATOM, to earn up to 14% APY. You can also boost your staking rewards by becoming a Coinbase One member. Coinbase doesn’t charge fees for staking or unstaking. However, the platform will keep up to 35% of your staking rewards. This fee is lower for eligible Coinbase One members, at 31.75%.

The rewards are generated daily for DOT, every 3 days for ETH and XTZ, every 5 days for ADA, SOL, and POL, and every 7 days for ATOM. As we mentioned earlier in our Coinbase review, the staking service is unavailable to New York residents, while CA, MD, NJ, and WI residents will not be able to stake the new principal.

Coinbase One Review

Coinbase One is a monthly subscription that gives you exclusive benefits, such as zero trading fees on simple trades, boosted USDC rewards, account protection against losses resulting from account takeovers, and more. You can choose between three tiers – Basic, Preferred, and Premium:

• Basic – $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year
• Preferred – $29.99 per month or $299.88 per year
• Premium – $299.99 per month (no annual plan)

Coinbase One is available in 42 countries, including the US. You can pay for your Coinbase One subscription using multiple payment options, from bank accounts (US only) to debit cards, PayPal (US and EU only), fiat, and crypto (BTC, ETH, ADA, SOL, COSMOS, ATOM, and DOT).

Coinbase Advanced

As its name suggests, Coinbase Advanced (ex Coinbase Pro) is a trading platform tailored for experienced traders and those who want to improve their trading style. This platform is powered by advanced TradingView charts that use RSI, EMA, MACD, MA, and Bollinger Bands indicators, enabling you to analyze the crypto market more precisely. You’ll also be able to unlock real-time market data and customize your trading page to suit your trading style.

Coinbase Advanced users can trade 550+ spot pairs and 150+ perpetuals and futures contracts. You’ll also earn 12% USDC rewards on your perpetuals portfolio. Coinbase Advanced is free to use. I.e., you won’t have to pay a subscription fee like you would with Coinbase One. You’ll only need to cover the standard maker and taker fees. Moreover, VIP traders (those whose monthly trading volume exceeds $500k) can qualify for a 60-day fee upgrade.

Coinbase Prime

Coinbase Prime is a platform tailored for institutional investors and large-scale traders. It offers integrated trading, financing, and custody solutions. The platform aggregates multi-venue liquidity, meaning you’ll get to connect to some of the largest crypto exchanges instead of relying on a single venue. You’ll also be able to allocate your trades to multiple portfolios.

What we particularly liked about Coinbase Prime is that it allows you to view charts and prices for 200+ cryptocurrencies and 300 trading pairs, customize your order entries, and view specific execution metrics. In addition to that, you can earn passive income with agency lending. Keep in mind that Coinbase Prime is not free. You’ll have to pay a $1,000 fee to set up a Coinbase Prime account.

Coinbase Wallet

In this segment of our Coinbase review, we’ll discuss its native wallet. Coinbase Wallet is a non-custodial hot wallet that supports 10,000+ digital assets, all ERC-20 tokens, and all EMV-compatible networks. However, we noticed that the wallet doesn’t support XRP, BCH, ETC, or XLM. On a positive note, this Web 3 wallet comes with an in-app decentralized exchange DEX that supports tokens hosted on the BNB Chain, Ethereum blockchain, Avalanche C-Chain, and Polygon network, which means you’ll be able to swap tokens within each of these networks.

The key security features of Coinbase Wallet include token approval alerts, transaction previews, dApp blocklist, and spam token management. Coinbase wallet is available as a mobile app (Android and iOS) and a browser extension (Chrome). The extension is compatible with Ledger hardware wallets (Ledger Nano X and Nano S Plus).

Since July 2025, the Coinbase wallet has been in the process of being rebranded to Base App. The app is powered by Farcaster, a protocol that facilitates creating and connecting to social media apps. This means that its users will be able to buy, sell, and swap tokens directly within the social feed. The app will also enable instant payments via Base Pay. At the time of writing, the Base app is available in beta, while its official launch date is yet to be announced.

Coinbase Card

In 2019, Coinbase launched a debit card (Visa) that automatically converts cryptocurrencies into local currencies. What makes this card stand out is its rewards. For example, you can earn up to 4% Bitcoin back on every purchase.

This card is available to all U.S. users (with the exception of Hawaii), and to residents of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

Coinbase Card is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, which means that you’ll be able to use your mobile phone to make purchases. The card comes with zero transactions and monthly fees. However, you may be charged fees by your ATM operator.

Coinbase Fees

Compared to the lowest-fee crypto exchanges, Coinbase charges relatively high spot trading fees, which start at 0.40% for makers and 0.60% for takers, while trading fees for futures amount to 0% for makers and 0.03% for takers. Moreover, Coinbase charges a 5% asset recovery fee on amounts over $100, and a 1% fee on all crypto payments received.

You won’t have to pay a deposit fee if you use crypto, while fiat deposits come with the following fees:

• ACH – Free
• Swift (GBP) – Free
• Wire (USD) – $10
• SEPA (EUR) – €0.15

The withdrawal fees depend on the blockchain and payment method. On that note, ACH and SEPA withdrawals are free, while Wire and SWIFT withdrawals stand at $25 and £1, respectively.

Coinbase Payment Methods

Coinbase supports a wide range of payment methods, from debit cards to bank transfers and mobile wallets. Here’s a list of accepted payment methods, based on your country:

• US customers: Debit cards, bank accounts (ACH), PayPal, and mobile wallets (Apple Pay and Google Pay).
• EU customers: SEPA, iDeal, PayPal, 3D Secure Card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
• UK customers: 3D Secure Card, Easy Bank Transfer, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
• Canadian customers: EFT bank transfer, 3D Secure Card, and PayPal.

Is Coinbase User-Friendly?

Yes, in our best crypto exchanges guide, we rated Coinbase as the top option for beginners. As mentioned before, Coinbase offers a native mobile app and a browser extension. To create an unbiased Coinbase app review, we downloaded Coinbase on both our PC and mobile phone.

The mobile app has an intuitive interface and a clean dashboard that will enable you to quickly access key functions, such as buying, selling, and receiving crypto. You can also switch to Advanced mode to gain access to advanced trading tools and technical indicators.

The browser extension is also user-friendly, although we noticed a few flaws. First of all, it’s less optimized than its mobile counterpart. Secondly, it tends to crash from time to time. Lastly, the web extension is currently only available for Chrome, which excludes privacy-friendly browsers like Firefox and Brave.

Where is Coinbase Available?

Coinbase is available in more than 100 countries, including the US, Canada, and the UK. Thanks to its MiCA compliance, the platform offers its products and services in 27 EU countries, such as Austria, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Due to regulatory issues and international sanctions, Coinbase is restricted in the following countries:

• Iran
• Cuba
• United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• Russia
• India
• Pakistan
• Bangladesh
• Philippines
• South Africa
• Colombia

Coinbase Customer Support

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Coinbase platform is probably its customer support team, which takes a long time to respond. We also noticed that the team often offers generic responses. This is understandable, given that Coinbase has over 120 million users.

Coinbase is obviously aware of this, which is why it offers a Help Center page where you can find answers to all important questions, such as how to manage your account and how to add a payment method. You can also use the search bar to find an answer to a specific question.

You can reach its customer support via live chat or by requesting a call (1888-908-7930). We recommend using the live chat for minor issues, as you’ll usually get a quicker response. The phone support channel is sometimes unavailable, plus Coinbase tends to disconnect the call after a long wait.

Keep in mind that Coinbase’s phone support team doesn’t make outgoing calls. If you receive a call from someone claiming to work for Coinbase, it may be a scam.

Coinbase Alternatives

You can probably conclude from our Coinbase review that this platform is suitable for both beginners and advanced traders. However, due to its relatively high trading fees and limited number of supported assets, Coinbase is not the best option for day traders.

That said, if you’re into spot trading, we recommend MEXC since it offers zero maker fees for spot trading. Moreover, MEXC supports over 2,000 tradable coins and tokens, which makes it ideal for day traders. On the other hand, if you want to trade options, you should opt for Binance. OKX is best known for its futures copy trading and spot copy trading services, while Margex is the best option for anonymous traders as it doesn’t require KYC verification.

Here’s how Coinbase compares to MEXC, Binance, OKX, and Margex:

How to Get Started With Coinbase

In this segment of our Coinbase exchange review, we’ll show you how to open an account on this centralized exchange.

Step 1. Visit Coinbase’s Official Website

Go to Coinbase’s official website and tap the Sign up button located in the upper right corner of the screen. Select the Personal icon

Step 2. Enter Your Personal Information

Enter your email address and tap Continue. Coinbase will send you a 6-digit verification code, which you’ll have to enter to continue the registration process. After entering the code, create a password and tap Continue.

Next, you need to enter your first and last name and phone number, and tap Continue. You’ll receive an SMS verification code. Enter the code and tap Continue. Check the box to confirm that you are 18 or older and tap Submit.

Step 3. Verify Your Account

Select your citizenship and enter your city and country of birth. Upload your identity documents (driver’s license, identification card, passport) and proof of address documents (bank statement, credit card statement, utility bill). Tap Submit.

Step 4. Link a Payment Method

Sign in to Coinbase, select your profile icon, go to Settings, and navigate to Payment methods. Select Add a payment method and choose your preferred payment method.

Step 5. Start Trading

Click on the Buy button and select the coin you wish to purchase. Enter the amount you wish to buy and select your preferred payment option. Click on the Buy now icon to complete your purchase.

FAQs

Ihssan El Medkouri

SEO Content Editor

Ihssan is a dedicated Content Editor at Cryptonews, where she excels in producing well-researched, insightful content. She has made notable contributions to the cryptocurrency industry, including writing and editing comprehensive cryptocurrency whitepapers, creating engaging token presentations, and playing a key role in the launch of new currencies.

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