Our Review
2.5/5
We ranked Coinbase last place in Australia out of 16 platforms
🏆 Overall Ranking 16/16 |
💰 Fees Below Average |
📲 Features Average |
🇦🇺Deposit & Withdrawals Below Average |
👍 Ease Of Use Above Average |
🔒 Security Above Average |
Coinbase is very trusted, easy-to-use and beginner-friendly. However, it was the most expensive platform we tested in Australia (4.50% total purchase fee) and doesn't let you cash out AUD to a bank account.
We ranked Coinbase in last place because the fees are significantly higher than other platforms. We recommend a cheaper platform with more coins, and better deposit/withdrawal options like Swyftx or Binance AU (more alternatives below).
Where It Shines:
Where It Falls Short:
Overview
📲 Features | Header | 🔐 Security | Header |
|---|---|---|---|
Coins Mobile App Web App Beginner Friendly? Pro Trading Terminal Limit Orders Recurring Buys Bundles Staking Margin Futures OTC 24/7 Support | 110+ Yes Yes Yes Yes* No* Yes No Yes No No Yes No | App 2FA Uses Cold Storage? AUSTRAC Regulated? Any Hacks or Incidents? Withdrawal Confirmations See Account Activity Address Whitelisting Crypto Withdrawals Allowed Year Founded Publicly Traded? | |
💲 Fees | Cell | 🏦 Deposits & Withdrawals | Cell |
$100 Buy After All Fees $100 Sell After All Fees Best Deposit Fee Best Withdrawal Fee Trading Fee BTC Spread (Dec 17, 21) BTC Withdrawal Fee | $95.60 Can't Sell N/A N/A 2.90%* N/A Dynamic | $AUD Fiat Wallet? Direct Bank Transfer POLi PAYid Credit/Debit BPay Other Fiat Currencies | No No No No Yes No No |
- Table last updated: Dec 17, 2021
- Total fees and spread was tested Dec 17, 2021 and is subject to change
- *Pro Trading Terminal is Coinbase Pro which offers limit orders
- Trading fee is dynamic based on how much you are buying
🔎 Coinbase Compared
We are tracking the 15+ most popular Australian crypto exchanges. Compare the entire industry below:
Coins | Total Purchase Fee | Trading Fees | $AUD Deposits | Beginner Friendly | Advanced Features | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
600+ | 0.15% | 0.10% | Yes | No | Yes | ||
18 | 1.24% | 0.85% | Yes | No | Yes | ||
110+ | 4.50% | 2.90%* | No | Yes | No | ||
50+ | 1.09% | 0% - 2.00% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
30+ | 0.14% + $50 | 0.10% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
370+ | 1.89% | 0.10% - 1% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
280+ | 2.36% | 0.05% - 0.9% | Yes | Yes | No | ||
150+ | 1.30% | 0.00% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
270+ | 1.04% | 0.50% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
150+ | 1.45% | 1.00% | Yes | Yes | No | ||
30 | - | 0% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
27+ | 1.68% | 0.50% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
50+ | 0.43% | 0.16% / 0.26% | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
700+ | 2.23% | 0.10% | Yes | No | Yes | ||
270+ | 0.41% | 0.08% - 0.1% | No | No | Yes | ||
320+ | 0.95% | 0.60% | Yes | Yes | Yes |
About Coinbase
Coinbase is considered one of the easiest and safest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The San Francisco based company was founded in 2012 and is available in 100+ countries serving 100M+ clients!
Their goal is to make crypto trustworthy and easy to use. When you visit Coinbase, You'll notice it's very beginner-friendly and has a beautiful user interface. They offer a variety of features like beginner trading, advanced trading, staking, learn and earn, a Dapp browser, and more.
Background
- Publicly traded company since 2021 (NASDAQ: COIN)
- Available in 100+ countries
- 100+ million verified users
- $250+ billion assets on the platform
- 3700+ employees
Screenshots
Verification
Opening a Coinbase account is similar to a bank account and requires some personal info. By law, Coinbase and all Australian crypto exchanges must verify your identity in order to make trades. So make sure to have info like your ID with you.
Application Time | 5-10 minutes |
KYC Verification | Yes |
Instant Verification | No |
Manual Verification | ? |
Who Is Eligible? |
|
Sign Up Requirements |
|
Security
Security is one of the most important parts of any crypto exchange. Coinbase has a solid reputation and lots of security features. We rounded up all of Coinbase's security features and past incidents. Let's break it down:
Company Security Features
- 98% of crypto assets are held in offline cold storage
- $255 million insurance policy on the 2% of crypto held in online hot wallets
- Sensitive data is stored on paper backups and USB drives in vaults and multiple locations
- Coinbase claims all personal information is encrypted
- Employees must pass a criminal background check
- Bug bounty program - they pay white-hat hackers to find security bugs and vulnerabilities
- See their security page for more
User Security Features
- 2 Factor Authentication for login and withdrawals (SMS, App or hardware device like Yubikey)
- Set up Pin or Touch ID for app login, sending transfers and more
- Security notifications via email, SMS and push (eg. Your password has been reset)
- View account activity (logins, locations, IP addresses, etc)
- Account activity notifications (eg. buys, sells, transfers, etc)
- Coinbase Vault - wallet with time-delayed withdrawals, offline storage, and multiple approvers
- Coinbase offers an emergency phone number to lock your account
Other Security Notes
- Good reputation since being founded in 2012
- Compliant in over 100+ countries including Australia
Coinbase Hack May, 2021
Coinbase was founded in 2012 and faced their first breach in 2021. Hackers stole crypto from 6,000 Coinbase customers by finding a vulnerability in the SMS account recovery process. Fortunately, no users funds were lost because Coinbase reimbursed everyone affected.
Can You Trust Coinbase?
Yes. Coinbase is still one of the most trustworthy platforms in the crypto industry. They have a great reputation, they're a publicly traded company in the USA, they have insurance, and offer many security features like 2FA and more.
However, although Coinbase is considered safe, you should not hold all of your assets on any crypto exchange. Centralized platforms always have a small risk of hacks, government confiscation and more. The safest way to store your crypto is offline using a hardware wallet.
Deposits & Withdrawals
AUD Deposits
In Australia, Coinbase only offers instant crypto purchases via credit or debit card. You cannot deposit or hold Australian dollars like you can on other platforms.
When we tested it, there was a 2.90% transaction fee on $450 ($13.06 fee). However, this fee can be lower or higher depending how much you're spending.
Type | Fee | Time | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
PayID | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
POLi | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Direct Bank Transfer | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
BPay | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Credit/Debit | ~2.90% | Instant | $300/week for new accounts |
AUD Withdrawals
In Australia, you cannot sell your cryptocurrency on Coinbase for Australian dollars or any other fiat currency. The only option is to withdraw your crypto to another wallet or platform that supports an Australian bank account. We recommend Swyftx or Digital Surge.
Type | Fee | Time | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
PayID | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
POLi | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Direct Bank Transfer | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
BPay | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Crypto Withdrawals
Coin | Fee | Minimum Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
Bitcoin | Dynamic (network fees) | 0.0001 BTC |
Ethereum | Dynamic (network fees) | ? |
Fees
Coinbase has a complicated tiered fee system. In general, the prices decrease percentage-wise if you're spending more.
Coinbase Price Test (Dec 17, 2021 at 1:17pm)
We price tested 11 platforms simultaneously and here are the results. Spreads and prices change daily so this data is subject to change. However, it's a good tool to compare versus other platforms.
Coinbase | Amount | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
$100 Buy After All Fees | $95.50 (4.50% total fee) | 11/11 |
$100 Sale After All Fees | N/A (Can't Sell AUD) | - |
BTC Spread | N/A (No sell price) | - |
BTC Buy Price | $66,889 AUD | 10/11 |
BTC Sell Price | N/A (Can't Sell AUD) | - |
Ref. Price Difference | Buy: +1.60% Sell: N/A | - |
Reference Price (Google) | $65,837 | - |
The "$100 After All Fees" adds everything from when you deposit money to make your order plus the reference price difference.
The price test was conducted by logging into all platforms simultaneously and collecting buy/sell orders. We did this as quickly as possible (within minutes) in order to be as accurate as possible since prices can change rapidly. Find out more about our testing process.
What We Found
- Coinbase stopped showing their fee structure on their website but when we tested it, there was a 2.9% transaction fee ($13.06 / $450 = 2.9%)
- The total purchase fee was 4.5% (after adding the reference price difference)
- This was last place out of 15+ crypto exchanges which were tested at the same time
- Coinbase was 10x more expensive than Kraken which had a 0.43% total purchase fee
Platform & Features
Overall, Coinbase makes it easy to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with a very user-friendly interface. Let's look at the main features and offerings:
List of Features:
- Web, iOS and Android app
- Instant buy and sells
- Recurring orders
- Staking and rewards
- Learn and Earn section
- Coinbase Vault
- News and education
- Coinbase Pro (separate platform and app)
- And more
1. Web, iOS and Android App
All 60 million Coinbase users can use the platform on all of their devices. Like mentioned before, the platform is incredibly easy to use, no matter what your experience is. Coinbase also has multiple apps which are the main platform, Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Wallet.
2. Trading Interface
Coinbase does not offer limit orders or any advanced order types unless you use their other platform Coinbase Pro which is separate. The main platform is built for beginners and offers the following ways to trade, buy and sell:
- Instant Buy and Sells - Beginner-friendly market orders
- Recurring Buys - Set up automatic orders to buy crypto daily, weekly, monthly based on the settings you provide
- Convert - Quickly swap one crypto for another without having to switch to AUD first
- Coinbase Pro - Separate platform for with limit orders, technical charts and more
3. Staking and Rewards
Coinbase lets you put your crypto to work and earn up to 5% yield. All you have to do is just own the supported cryptocurrencies and you will earn automatically with no minimum amount required. Currently, they only offer a few coins for staking and rewards which are:
- Dai (rewards) - 2.00% APY
- Tezos (staking) - 4.63% APY
- Algorand (rewards) - 4.00% APY
- Cosmos (staking) - 5.00% APY
Other platforms to earn rewards include Binance AU, Kraken, Swyftx and Crypto.com where you can compare rates.
4. Coinbase Vault
Coinbase Vault is built to store your long term holdings more securely. You can transfer your crypto into your Vault wallet and then it will have extra security features such as time-delayed withdrawals and multiple approvers for joint account withdrawals.
5. Learn and Earn
Coinbase offers a crypto learn and earn section where you get paid to learn about specific cryptocurrencies. All you need to do is watch a few 1-3 minute videos and answer a few questions to get paid anywhere from $1-$15. When you complete the quiz, the funds will automatically deposit into your account where you can instantly trade it, withdraw it or hold onto it.
6. News and Education
Find tons of educational resources on beginner and advanced crypto topics. You can also read up on the latest crypto news right from your dashboard.
7. Coinbase Pro
More sophisticated traders who also want lower fees can use Coinbase Pro. It is a separate platform that has its own app however you can still login with the same username and password.
Coinbase Pro has different order types like limit orders and market orders, a live order book, advanced charts and more. The downside is Pro does not support AUD right now so you must deposit and withdraw crypto, USD, EUR or GBP.
8. Other Coinbase Features
- Set custom price alerts and watchlists
- Light/dark mode
- Pay - Send crypto for free to friends via text message or email
- Referral program - invite friends and you both earn around $10 USD
- Coinbase Wallet (separate app, explore DeFi)
- Coinbase Card (not available in Australia)
- Coinbase Borrow (not available in Australia)
- Buy Bounty Program - get paid $200-$50,000 to find security risks
Customer Support
You can contact Coinbase support via live chat and it says "an agent should reply within 10 minutes." They also offer email support, phone support and a knowledge base with helpful FAQs, articles and walkthroughs. There is also a live website status where you can check for incidents or maintenance in real-time.
FAQ
Coinbase has a third-party insurance policy on its hot wallets for $255 million through Llyods of London.
Your Coinbase account comes with a unique wallet for every coin that's supported on the platform. Coinbase also offers a separate app called "Coinbase Wallet" which is a software wallet that lets you hold your private keys.
Coinbase is a legal Digital Currency Exchange in Australia that's registered with AUSTRAC (ACN: 654922442) and regulated by ASIC. Their office is registered in Sydney, NSW.
Coinbase does not offer the option to sell crypto back to AUD. To cash out from Coinbase, you need to withdraw your crypto to a local exchange like Swyftx that supports withdrawals to an Australian bank account.
Swyftx is considerably cheaper than Coinbase (0.95% total purchase fee vs. 4.50%) and offers more coins (280+ vs 110+). Swyftx also supports Australian bank accounts to deposit and withdraw AUD, Coinbase does not.
Coinbase
Start buying crypto easily and securely