Coinbase.com Review 2021 – Scam or Not?
Coinbase is one of the leading digital asset exchanges based in San Francisco, California. The exchange was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in 2012. Their focus is on the US market, but the company currently operates in 31 countries and offers Bitcoin storage in 190 countries across the world.
Review Contents
- Verification
- Coinbase Fees
- Trading at Coinbase
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- User Experience
- Exchange Security
- Supported Payment Methods
- Supported Countries
- Conclusion
In 2014, the company created a Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX) – a platform for trading a wide variety of digital assets and a direct exchange of Bitcoin and Ether for fiat currency. GDAX is primarily meant for professionals with high volumes.
Verification
There are four verification levels on Coinbase, and first three levels take only a couple of minutes. The fourth level can take a bit longer, usually a few days. Completion of each level increases user’s weekly buy/sell limits. Here’s a short overview of the Coinbase verification levels:
Level 1 – verification of email address and phone number.
Level 2 – completion of personal details such as full name, date of birth and address of residence.
Level 3 – input of bank account details as well as credit and debit card details.
Level 4 – identity verification which involves:
- Government-issued identification document
- Taxpayer identification number
- Identity verification by answering a few questions
The limits offered by Coinbase are higher than average. Depending on the verification level of account, the limit increases. Level 1 accounts can buy up to $5,000 worth of BTC and sell up to $25,000 per day. Fully verified US account has a trading daily limit of $50,000, while European account has a 30,000 EUR daily limit.
The exchange supports the following fiat currencies:
- EUR
- GBP
- USD
- CAD
- SGD
- AUD
Coinbase supports only two major cryptocurrencies at the moment – Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Coinbase Fees
Coinbase doesn’t have separate deposit and withdrawal fees, and the exchange charges percentage fees instead of fixed amounts. Bank transfers in the US carry a fee of 1.49 percent, and the funds are available in 5 to 7 days. US customers can add a credit card as a backup payment method, which will enable Coinbase instant BTC buy for up to $1,000 per week.
Credit or Debit Card payments in US, Europe, Canada and the UK cost 3.99 percent of the sum transferred, and the money is available right away.
European SEPA transfer fee is 1.49 percent, and the money is available within three days of the transfer. Xfers transfers in Singapore carry a fee of 1.49 percent as well, but the money is available immediately.
Cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals are free of charge.
When it comes to trading, Coinbase charges 1 percent flat fee per every purchase made.
Trading at Coinbase
Coinbase is a convenient and secure place to trade Bitcoins and Ethereum. The exchange has a good liquidity in both cryptocurrencies, and the trades are very fast.
They have order slip, candle charts, and variable time frames.
Coinbase doesn’t support margin trading, short selling or futures and derivates trading.
Ease of Use
The Coinbase interface is very intuitive and easy to use. The trading is always at a click or two away, with excellent website speed.
The company offers fantastic mobile products for iOS and Android, with probably the best Bitcoin exchange apps on the market today. The apps provide full functionality of the website-based exchange and require two-factor authentication combined with email verification. It allows pin locking and a unique feature which lets users disable the app at a distance in case the device is lost or stolen.
Coinbase API is also top of the line, allowing access to the exchange functionalities through a third-party app, product or service. Many merchants and traders use this API on their websites to enable Bitcoin payments.
Support Findings about Coinbase
Coinbase support is very professional, with guaranteed 24 hour email response time, which is much quicker during the work week. They also offer instant chat support which operates according to US business hours.
One of the problems we encountered with the Coinbase support is the “canned response” issue, where the support team doesn’t try hard to resolve the problem but has a series of replies sent by default, neglecting to explain the issue or to help solve it efficiently.
They also have a community, where users can post questions and get answers from other users. Their FAQ section offers little information, so it’s best to avoid it.
User Experience
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Coinbase in the Bitcoin community. Numerous complaints online include the following issues:
Tracking how users spend their cryptocurrencies
Coinbase tracks how their users spend Bitcoins. They are also inclined to close or freeze accounts of the customers that used BTC to pay for gambling, adult services, darknet stuff or any other shady business.
Affiliate reward abuse
Coinbase officially offers an excellent referral program which attracted many affiliate merchants, but there are numerous cases where the partners haven’t been paid accordingly.
Participating in cryptocurrency debates
Coinbase has a history of taking sides in many internal Bitcoin discussions. This is okay for individuals, but the exchange of this type and size should remain neutral and simply follow the market movements instead of trying to dictate them.
Additional complaints and reasons for bad reputation are listed in this article.
Security
Coinbase offers the most robust security in the entire Bitcoin exchange market. Over 97 percent of coins are kept in cold storage. The private keys used for authorization of cold storage transactions are held in fragments between offline hard drives and paper, in different locations with backups in case of losing any pieces.
They offer two-factor authentication for logins and withdrawals and allow customization for maximum daily transaction limit. Passwords are hashed and encrypted.
They offer email notifications and use PGP email encryption.
The exchange hasn’t been hacked in the past.
Supported Payment Methods
- SEPA
- Wire Transfer
- Debit Card
- Credit Card
- iDeal
- SOFORT
- Paypal
Supported Countries
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Armenia, Bahrain, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man,Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Virgin Islands, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America
Coinbase Review Conclusion
Coinbase is one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges and the largest Bitcoin storing company in the world. It holds over 600,000 customer wallets, and it’s integrated into the US banking system.
Pros
- High liquidity
- Integrated debit and credit cards
- Newbie friendly
Cons
- Major violations of users privacy
- High Trading Fees for < $50k Trading / Month
- Puts investors before customers
Coinbase may be the largest Bitcoin broker service in the world, but advanced traders may want to look for a more reliable option.
Do you have good or bad experiences with this Bitcoin Exchange? Please share them!
Go to Coinbase.com
Had a very unpleasant experience!!! This is a good company as long as you don’t try to withdraw your funds from their platform. Because if you do, you’re going to have a problem. They will keep coming up with all kinds of silly excuses for why you can’t take your money out. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon gavibrenaid.com, a company that helps track down scams and recover lost funds and bitcoins. With their help, I was able to get my funds back.
I have been trying to unlock my account for about a month now. Cant speak to a real person, starting to believe that it is a SCAM. The SEC should do a little more research before listing on the exchange
Coinbase is a bad company.
Support is very badly, not solve the issues ,,,there is a lot of issues with widraws.
stay far from this company. It seems a scam.
One of the worst company to deal with.
When it comes to profit withdrawel you are asked to keep on making massive payments in order to get your profit which never gets paid out to you.
The computor system is rigged to keep asking you for more money to get your profit . But it never happens.
They promsise that you will get your profit if you make a payment but it does not stop there. The system is so corrupt that it will keep on asking you to make payments . And no profit gets paid out.
They ase a fraud company.Please avoid investing in this company.
I thought I would have had a good experience and hopfully profitable with Coinbase. No such luck! Coinbase are the biggest scammers. I was told by Coinbase that my account has a negative balance, and until that negative balance is satisfied I am not able to get the remainder of my funds back. DO NOT EVER USE COINBASE. THEY SHOULD BE SUED! I feel so sorry for all the people who are victims.
Does it work at south africa
I am still amazed at the speed with which I was paid when i bought bitcoins at coinsfix ,com. I am really satisfied and I recommend this website to anyone who wants to buy bitcoins fast and at very low fees.
For me is an excellent experince i generate profit up to 40 000 USD , only for this week , thank GOD
Coinbase (CONbase) Debit Card
Just received the coinbase Debit Card through the post (a debit card with credit card fees). Just one problem, Coinbase (CONbase) won’t let me make deposits. So can’t put money in my GBP wallet and can’t buy cryptocurrency. I will now reside this new unactivated card to the history books. Just as I predict the company behind it will be in the near future.
Coinbase (CONbase) is a unpredictable and untrustworthy waste of time.
Read my previous review for further information.
The fake negative reviews on here are ridiculous! CoinBase is fine, it holds your transaction for 14 days when you first set up, which is annoying, but it’s a legitimate business and isn’t scamming anybody.
Yes, it works… Their live chat support can even help you through the process…. I successfully traded bitcoins at furcoins….great exchange platform.
big scam. i try withdraw my money by more then twon months and is impossible. I contact them, but was useless. i’m not alone, anyway. see that link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375245.0
I wouldn’t recommend Coinbase for new users who just want to buy $10-100 bucks of Bitcoin.
-You get less bitcoin than on other sites.
-You can’t see how much unless you have actually deposited fiat.
-GDAX is cheaper to buy Bitcoin, but it needs two idententity cards and not everybody has those.
Warning!!!! Dozens of Wire Transfers missing from Coinbase!
Hundred of Thousands to Millions of Dollars in Wire Transfers missing from Coinbase Accounts and not returned to Customers.
Before wiring anything please see the Coinbase Reddit Forum!
I had a terrible experience with Coinbase. Coinbase opportunistically went down during the most active and profitable moment during the announcement of the Bitcoin ETF on March 10th. The exchange was reacting fishy locking me out during the time when bitcoins price dropped to its lowest point in months.. coincidence? I don’
I love trading (buy or sell) bitcoins at furcoins because of their fast and safe service delivery.
Coinbase fucking scammed me and stole my money. I almost gave up on cryptocurrencies until I came across furcoins.com where I successfully bought over $10,000 worth bitcoins and I got the bitcoins in less than 24 hours.
Coinbase fucking scammed me and stole my money. I almost gave up on cryptocurrencies until I came across furcoins.com where I successfully bought over $10,000 worth bitcoins and I got the bitcoins in less than 24 hours.
Support is very bad. I have been waiting for months to get my money back and to have an answer.
It has been like this for long time, probably a year. I had other issues with their platform and it took ages to get an answer.
I can’t believe a company like this is performing so bad. I don’t understand it.
I wouldn’t recommend it at all.
Coinbase is total scam! I buy from liviacoins.com nearly every day and they provide a great service and the nice part is their service is available worldwide.
Coinbase has been down several times lately! When things get hot, it doesn’t work anymore. Also, SEPA has been disabled.
I had a terrible experience with Coinbase. Coinbase opportunistically went down during the most active and profitable moment during the announcement of the Bitcoin ETF on March 10th. The exchange was reacting fishy locking me out during the time when bitcoins price dropped to its lowest point in months.. coincidence? I don’t think this was an accident. When I was able to log back in the price of bitcoin was conveniently higher and for the first time when i tried to place buy orders in large quantities their system said I didn’t not have enough funds to cover the transaction – when in fact i did. I ended up loosing over 3-4k that day thanks to their buggy system – of which only acted buggy during the most profitable time frame for investors.