Coinbase is a beginner-friendly US-based crypto exchange and wallet. With over 35 million users across 100+ countries, Coinbase is one of the biggest crypto platforms in the world.

The Coinbase platform is well designed and easy to use, making it one of the best options for the newbie to start buying their first cryptocurrency. All of the biggest crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple can be found on Coinbase, with more being regularly added.

Coinbase Referral Link 2021

One of the major benefits of signing up and creating a Coinbase account is the Coinbase referral offer. Users signing up to Coinbase and buying or selling with $100 will receive $10 of free Bitcoin, straight to their BTC wallet.

Coinbase Review

Fees

The fees that you pay with Coinbase will depend on the method of payment you choose and your location. The most expensive way to buy your crypto on the Coinbase exchange is via credit/debit card payments with a fee of 3.99%. This isn’t a way that I would personally recommend buying your crypto due to high fees associated. Although it may be one of the most convenient, and you are paying for this convenience.

Other types of buy and sell orders with Coinbase incur a fee of 1.49%. This doesn’t seem huge, but if you compare this to Binance Exchange’s 0.1% or even their own Coinbase Pro platform at 0.5% you are definitely paying over the odds here.

If you’d like to check out more information on Coinbase Pro you can click here. Another exchange is Binance, click here too!

Security

To use the Coinbase exchange, you access the site with a username and password plus any form of 2 factor authenticate you have associated. Coinbase is a centralised exchange and therefore has control over your cryptocurrencies with access to your private keys. This means you are entrusting a third party to look after and secure your coins.

Although Coinbase has not reportedly suffered an attack, there have been reports of Coinbase freezing user accounts. Therefore, I’d personally recommend not to keep your crypto in an exchange which is far more likely target for hackers. When you have finished trading, move your crypto to the safety of a wallet, such as the likes of a hardware wallet like a Ledger or a Trezor.

Support

Coinbase customer support is one of their biggest downfalls and has been heavily criticized on the likes of TrustPilot giving them a rating of “Poor”. Although I have never personally experienced any issues with Coinbase. I can see how frustrating it can be if something goes wrong or you need help. During crypto bull markets, Coinbase will have a surge of newbies signing up, and with more new users comes more complaints and customers needing help. So Coinbase has become a victim of their own success, and hopefully will be ready for the next Crypto bull market.

How to Sign-up to Coinbase

Coinbase sign-up process is very easy, but you will need to provide KYC (Know Your Customer). If you speak to any Bitcoin OGs they will tell you this is one of Coinbase´s biggest downfalls. But, if you want to buy the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum or Ripple quickly and safely, Coinbase is one of the best places to start.

Coinbase Pro

If you think you have the hang of buying and selling your crypto using Coinbase, you could try using the Coinbase Pro exchange. By using Coinbase Pro, you will reduce the fees on your crypto purchase to a 0.5% to 0% trading fee. Coinbase Pro is not for the newbie, but I wouldn’t shy away from it either. I have a tutorial below, that should help you get a better understanding of the platform. I recommend taking your time and start small, before going guns blazing.