Coinbase.com Debit Card Review
Coinbase Review Contents
- About the Company
- Social Media
- Services Provided and limits
- Supported countries
- Fees and Pricing
- Order a BTC debit card
- User Experience
- Coinbase Pro´s and Con´s
- Review Conclusion
About the Company
Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency companies in the world. Their platform is available in more than 100 countries and has more than 30 million users. The company offers a variety of services, but its main service is to provide a platform for users to sell and buy Bitcoin. Users can do this through a debit card, credit card, or bank account. While you are likely to be happy with the rates they charge, you probably won’t be happy with the customer service. Still, that doesn’t mean you just have to cut Coinbase. If you are looking for an in-depth Coinbase review, keep reading and we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about this crypto trading platform.
Coinbase was founded by Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong in 2012 as part of Ycombinator. This makes Coinbase one of the oldest exchanges still in existence. Originally, Coinbase was strictly a Bitcoin brokerage service where they sold Bitcoins directly to customers. Over time, however, additional services have been added to the platform. Coinbase is both licensed and regulated.
Social Media of Coinbase
Blog: https://blog.coinbase.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coinbase
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coinbase
Services Provided and limits
Coinbase provides several services to its customers. Let’s review these services below.
Brokerage service
The main service offered by Coinbase is a brokerage service for the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies. New crypto users usually find themselves buying their first Bitcoins through Coinbase. This is thanks to the reputation that Coinbase has gained along with its successful marketing and user-friendly interface. One of the biggest drawbacks of Coinbase’s brokerage service is that users tend to lack control over their own funds. When a user opens a Coinbase account, they do not have direct access to their coins. And they don’t get a seed phrase or private key either. Coinbase stores your coins for you. It’s basically like storing your money in a bank. You don’t own that money, it’s the bank.
Coinbase Pro
Coinbase Pro, formerly known as GDAX, is a cryptocurrency trading platform. Coinbase’s standard brokerage service makes it easy to buy cryptocurrencies at a premium price. Coinbase Pro, on the other hand, is for more experienced members. With this service, users can trade a variety of cryptocurrencies, including:
- BTC
- ETH
- LTC
- BCH
- ZRX
The fees are much lower with this brokerage service. Users also have access to advanced trading options.
Coinbase wallet
In 2018, Coinbase launched its independent mobile wallet for Android and iOS. The wallet keeps the private keys on the user’s device and only gives the user access to their funds.
This brings the complete circle of Coinbase. The company started out as a wallet, then moved on to a brokerage service, and again offers a popular wallet service.
Merchant solutions
Coinbase provides online merchants with the tools to accept cryptocurrencies on their websites through a dedicated plugin. The plugin is supported by some of the most popular content management systems (CMS) on the web. This includes WooCommerce, Magento, and Shopify.
Is Coinbase Safe?
Yes. Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and has an excellent reputation for security. Perhaps more importantly, the exchange keeps nearly 99% of its users’ digital assets in cold storage offline.
Coinbase also asks you to validate a phone number by entering a code they text you. After validating your phone number, it is recommended that you configure a more secure 2FA (two-factor authentication) method. 2FA direct SMS is not as secure as it can be hacked by hackers while your text is in transit.
Coinbase has mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA) on your account, to ensure your account remains secure. There are other ways to further improve the security of your Coinbase account. With security, more is usually better, so you can also take advantage of all the security features that Coinbase offers.
When deleting your account, Coinbase gave you the option to request the information you gave them in the first place. You can also ask Coinbase to remove the information from their servers. With privacy being a major concern in people’s lives, Coinbase earns brownie points for proper management and deletion of your personal information if you want them to.
Supported countries
Coinbase accepts users and traders from various countries around the world. They currently support traders from over 30 countries including:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- The Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Malta
- Monaco
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Fees and Pricing
Coinbase does not charge any fees for depositing funds into your account but instead charges a 1.49% fee when purchasing cryptocurrencies. However, although Coinbase does not charge a deposit fee, your financial institution will. These fees vary from country to country but are most often 3.99% for debit/credit cards and 1.49% for bank transfers. Coinbase’s fees are not ideal for cryptocurrency day traders as they are higher than many other popular exchanges.
In addition to these fees, traders will also have to pay a virtual currency transfer fee which includes network transaction fees and minor fees. Besides, users will have to pay exchange rate fees which depend on the spread and conversion fees as well. The fees are always indicated and shown to the user as they make their transactions.
Order a Coinbase debit card
Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card developed by Coinbase. It allows the user to instantly spend and track their bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and more. The card can be used without contact, with a PIN code, and by withdrawing from any ATM. As with the Shift card, the Coinbase card allows users to instantly liquidate crypto from their accounts for GBP, allowing them to pay in millions of stores or withdraw cash.
The Visa debit card is issued by PaySafe and can be managed using the Coinbase Card app. This links back to users’ accounts and allows them to pay for any crypto asset out of their balance. For now, the card is only available to UK consumers, who can start using the card as soon as it is published.
The card issue costs £ 4.95 ($ 6.48) and will charge 2.49% on each purchase (1.49% crypto conversion fee + 1% transaction fee). There is also a spending limit of £ 10,000 ($ 13,092) per day. There is no maintenance fee, but it will cost £ 20 ($ 26.19) to cancel a transaction.
If used for international purchases, 3% of each transaction’s value will be charged.
In case of damage or loss, the card can be replaced for £4.95 (or €4.95) per Card issued.
User Experience
Coinbase has an extremely comprehensive help section. The answers to many standard questions are likely to be found there. If you submit a request ticket via email, you can expect to wait several days for a response. The company also has a hotline, although many users say it’s not very helpful in troubleshooting issues. The quality of their customer support is also not that great. Many users tend to get basic answers that are not accompanied by specific instructions on how to troubleshoot issues with the service. In fact, Coinbase actually has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Coinbase Pro´s and Con´s
Pros
- The trading platform is simple and easy to navigate
- Has a powerful mobile app that streamlines cross-platform utilization
- Has a Coinbase Earn feature that encourages people to learn about crypto
- Offers a wide variety of services under one roof
- Digital assets enjoy FDIC cover
Cons
- Some exchanges have lesser fees compared to Coinbase
- Not all markets are available to users from all geographical locations
- Distinguishing Coinbase from Coinbase Pro is confusing
Review Conclusion
According to some sources, Coinbase is the king of exchanges in the crypto world in terms of platform acceptability and security. It is the first and only platform to offer the buying and selling of cryptocurrency at a professional level similar to established trading platforms in the legacy financial industry. Users don’t have to worry about the security of their digital assets as Coinbase is working with the FDIC to provide insurance coverage.
Despite all these assurances, digital currencies remain a volatile asset. As such, investors should start by committing a small amount of money and let it grow slowly. Nonetheless, Coinbase ranks among the competition as a starting point due to better security and safety prospects as evidenced by many online reviews.
Go to coinbase.com