Coinbase is a secure platform to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like BTC, ETH, and more. Based in the USA, Coinbase is available in over 30 countries worldwide.
Information
Get your Coinbase bitcoin wallet. Your free Coinbase bitcoin wallet beside a strong design. Coinbase Exchange does not offer anything special. Reduced trade fees for a limited time are currently its strongest feature. But it lacks functionalities that most traders would require.
Coinbase Bitcoin Wallet
In 2012, Coinbase introduced as a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States. It currently has its headquarter in San Francisco, California. It launched Coinbase bitcoin wallet and Coinbase Exchange in January 2015.
Exchange
Coinbase is well known for not supporting any cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin. Despite the fact that even Litecoin creator Charlie Lee works at the exchange.
In future, Litecoin support will added to the exchange. Then, it would still leave limited trading possibilities with just two coins to trade-in. Coinbase Exchange is only available in U.S. states and limited to USD.
Coinbase Exchange is a new platform. The bid-ask spread on BTC/USD is relatively low at about 30 basis points. This is helped by the fact that the new exchange does not charge any trading fees until the start of April this year. Afterward, a fee of 25 basis points will be charged.
Without these low fees, Coinbase Exchange would not be very attractive at all. Besides limited cryptocurrencies to trade in, margin trading/short selling is not available. Either and the available order types are disappointing as well. The platform supports limit orders but does not include market orders and advanced order types such as stop-loss orders.
Funding
Funding an account with fiat currencies, there are few options available. Users can choose to do an ACH transfer which is cheap but slow. Additional funding options will available after overall availability of the exchange increases.
Compliance
The United States-based exchange Coinbase announced In 2012. And in April 2013, firstly registered as a Money Services Business with (FinCEN).
The exchange later re-registered its current headquarter in San Francisco, California in September 2014. And have a registration number 31000053968716. It shows Coinbase desires to engagement in regulatory conversation.
But despite claims that Coinbase Exchange is the first regulated exchange. Bitcoin-related companies (including Coinbase) still exist in a regulatory “grey zone”. The company is committing to undergoing quarterly financial and IT audits. But has so far not even participated in a recent public Proof of Reserves audit. The exchange has strongly exaggerated compliance quality.
Platform
Coinbase has managed to deliver a very simple and clean platform, which can be easily accessed from multiple platforms through the responsive website. Assisted by the exchange’s limited functionalities, Coinbase provides a neatly organized and complete trading screen. For now, Coinbase has set an example with regard to design.
Social
Support
The documentation available at the exchange does a good job of covering any relevant aspect of the platform. The documentation also covers Bitcoin, which is what leads to one point of criticism. So, its hard to find disadvantages such as the (price) risk inherent to holding the digital currency.
Furthermore, even though Coinbase offers very extensive documentation, the available options to contact the exchange. You cannot reach Coinbase via telephone or chat. Leaving an email or posting a public question as to the only contact option. Even though live support is crucial to properly address the most imminent concerns.
