Highlights
What Is Coinbase?
Founded in 2012, Coinbase is one of the world's safest and most famous crypto exchanges. On Coinbase Canada, users can sign up and trade 200+ coins, stake crypto, and trade NFTs. Other features include professional trading, a self-custody wallet, a subscription service called Coinbase One, and much more.
They are a public company in the US (NASDAQ: COIN) and very well trusted. However, they can do better to serve Canadians because they have high fees and few ways to deposit and withdraw Canadian Dollars. More on this below.
Pros and Cons
Things To Know
Key Benefits & Features
Other Coinbase Features
While the key features are mentioned above, here is a non-exhaustive list of the entire Coinbase ecosystem:
Coinbase Walkthrough
Instant Buy and Sell
The instant buy and sell for beginners lets you easily buy and sell crypto with a credit/debit card. It uses Canadian dollars but keep in mind this has much higher fees than the advanced trade.
Advanced Trade
In your account, you can toggle advanced trade to get lower fees. The fees are still high compared to other platforms but it's a 0.40% maker and 0.60% taker fee. Also, you can only trade with stablecoins (no CAD or fiat trading pairs available). If you buy USDC using Coinbase Instant Buy, you will get hit with the high fees, but if you deposit crypto, it's a little better.
The advanced trade is pretty good though. It has live order books and high liquidity, ensuring your orders execute quickly. You'll find over 200 spot trading pairs.
Learning Rewards
Coinbase learning rewards is a crypto learn to earn program where you can earn free crypto in just a few minutes. You'll get paid instantly by taking short quizzes about different crypto projects. If you want to make $30 to $50 in one quick sitting, you will get your crypto and can hold it, sell it, or withdraw it right away.
Customer Service
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.
Fees & Spread
Overall, Coinbase is one of the most expensive platforms, even if you purchase their $30/month Coinbase One subscription to get zero trading fees (on beginner trading). However, you can buy crypto much cheaper without having to pay $30/month. Just use NDAX or see the cheapest Canadian exchanges here.
Coinbase has a tiered fee structure which is different for beginner and advanced trading. Advanced trading has a simple 0.40% maker and 0.60% taker fee with discounts available based on 30 day trading volume. The quick swap trading fees are roughly 3.84% plus an additional spread markup.
From my tests, Coinbase had a total BTC purchase fee of 4.54%! It was last place out of 18 platforms and 9x more expensive than NDAX, which was the cheapest platform with a 0.49% fee at the same time.
Advanced Trading Fee | 0.40% maker 0.60% taker |
Quick Swap Fees | 3.83% to 3.98% |
Coinbase One Subscription | $29.99/month |
Staking Fee | 15% to 35% |
Crypto Withdrawal Fees | Dynamic (Network Fees) |
Deposit & Withdrawals
Canadian users can buy cryptocurrencies with Interac e-Transfer, Visa, Mastercard, or debit or fund their account by depositing cryptocurrency. For cashing out, Canadians can withdraw via PayPal, e-Transfer or cryptocurrency.
How Safe is Coinbase?
When it comes to Security, Coinbase checks nearly all the boxes, making them one of the safest exchanges in the world. They were founded in 2012 and have built a long-standing reputation for compliance and security.
Starting with legality, Coinbase is fully regulated in Canada. They are a registered Money Service Business (MSB) with FINTRAC, pre-registered as a restricted dealer with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and a registered crypto asset trading platform with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
Users can protect their account with two-factor authentication, address whitelisting, and various other settings found in their profile. Coinbase also stores digital assets in cold storage and claims to hold funds 1:1. While they don't have a proof of reserves, they are a public company in the US which means public financials and frequent audits. More details can be found below and on their security page.
Hacks & Incidents
Since being founded in 2012, Coinbase has had one hack. In 2021, 6,000 Coinbase customers lost their cryptocurrency through an SMS vulnerability. Coinbase worked with the customers to regain control of their accounts and reimburse funds lost. While a hack is not good, it doesn't necessarily mean a platform is unsafe.
Here is a full list of Coinbase's security protocols. It is longer than all crypto exchanges I've reviewed:
Coinbase Security Protocols
User Security Features
Coinbase Reviews According to Reddit
The main concerns people have online are that Coinbase has horrible customer support and high fees. Most people say the platform works great until they need support, and then everything goes downhill. If you look at Reddit, Trust Pilot or the Google Play store and App Store, it's the same story.
On the positive side, Coinbase has 749K reviews on Google Play with an average 4.1 star rating. The App Store is even better with 1.7M reviews and an average 4.7 stars. Overall, people say Coinbase is safe and easy to use, just don't expect low fees or helpful customer service.
Is Coinbase Worth It?
While Coinbase is the safest crypto exchange in the world, it has the highest fees in Canada (18 platforms tested). It also doesn't support Interac e-Transfers or Canadian trading pairs. Overall, there are better platforms in Canada, like NDAX, that are still safe but much cheaper.
Coinbase Alternatives
Coinbase has a wide selection of cryptocurrencies, a great UX, and amazing safety. However, its has the highest fees and limited support for $CAD. With that in mind, here are my best crypto exchanges in Canada after 30+ reviews:
Out of 20+ platforms we tried, NDAX had the #1 lowest fee to buy Bitcoin in Canada. It's our top pick for 2024.
Kraken Pro is fully regulated in Canada and offers 250+ cryptos, professional trading, and high liquidity.
If you want to trade altcoins, crypto futures and more without KYC, BYDFi is one of the top apps we found.
FAQs
Is Coinbase Banned In Ontario?
Coinbase is not banned in Ontario. They are a fully compliant registered crypto asset trading platform with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
Is The Coinbase Credit Card In Canada?
The Coinbase Credit Card is not available for Canadian residents and no official release date has been announced. The card is available in 40+ counties, most of which are in Europe.
Is Coinbase Canadian?
No, Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange that is available in over 100 counties, including Canada and Ontario.
