This article focuses on the Coinbase ecosystem. After reading to the end, you will learn how to sign up and work with a cryptocurrency exchange platform, get acquainted with other related Coinbase products, as well as the company behind the development of the popular cryptocurrency platform.
General information about the exchange
Coinbase was founded in 2012. The headquarters are located in San Francisco, USA. The platform provides a simple coin exchange mechanism and supports popular payment methods such as bank cards, transfers and even PayPal. The web resource was developed by partners Brian Armstrong, Fred Ersam and Ben Reeves. More than $ 1 billion was required to realize the idea of creating an “open financial system for the whole world”, for which well-known investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital and Union Square Ventures were attracted.
The exchange began selling mostly bitcoin directly to US customers. Over time, the functionality of the platform becomes wider and wider. There are now over 20 cryptocurrencies and over 59 active markets. The site has been translated into many languages. Exchange services are available in over 100 countries.
The Coinbase team claims to have served nearly 30 million customers since 2012 and have sold over $ 150 billion in currencies during its existence. One of the company’s products, the Coinbase PRO exchange, is in the TOP-100 of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of trade volume.
The scale of the platform is also demonstrated by its international expansion – it is supported in more than 100 countries: African countries, India, Indonesia, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, most of the European Union, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, etc.
Users from countries that are not included in the list of partners of the platform cannot pass verification and buy cryptocurrency using the service. They have access to the platform’s internal wallet and the right to send and receive coins to the storage address.
The exchange has been offering its services for a long time, it is fully regulated and has all the necessary licenses. The daily volume of trade with it exceeds $ 252 million. In total there are over 30 million users.
Coinbase supports 23 types of digital coins, including: Bitcoin (BTC); Ethereum (ETH); Ripple (XRP); Litecoin (LTC); Bitcoin Cash (BCH); EOS (EOS); Stellar Lumens (XLM); Cosmos (Atom); Dash (DASH); Chainlink (LINK). Also on the site you can work with fiat: dollar, euro and pound.
From a regulatory standpoint, Coinbase is registered as a money service provider and complies with all anti-money laundering (AML) rules like a banking organization. The broker was the first to receive regulatory approval in half of the US states, in particular the BitLicense. This commercial license allows the entity to conduct virtual currency transactions in New York.
Since 2018, Coinbase has been authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to act as a financial services organization.
Key milestones in the history of the service.
- In 2012-2013, more than a million users have become clients of the broker.
- In 2014, the company attracted several large partners who began accepting bitcoins for the first time: Overstock, Dell, Square, Mozilla, and Wikipedia.
- In 2015, Coinbase launched the “Coinbase Exchange” exchange platform. It was later renamed GDAX and then Coinbase PRO. Also in 2015, the company received regulatory approval in half of the US states, including the New York Stock Exchange.
- 2018 has been a significant year for the company. The firm’s assets were joined by the Paradex crypto exchange, the broker-dealer Keystone Capital, as well as the startups Earn.com and Cipher Browser. An independent mobile wallet for iOS and Android was launched. Coinbase Payments has received a license from the British regulator FCA and the ability to conduct transactions with electronic money in the European Union.
- In 2019, the company began to support work with the Stellar Lumens (XLM) coin.
- In January 2020, it was announced that it was working with the Cosmos cryptocurrency (ATOM), and in March, the launch of batching bitcoin transactions.
The platform has several services:
Coinbase Pro is an exchange for advanced traders. It has many features and low fees;
Wallet – a mobile wallet for storing funds;
Earn – free distribution of cryptocurrency in exchange for taking lessons on it;
Trust is a service for companies that perform operations using a huge amount of cryptocurrency.
The platform recently added a staking feature, so far only for the cryptocurrency Tezos (XTZ). The projected estimated annual percentage is about 5%. You can find more details on this page.
How to Open an Coinbase account?
Registering with Coinbase is a very simple and easy process. First you enter your name, email and password. Confirm that you’ve reached the age of 18 while accepting the terms of various Coinbase documents.Then need to confirm your email. Coinbase asks you to enter your phone number to send you the code which you need to enter in your account. Coinbase will later use this number to send two-step verification codes. After this step, it will prompt you to enter your credentials.
The version of the official website is presented in more than 10 languages. Therefore, registration on the service does not cause any difficulties and takes only 2 minutes.
Open the home page of the site. Click on the “Create Account” button in the upper right corner.
In the form for creating an account, enter your first and last name, email address, come up with a password. Read the service rules and check the confirmation box. Tap the “Create Account” button.
Go to your mailbox indicated at registration and click on the link in an email confirmation of registration.
If you cannot find the email, check your Spam folder.
The link from the confirmation email will take you to the phone number confirmation page. Find your country in the list of countries. Enter your mobile number and click on “Send code”.
Enter the code received on the phone and tap “Send”.
Verification
Like any bank account or investment account, you must prove your identity through government identification. For US consumers, this will require a Social Security number. At this point, your Coinbase account will be created and you will then be able to add information about your bank account, credit card or debit card to activate deposits and withdrawals so that you can start trading or investing. Date of birth, address and job are also required. If necessary, send scanned copies of your passport or other ID card. The inspection takes several hours, and in some cases 1-2 days.
Coinbase Fees and Limits
As a standard there is no deposit commission, for withdrawal they take a fixed commission depending on the cryptocurrency.
Deposit / withdrawal fees depend on the currency and method of the transaction. Their size is in the range between 1.49% -3.99%.
Residents of most countries have the opportunity to work with Fiat funds. Deposits and withdrawals are possible with a credit and debit card and a bank account. Citizens of different countries have their own limits and commissions (1.49% -3.99%) for withdrawals.
Coinbase Pro trading fees start at 0.5% and go up to 0%. It all depends on the volume of transactions from the user’s account per month. Transactions are executed immediately.
Security
The exchange activities are regulated by many US structures and documents. The site uses encryption of all data according to the AES-256 standard. Users’ cryptocurrency is stored in offline repositories, they are FIPS-140 USB devices and paper copies. Which are stored in separate cages in banks and different safes in different parts of the world. In addition, the funds are fully insured.
All users must enable 2-step verification using a phone number. You can also use a Google app for this. Also, API technology is available to all users.
Coinbase Trading
The Coinbase Pro service is used for trading. It has advanced features and more favorable conditions. Several types of orders are available: market, limit and stop options.
The trading window looks like this. In the middle are graphics and order books. On the left is the portfolio balance and order form. On the right is the history of trade.
Mobile app
There is a convenient application for users of mobile devices with Android and iOS. You can download it from the respective online stores. It allows to:
- buy and sell cryptocurrency;
- exchange rate research;
- connect bank accounts;
- use commercial services;
- get acquainted with various news.
Conclusion
Coinbase is one of the oldest exchanges trusted by many consumers around the world. Its advantages include: high security, a large number of features, nice design and clean interface. The disadvantages include poor customer support, inaccessibility to most residents of the post-Soviet space, high commissions and the need for verification.