Coinbase Review: Scam & Fake or not?

Coinbase is a well-known, stock-listed crypto exchange, not only offering an exchange but also several other products.

But is Coinbase a scam?

No, it is not: According to our experience and review, Coinbase is a safe crypto exchange.

Tell us about your experience with Coinbase and share your comment below this review.

Key Takeaways

• Coinbase has licenses to operate in 45 states of the United States and is available in most countries unless sanctioned by the OFAC. Also, the exchange platform employs 2FA, KYC, and insurance to protect accounts and digital assets
• Coinbase embraces new users by offering a Simple Trade option to buy or sell crypto quickly, an intuitive interface, and a friendly mobile app for remote trading. Similarly, promotions and rewards are available as incentives since the creation of the account
• We will explore these services and every pro and con more in-depth in this Coinbase review

About the Company

Coinbase Global, Inc. is a publicly traded company operating a cryptocurrency exchange service. The company started operations in 2012 when co-founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam registered the business in San Francisco, California.

Interestingly enough, the two founders met on Reddit when former Goldman Sachs trader Fred Ehrsam came across posts made by Armstrong.

What started as a project launched from a two-bedroom apartment by two entrepreneurs has now become the largest crypto exchange platform in the United States, with a daily trading volume of $1,098,498,635.

Coinbase broke the one million users record in 2014 and partnered with firms like Overstock, Dish Network, and Time Inc. to support Bitcoin payments within the same year.

Fast forward to 2017, Coinbase received BitLicense and authorization from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to offer Ethereum and Litecoin.

The company continued to grow through the years, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Coinbase’s popularity reached new heights.

During the 2022 Super Bowl LVI, Coinbase emitted a $13 million 60-second commercial with a black background, similar to a DVD screensaver logo with a bouncing QR code. By scanning this code, viewers entered a website offering $15 in free Bitcoin for new users and the option to participate in a promotion to win three prizes worth $1 million.

The landing page received 20 million visitors in 60 seconds, and the iOS app went from number 186 to number 2 as the most downloaded mobile following the Super Bowl ad.

Suffice it to say that Coinbase is one of the most successful exchange platforms in the market, with over 100 million people using the platform by 2022.

Safety and Regulation

Coinbase is a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange regulated by renowned entities, such as the NY Department of Financial Services, which granted the BitLicense to the exchange in 2017.

Over the years, Coinbase has partaken and won legal disputes in 2023 to guarantee and secure regulatory approval.

As a regulated platform, Coinbase complies with the laws of many countries worldwide. This way, the exchange provides a service safe from fraudulent actions and illicit activities like money laundering.

Similarly, Coinbase has implemented many measures to protect the assets of every user on the platform. One of these features is Cold Storage, a technology to keep the funds of more than 90% of Coinbase users offline and safe from online threats.

Likewise, Coinbase manages a crime insurance fund to secure digital assets from theft, security breaches, and other risks. This measure doesn’t protect your assets and personal finance if another person enters your account, but the platform offers features to prevent that from happening anyway.

Using all of Coinbase security features is necessary to protect your account. In 2021, third-party individuals took advantage of a security breach and stole thousands of dollars from 6,000 customers. Coinbase promptly handled the situation, fixing the flaw and reimbursing the funds.

The two most common problems some users mention while using Coinbase are lazy customer support and flawed verification steps.

In our experience, customer support answered our inquiries quickly and accurately. Sometimes, replies can take longer than expected, regardless of what Coinbase says. But even then, the estimated response time and the quality of those responses are good.

Next, we evaluated why several people had issues verifying their accounts.

In this case, we discovered that the problem was their location. If you live in a restricted country, you’ll struggle to complete the KYC process. Additionally, government documents with text other than in English will not receive approval.

Accepted Countries

Coinbase is not available in countries affected by international sanctions and countries with strict cryptocurrency regulations. We had a look into the following countries:

• Australia – Sign-up is available
• Canada – Sign-up is available
• Ghana – Sign-up is available
• Hong Kong – Sign-up is available
• India – Sign-up is available
• Ireland – Sign-up is available
• Kenya – Sign-up is available
• New Zealand – Sign-up is available
• Nigeria – Sign-up is available
• Pakistan – Sign-up is available
• Philippines – Sign-up is available
• Singapore – Sign-up is available
• South Africa – Sign-up is available
• United Kingdom – Sign-up is available
• United States – Sign-up is available

Bypassing these restrictions could carry consequences like account shutdown and funds blockages.

Trading Offer

The cryptocurrency selection at Coinbase is one of the largest we’ve seen, with more than 250 cryptocurrencies of diverse nature and types available.

There’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Cardano if you want to manage renowned coins, but also meme coins like Doge or Shiba Inu when you want to join the trend.

Both the biggest and smallest cryptocurrencies are available on Coinbase, making it a service that caters to all types of traders. The trading pairs are equally diverse, offering the option to trade the following—

• BTC/USDT
• ETH/USDT
• CBETH/ETH
• ADA/BTC
• SOL/BTC
• SOL/USDT

To sum it up, you won’t come short of trading opportunities with Coinbase. Besides the existing crypto collection, the Coinbase platform regularly updates its service with new coins breaking through the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Trading Types

Coinbase goes straight to the point by offering two types of trading opportunities, one for beginners and another for experienced traders. Therefore, we consider that this exchange does a brilliant job of accepting newcomers and offering the tools to advance over time.

These are the types of trading —

• Simple Trading
• Advanced Trading

Simple Trading

This type of trading allows you to buy and sell over 250 cryptocurrencies in modalities such as DeFi, Smart Contracts, Stablecoins, or Currencies. The Simple Trading option is more suitable for beginners, but it carries higher fees.

Advanced Trading

Formerly known as Coinbase Pro, Advanced Trading offers Crypto Futures and Perpetual Futures options. The interface of Advanced Trading is more complex, offering order placements and enhanced market charts.

Overall, we recommend this option if you trade in high volumes and have some experience.

Trading Software

The trading software offered by Coinbase requires a learning curve, but figuring out how it works brings countless benefits. Fortunately, the Coinbase trading platform provides many educational content and tutorials to navigate the software and use its features to the fullest.

While using the Coinbase trading software, you can easily follow markets by studying the TradingView charts. These come with many indicators and drawing tools, allowing you to identify the highs and lows of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs to sell or buy at the most convenient moment.

Furthermore, the trading software supports order types like Market, Limit, and Stop Limit. This feature guarantees automation of your strategy, allowing you to sell or buy depending on parameters that suit your trading style.

Other Products

At Coinbase, you will find a range of products to earn and manage digital assets. The most popular are the following —

• Staking
• Coinbase Card
• Coinbase Wallet
• Liquidity Program

Staking

Coinbase offers staking, a product to earn rewards by holding certain cryptocurrencies. This action helps strengthen the blockchain network while Coinbase pays you a passive amount.

Coinbase Card

This product is a VISA debit card for daily purchases, which you can use without paying hidden fees and while earning crypto rewards every time you use it.

Coinbase Wallet

Use the Coinbase Wallet product to manage digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFT. This feature supports the most popular coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, all of which remain safe with advanced security technology.

Fees

The Coinbase fees are tricky to learn at first because they vary depending on several factors, like the crypto trading tool, payment method, and more. Thus, there isn’t a flat fee or fixed fee amount system.

It’s important to highlight that Coinbase charges fees for simple and advanced trading options. Typically, the advanced trading option is the better choice because the fees are much lower and depend on your trading volume. Check out this table for a better look at the fee structure.

Simple trading fees aren’t widely available. Instead, you see this type of fee while evaluating an order.

On the other hand, Coinbase is straightforward with the deposit and withdrawal fees for FIAT currencies.

Coinbase fees are expensive, which may be a setback for many people. Nonetheless, the legitimacy, reputation, and wide catalog of services and products offered by Coinbase make it worth it.

Payment Methods for Deposits and Withdrawals

Coinbase allows you to link multiple payment methods to your account, some of which have varying payout times and are more suitable for specific situations. These are the payment methods you can use —

• Bank Account (ACH)
• Debit Card
• Wire Transfer
• Paypal
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Gift Cards

Deposits are almost instantaneous in most cases, whereas withdrawals can take 3 to 5 business days to bank accounts and 1 to 3 business days if you request a Wire Transfer. Withdrawals through other methods only take a couple of minutes.

After several tests, Coinbase continuously delivered satisfying results by adding and withdrawing funds without complications.

Mobile app

The Coinbase app is available for Android and iOS devices on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

Previous customers highlighted the app’s efficiency, which we corroborated after a complete test. We found that the Coinbase mobile app is fast to load, smooth to use, and intuitive. As a result, every function, from creating an account to selling crypto, is easy and quick.

Registration and Verification

Coinbase is a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange that abides by thorough registration and verification processes. From our experience, the whole process took around five minutes to complete. Every step is intuitive and easy to follow, even for first-time exchange users.

• Go to the Coinbase website and click Get Started
• Select the type of account that suits your needs between individual business or merchant
• Submit the details required, like full name, email, and a password
• Agree to the Privacy Policy and User Agreement
• Click on Create an account
• Find the verification link in your email for validation

This is pretty much the core of creating an account on Coinbase. However, you can take several other actions to increase the protection of your account. For instance —

• Verify your phone number
• Add personal information
• Complete the KYC procedure by submitting documents like a valid photo ID
• Submit your passport, medicare card, or driver’s license

Last but not least, Coinbase allows you to perform a quick ID verification using a two-step verification app. The recommended app is the Google Authenticator, which protects your account from hackers and thieves.

After creating and verifying the account, we had access to all of Coinbase’s features, services, and products. Unfortunately, these features don’t include a demo account, which was disappointing.

Bonus for New Customers

Coinbase offers realistic bonuses and promotions we consider great incentives for new users. For example, if you’re from the United States and create an account, Coinbase will gift you $5 in Bitcoin. Like for US users, this promotion is often available for other regions.

To receive this $5 bonus, you must create an account, add a payment method, and purchase cryptocurrency. Virtually anyone can receive this little but welcomed treat just by signing up.

Besides the initial welcome bonus, Coinbase offers new users the possibility to win from $3 to $200 worth of Bitcoin just by spinning a wheel after the first purchase.

Lastly, we loved the tasks system that rewards prizes when you complete some activities. This means you can win bonuses by watching videos, completing tutorials, or participating in quizzes.

Customer Support and Languages

If you need assistance, Coinbase provides customer support via email or phone. While the response time is usually fast, the team can take up to two days to reply.

These mediums are available for both types of trading, whether you use Coinbase Simple Trade or Coinbase Advanced Trade.

Conclusion

You can tell Coinbase is not a scam or fake the moment you use the platform. Right from the start, the exchange comes as a legitimate, secure, and professional cryptocurrency trading service for traders all around the world.

By welcoming beginners with a friendly interface and encouraging seasoned crypto investors with advanced tools, the Coinbase platform is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges you will find.

If you’ve used Coinbase before or have doubts about it, share your opinion in the comment section below to let us know what you think.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s address the most common questions about Coinbase.

Is Coinbase safe and secure?

Coinbase is a safe and secure exchange platform regulated by reputable financial institutions and protected by features like Two-Factor Authentication and KYC. Learn more about how Coinbase protects you and your assets in the Safety and Regulation section.

How long does the verification take with Coinbase?

Complete verification of your Coinbase account can take two days or a week. The estimated time will vary depending on several factors, like your compliance with the requirements asked. Find everything you need to verify your account in the Registration and Verification section.

How can I deposit money at Coinbase?

You can deposit money at Coinbase using a debit card, bank account, PayPal, Apple, or Google Pay. Discover more details about this topic in the Payment Methods for Deposits and Withdrawals section.

How long does it take to withdraw money at Coinbase?

Withdrawing money from Coinbase is almost instantaneous in most cases. However, transfers to bank accounts and Wire Transfer take a couple of days. Read more in the Payment Methods for Deposits and Withdrawals section.

How does Coinbase work?

Coinbase offers a licensed exchange service and two trading types called Simple Trade and Advanced Trade. Likewise, Coinbase also offers diverse products to manage and earn cryptocurrency. Find out more in the Trading Types and Other Products section.

Allan Garland

I'm part of the crypto space since 2013 and I strongly believe in it. But I also know how it feels to get scammed and to realize financial losses. With my website Cryptoscam.info I want to support you to stay safe and to give you a platform to share your experiences.