How can I deposit cash into a Coinbase account?

You can deposit money into your Coinbase account through either the web-based platform or the mobile app, and there are several ways to do it. You can add cash from a linked bank account, or you can send a wire transfer, which may be preferable for large amounts of money. You can also deposit money via PayPal.

How do I withdraw money from Coinbase?

There are several ways that you can withdraw money (U.S. dollars) from your Coinbase account. You can withdraw to a linked bank account, which will take three to five business days, or you can withdraw via wire transfer, which cuts the process to as little as one business day. You can also withdraw money instantly to a bank account (for a fee), use a debit card, or instantly withdraw money to your PayPal account.

How much can I make from cryptocurrency staking?

The short answer is that it depends on several factors, including the platform you use and the type of cryptocurrency you're pledging. Generally, staking rewards are expressed in annualized percentages, similar to the yields from a savings account or CD, and staking yields can range from 4% to as high as 10%, depending on the conditions.

Coinbase Review: Kinda Clunky, Still the Safest

This content is accurate as of Feb. 19, 2024

We do our best to keep on top of all the latest developments. However, please be aware that the fast-paced nature of the cryptocurrency world means there may be shifts in fees, specific services, and the numbers of available cryptos. Check out our list of the best cryptocurrency apps and exchanges for the most up-to-date information on the platforms we recommend.

Coinbase has a wide selection of cryptocurrencies, a user-friendly design, and helpful educational content. For more experienced crypto investors, it also offers advanced trading tools, as well as the ability to earn free cryptocurrencies by staking or learning about cryptocurrencies. Thanks to those benefits and its top-notch security, Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Read our full Coinbase review to see if it's the exchange for you.

Ratings Methodology

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.

4.50/5

Bottom Line

A go-to exchange for new and seasoned crypto investors, Coinbase offers a vast array of cryptocurrencies and is easy to use. Its educational content is especially impressive and gives you the opportunity to earn free cryptocurrency.

Fees:

Variable fees (Coinbase), 0%-1.20% (Coinbase Advanced Trade), $29.99 monthly (Coinbase One)

Account Minimum:

$2

Open Account for Coinbase

Alternatives to consider

Offer	Kraken	Uphold
Rating	Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars. 4.00/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.	Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars. 4.00/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.
Commissions	$10 purchase minimum, other fees charged on a per-service basis. 0.0% - 0.40% maker-taker fees on Kraken Pro	0% commission, variable spread
Next Steps	Open Account for Kraken Read Full Review	Open Account for Uphold Read Full Review

Full Coinbase review

This cryptocurrency exchange is a good fit for: Crypto investors and traders of all skill levels who want a solid all-around platform for buying, storing, and selling cryptocurrencies.

Pros

Extensive cryptocurrency selection
Simple and advanced trading
Earn free crypto
Educational content
Top-rated mobile app
Crypto rewards
Offers Coinbase debit card

Cons

Complex fee structure
High fees on certain transactions

Top perks

Extensive cryptocurrency selection

There aren't many cryptocurrency exchanges, especially for U.S. investors, that can compete with Coinbase's selection. It offers nearly 250 types of cryptocurrency for trading, ranging from Bitcoin (BTC) and other major coins to smaller and newer digital tokens.

Simple and advanced trading

Coinbase provides separate simple and advanced trading tools that you can access from your account. The simple trade option has a straightforward design that's easy to use. Advanced trading offers more features, including charts, a live order book, and limit orders.

One downside is that simple trades have much higher fees that are less transparent. For that reason, we recommend placing trades using the advanced trade option. Keeping fees to a minimum is important when investing in cryptocurrency.

Earn free crypto

One of the cooler features on this exchange is Coinbase Earn, where you can earn free crypto in exchange for completing educational modules about it. Even though you won't earn a lot this way, modules can be completed in under a minute, and it's a fun way to learn more about different cryptocurrencies.

Educational content

Coinbase maintains an impressive library of educational resources, including crypto basics, tips and tutorials, and market updates. Want an easy-to-follow but thorough introduction to Bitcoin? A guide to the tax implications of cryptocurrency investing? Coinbase has you covered on these topics and many more.

Mobile app

Just like the web platform, the Coinbase mobile app is a user-friendly way to buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrency. It has high ratings on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, so it's a great option if you plan to do any mobile crypto trading.

Crypto rewards

You can earn interest on several cryptocurrencies through your Coinbase account. Coinbase pays interest on certain stablecoins, such as USD Coin (USDC), automatically. It also allows you to stake certain cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). If you stake your crypto, you'll earn rewards on it. Note that eligibility varies depending on your region and the cryptocurrency. Coinbase also offers the ability to earn rewards if you are willing to take a short course on cryptocurrencies.

LEARN MORE: What Is Staking in Crypto?

Coinbase debit card

If you have a Coinbase account, you can apply for a Coinbase Card. This prepaid Visa debit card is linked to your Coinbase account balance, allowing you to spend cryptocurrencies. The Coinbase Card also offers crypto rewards and lets you choose which crypto you earn from a rotating list. You can earn up to 4% back this way.

RELATED: Best Crypto Credit Cards

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What could be improved

Complex fee structure

Fees on Coinbase are unnecessarily complicated and confusing. The exchange uses different trading fee structures depending on whether you use its simple trade or advanced trade option.

Although fees on advanced trades are reasonable and simple enough to understand, simple trades cost more, and you only see the fee amount to be charged when you preview the transactions. There's a major lack of fee transparency when it comes to simple trades, and Coinbase says that fees vary based on factors such as the size of the order and market conditions. It'd be much easier for users if Coinbase adopted the same fees for all types of crypto trades, like many other exchanges do.

As of February 2024, Coinbase offers the subscription tier Coinbase One. For $30 a month, you get zero trading fees and a handful of perks. Users are still on the hook for spread fees (determined by market conditions), and after you buy and sell currency worth $10,000 in a month, trading fees apply. For what it's offering, the subscription seems thin. Especially since you can trade major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum for $0 commision fees on other crypto-friendly brokerages.

CHECK OUT OTHER OPTIONS: Best Cryptocurrency Apps and Exchanges

High fees on simple trades and staking

There are a few areas where Coinbase's fees are expensive. Simple trades have high fees that aren't readily available until you're about to place a transaction. This is especially true for smaller transactions (below $200). Advanced trades are much cheaper, so you can at least save money using that option. However, it's frustrating that you need to use a more advanced trading tool just to get the best deals on Coinbase, especially if you prefer the simple trade interface.

Coinbase also takes a big cut if you use its staking services. When you stake cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, it charges a 25%-35% commission. That's more than you'd typically pay if you staked cryptocurrency yourself.

Limited rewards opportunities

We like that Coinbase allows you to earn rewards, but you can only do so with a somewhat small selection of cryptocurrencies. There are exchanges with better rewards programs, including exchanges that offer higher rates and that allow you to earn interest on a larger number of digital assets.

How Coinbase works

Coinbase allows users to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency. It accepts several payment methods, including ACH transfers from a bank account, debit cards, money wires, and PayPal. ACH transfers are the most cost-effective option, because you can deposit money from a bank account without any extra fees.

This crypto exchange offers quite a few features, including:

Simple and advanced trading options
A debit card to spend crypto and earn crypto rewards
Ways earn free crypto by completing educational modules or through crypto staking (more on that in a bit)

It also offers Coinbase Wallet, a digital crypto wallet. The advantage of keeping your crypto in a wallet instead of on an exchange like Coinbase is that you'll have full control over it. Note that you don't need to be a client to use Coinbase Wallet. It's available free of charge to anyone and can store both cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Coinbase Earn

There are two ways to earn additional cryptocurrencies on Coinbase's platform. The first is staking, which essentially means that you're pledging your coins to help process payments on the blockchain. The actual behind-the-scenes process that happens with crypto staking is quite complex -- but the main point is that by allowing your cryptocurrencies to be used in this way, you can earn rewards of newly minted coins.

Coinbase also offers learning rewards, which allow users to learn about how new cryptocurrencies work and get paid for their time. Most of the modules currently listed on the site offer rewards ranging from $2 to $24.

Fees overview

Coinbase's trading fees are complex and depend on several different factors, starting with the trading tool you choose. The exchange offers a simple trade and advanced trade option and charges different fee amounts for each one.

Advanced trade is recommended, because it has much cheaper fees. It uses a tiered fee table based on your trading volume. The table also has a maker-taker model, where orders that aren't filled immediately incur a maker fee, because they add liquidity to the order book. Orders that are filled immediately incur a taker fee, because they take liquidity.

Here's the Coinbase fee schedule for advanced trades:

30-DAY TRADING VOLUME IN U.S. DOLLARS	MAKER FEE	TAKER FEE
Less than $1,000	0.60%	0.80%
$1,000 to $9,999	0.35%	0.55%
$10,000 to $49,999	0.25%	0.40%
$50,000 to $499,000	0.15%	0.25%
$500,000 to $999,000	0.10%	0.20%
$1,000,000 to $14,999,999	0.07%	0.16%
$15,000,000 to $74,999,999	0.05%	0.14%
$75,000,000 to $249,999,999	0.02%	0.10%
$250,000,000 or more	0.00%	0.08%

Data source: Coinbase.

Coinbase doesn't publish upfront fee amounts for simple trades. Instead, a fee is charged and there is a spread between the quoted buy and sell prices on the site. You'll be able to see the fees and spread when you're previewing an order.

It charges additional fees for certain payment methods, such as debit cards and PayPal. purchases made through an ACH transfer from a bank account or funds in your Coinbase USD Wallet won't have any extra fees.

Coinbase One users pay $30 monthly to get $0 trading fees, up to $10,000 per month. But spread fees may apply -- these are determined by the market, so there's no way to know them until you place a trade. It may be worth purchasing the subscription if the following apply to you:

You pay more than $30 per month in fees and trade less than $10,000 monthly.
You want to earn a competitive APY on your USDC balance.
You prefer to trade niche currencies on a big brokerage without trading fees.

Cryptocurrency selection

Coinbase has one of the most impressive cryptocurrency selections, with about 250 cryptocurrencies available for trading. Most of the market leaders, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano (ADA), are on Coinbase. It also has just about every type of cryptocurrency, including serious projects, meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), and smaller tokens.

Although Coinbase doesn't have everything, there aren't any major gaps in its lineup. This exchange is also proactive about adding new cryptocurrencies for investors to check out.

See if Coinbase has the crypto you want: Cryptocurrency Availability: Where Can You Buy Your Favorite Tokens?

Is your cryptocurrency safe with Coinbase?

Your cryptocurrency is safe with Coinbase, as it's one of the most secure exchanges. It stores the majority of client funds in cold storage, meaning those assets are stored in devices that aren't connected to the internet. This provides greater security against hackers, making it the method of choice for secure cryptocurrency storage.

LEARN MORE: What Is Cold Storage in Crypto?

Coinbase carries crime insurance that covers assets stored online. Cash balances stored in Coinbase accounts are covered by FDIC insurance up to a maximum of $250,000 per customer, just like assets held in a savings or checking account at a bank.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is required on all Coinbase accounts for added security. You also have the option of whitelisting withdrawal addresses so your crypto can only be withdrawn to addresses on your whitelist. For those who want even more security, Coinbase offers vaults, which require that withdrawals have a 48-hour waiting period and the approval of one or more designated parties.

Coinbase has an excellent track record, but it did have a security incident in 2021. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in its SMS account recovery tool to steal funds from over 6,000 clients. Coinbase fixed the issue and reimbursed those clients in full.

Coinbase is right for you if:

You want a top-notch trading platform, user-friendly mobile app, and access to a wide variety of cryptocurrencies to buy and sell.
You're new to cryptocurrencies and looking for a platform with plenty of educational resources. You're interested in opportunities to earn free crypto, including staking and educational programs.

FAQs

You can deposit money into your Coinbase account through either the web-based platform or the mobile app, and there are several ways to do it. You can add cash from a linked bank account, or you can send a wire transfer, which may be preferable for large amounts of money. You can also deposit money via PayPal.
There are several ways that you can withdraw money (U.S. dollars) from your Coinbase account. You can withdraw to a linked bank account, which will take three to five business days, or you can withdraw via wire transfer, which cuts the process to as little as one business day. You can also withdraw money instantly to a bank account (for a fee), use a debit card, or instantly withdraw money to your PayPal account.
The short answer is that it depends on several factors, including the platform you use and the type of cryptocurrency you're pledging. Generally, staking rewards are expressed in annualized percentages, similar to the yields from a savings account or CD, and staking yields can range from 4% to as high as 10%, depending on the conditions.

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