Coinbase is best for experienced traders to access advanced charting functions, crypto-to-crypto transactions, and quick withdrawals. Beginner crypto traders can also benefit from Coinbase's user-friendly interface and educational video classes.
Business Insider's personal finance team compared Coinbase to the best cryptocurrency exchanges and found it an industry leader for its transaction speed and powerful charting capabilities via TradeView. However, fees are high and lack transparency.
Pros and Cons
Coinbase Pros
- Buy, sell, and store 250+ cryptocurrencies
- Only $1 minimum to start trading
- Earn rewards by holding the Coinbase USD Dollar stablecoin
- Advanced trading platform and wallet storage
Coinbase Cons
- High trading and transaction fees
- Difficult to find fee information ahead of buying
- About one million users recently had their personal information stolen
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Compare Coinbase
Overview
Coinbase is an industry-leading US-based cryptocurrency exchange spanning over 100 countries. It makes trading, learning, and earning crypto simple while also providing powerful charting capabilities and trading strategies for sophisticated traders prioritizing flexibility and speed.
With a Coinbase account, you can trade more than 250 crypto assets, including major ones like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin. If you're more of an advanced trader, a Coinbase Advanced account gets you access to over 550 spot pairs and powerful charting tools from TradingView, a popular charting platform favored by day traders.
Coinbase's Learning Center provides detailed guides, trading tips, and video tutorials to help beginner crypto traders improve their trading skills. More experienced traders can also use the Learning Center to navigate advanced trading tools and terminology, and learn about futures trading.
If you are fee-conscious investors, Coinbase isn't a good fit. Its trading and transaction fees are relatively high compared to competitor exchanges like Kraken or Bitstamp. Although you can unlock zero trading fees with a Coinbase One membership, there's a $30 monthly subscription charge.
Coinbase provides 24/7 customer support through phone, email, and online chat. However, some Coinbase users have reported having difficulty getting in contact with an actual human, as many inquires are routed to the exchange's online chatbot.
Coinbase only offers crypto assets and NFT trading. If you are looking to trade non-crypto assets like stocks and ETFs, consider one of the best stock trading apps instead.
The Coinbase mobile app has a rating of 4.7/5 on the Apple Store and 4.5/5 on Google Play.
Coinbase Hack 2025
On May 15, Coinbase said in a blog post that about one million people (1% of Coinbase users) had their personal information stolen, including names, addresses, emails, and the last four digital of Social Security numbers.
Cybercriminals stole users' personal information by bribing overseas customer support contractors. Passwords, private keys, funds, and Coinbase Prime accounts were not stolen. However, some users were tricked into sending funds to hackers. Coinbase plans to reimburse those individuals.
Coinbase is also establishing a $20 million reward fund in exchange for information about those responsible for the hack and is working with law enforcement.
Ways to Invest
A standard Coinbase brokerage account gets you access to over 250 popular cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin. It has a relatively straightforward interface for buying and trading digital assets. Plus, users get access to secure cold-wallet storage.
Coinbase additionally offers Coinbase USD Coin, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar with reward-earning potential.
Alto CryptoIRA
Coinbase is partnered with Alto, an alternative retirement platform, to offer a self-directed Roth IRA CryptoIRA. Retirement-focused crypto traders can access tax-free growth, withdrawals, and Coinbase's entire crypto selection. Additionally, you don't have to report crypto trades on your annual taxes when you invest through an IRA.
However, you must open an account through Alto to open a self-directed CryptoIRA with Coinbase's offerings.
Coinbase Advanced
Coinbase Advanced (formerly Coinbase Pro) is designed for sophisticated traders who want access to more advanced features, such as 550+ spot pairs, lower maker fees, crypto derivatives, and TradingView charts. Its maker and taker fees are lower.
Coinbase Advanced gets you access to an advanced API to help you automate trades and stop-limit orders, access real-time market data, and increase reward opportunities.
Coinbase One
Coinbase One is a subscription service offering lower trading fees, priority customer support, and a limited-time partner deal. Coinbase also helps you navigate tax season for your crypto assets with a pre-filled Form 8949, plus member-only sweepstakes and $1 million account protection.
Frequent crypto traders interested in zero trading fees on hundreds of digital assets and access to 24/7 priority customer support will get the most out of a Coinbase One membership.
Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet, one of the best bitcoin wallets, is a user-controlled web3 wallet for storing and managing various digital assets, such as crypto, NFTs, and other crypto wallets. It includes access to borrow and supply crypto through DeFi liquidity pools, trade assets on decentralized exchanges, and join a DAO.
The Coinbase Wallet also supports NFTs. Users can easily buy, sell, and create different NFTS, including Audio NFTs with custom playback controls.
You get a secure 12-word recovery phrase, or "seed," only you can use to access your Coinbase Wallet. Coinbase does not have access to this secret code.
Additional security features include spam token management, token approval alerts, and transaction previews. Coinbase Wallet's browser extensions support Ledger hardware wallets, providing additional protection.
Coinbase Wallet Web App
Coinbase's new Wallet Web app allows users to connect multiple on-chain digital wallets for easier access to various crypto products, NFTs, and DeFi. It works seamlessly with smart wallets and is available on desktop and mobile.
The Coinbase Wallet Web app also connects with MetaMask, Phantom, and other self-custody wallets supported by Wallet Connect. In the app, you can view your assets and DeFi positions, trade across eight different chains, and access on-chain creator tools.
Coinbase Private Client
Coinbase's Private Client services are available for high-net-worth individuals and family offices wanting professional advice and guidance from crypto experts. A dedicated account manager provides personalized support and tailored execution strategies for trusts and other personal investment vehicles.
You can also access institutional research, integrated custody for segregated cold wallet storage, multi-user access and controls, and enhanced security measures.
Coinbase Prime
Coinbase also gives businesses and institutions various investment options, including the Prime trading platform.
Coinbase Prime is a full-service prime brokerage that executes large-scale crypto trades, deploys institutional trading strategies through financing solutions, and provides hot and cold wallet storage access.
Asset hub lets businesses contact Coinbase about potentially listing their asset on the Coinbase platform. Coinbase's commerce offerings help crypto-oriented businesses set up hosted checkout pages, invoices, payment buttons, and more. The venture's feature allows new companies to raise money for expansion.
Fees
Coinbase charges trading fees depending on the asset, payment method, and transaction size. However, Coinbase is not transparent about its fee structure before making a transaction. Users receive information regarding their fees after a transaction is filled.
Transaction fees are around 0.5% but vary based on the size of the order, market conditions, and payment method.
Coinbase Advanced is more transparent about its fee offering. Based on a 30-day trading volume, maker fees range from 0% to 0.6%, and taker fees range from 0.08% to 1.2%.
A Coinbase One subscription costs $29.99 a month.
Credit transactions cost a flat 2% on some orders.
Trustworthiness
Coinbase has received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB gives businesses a numerical rating from A+ to F, depending on how well a business interacts with its clients.
On June 6, 2023, the SEC opened an investigation into Coinbase, claiming that the company had allowed sales on its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program and offered crypto trading on its unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The case was dropped by the SEC on February 27, 2025.
On April 18, 2025, the Oregon Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Coinbase claiming that the exchange is violating the Oregon Securities Law by promoting and selling high-risk securities. This case is ongoing.
On May 13, 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed against Coinbase for alleged identity checks that violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by failing to notify users of how their biometric data was being collected, stored, and shared. This case is ongoing.
Six lawsuits were filed against Coinbase on May 15 and 16, 2025, following the reveal of the data breach that occurred on May 11. The lawsuits allege that Coinbase did not spend enough on security and stronger protection measures. In addition, one lawsuit alleges that Coinbase's response to the data hack was slow and inadequate. Coinbase declined to comment on these legal cases but plans to reimburse affected users.
Alternatives
Here's how Coinbase compares to other top crypto exchanges.
Kraken
Coinbase and Kraken are comprehensive exchanges offering large cryptocurrency selections and similar services and fees.
Kraken may be better suited for beginners and intermediate investors interested in learning the ropes. Kraken more intentionally caters to less-experienced crypto traders with its low trading fees, simplified trading, and its library of educational content.
Plus, Kraken offers strong customer support across the entire platform (with Coinbase, you need a One membership for priority support).
If you are a sophisticated trader, Coinbase is your best bet as it offers more cryptocurrencies than Kraken and more advanced trading products and features. Coinbase offers an Advanced trading platform and a Coinbase One membership for lower trading fees and greater earning opportunities. Moreover, private clients can get curated services, dedicated support, and enhanced security.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com is another reputable crypto exchange with similar offerings to Coinbase. Both exchanges offer hundreds of cryptocurrencies, digital wallet storage, advanced trading tools, and an NFT trading platform. Similar to Kraken, Crypto.com and Coinbase offer almost identical features and services.
Investors looking to trade beyond crypto are best off with Crypto.com. In addition to cryptocurrency, Crypto.com also offers US stocks, ETFs, and fractional shares. The exchange also offers options trading and 500_ spot pairs.
Dedicated crypto traders wanting access to professional dashboards and charting capabilities will find Coinbase the best option for advanced trading and private client services. That said, Crypto.com offers a wider selection of cryptocurrencies (400+), so investors who prioritize having access to many different coins and tokens may prefer Crypto.com over Coinbase.
Why You Should Trust Us
We reviewed Coinbase using Business Insider's rating methodology for investing platforms to compare pricing, account flexibility, ethics, security, and overall customer experience when reviewing investing platforms. Crypto exchanges are given a rating between 1 and 5.
Cryptocurrency exchanges offer multiple assets, trading tools, fees, and other resources. Because of the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, only experienced traders with a high risk tolerance should use the best crypto exchanges.
Business Insider's Overall Coinbase Rating
| Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Fees | 3.00 |
| Investment selection | 4.00 |
| Security | 1.00 |
| Ethics | 2.50 |
| Access | 3.00 |
| Customer service | 3.00 |
| Overall score | 2.83 |
FAQs
Is Coinbase safe?
Coinbase is not a safe platform. Despite previously having a reputation as a safe and trustworthy cryptocurrency exchange, around one million Coinbase users (1% of total users) had their personal information stolen in a data hack on May 11. Cybercriminals had bribed overseas support agents to hand over sensitive user information, including names, emails, addresses, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
What are the fees on Coinbase?
Coinbase's maker/taker fee structure varies based on asset type, platform, payment method, and transaction size. In general, Coinbase is not transparent about its fees. Its Advanced trading platform offers lower maker/taker fees based on a user's 30-day trading volume, ranging from 0.0% to 1.2%.
Does Coinbase offer staking or rewards?
Coinbase offers various staking and rewards opportunities. Staking is only available on a handful of tokens, like ethereum, cosmos, and cardano (not available in all US states). However, you can still earn rewards through Coinbase's learning rewards program, Visa debit card, and member-exclusive events.
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