Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro vs Coinbase Wallet

Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro vs Coinbase Wallet. If you’re trying to pick between the three, this article can help!

Back in June 2012, a former Airbnb engineer, Brian Armstong, founded Coinbase with a $150,000 cash infusion from Y Combinator and a mission of increasing economic freedom in the world. The timing couldn’t have been better since networks like Litecoin and Ethereum had started coming into the picture in 2011.

By 2012, the adoption of cryptocurrencies was on the rise and Coinbase was riding the wave as the main cryptocurrency on-ramp.

Coinbase The Public Company – COIN stock

The company has raised $540M across 15 equity financings since its inception. In April of 2021, the company went public with the ticker COIN. Nasdaq set a reference price of $250 per share but by the end of the first day of trading, it had gone up to $328.28 per share.

Over the years, Coinbase has built a loyal customer base and has become one of the most trusted names in the digital currency industry. In this article, we’re going to take a look at (and compare) its 3 main consumer-focused products: the Coinbase app, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase wallet.

What is the Coinbase app?

The Coinbase app is the most popular product offering from the company. It allows users to buy, sell, and store digital currencies in a secure and easy-to-use platform. The app also provides real-time market data and analytics to help users make informed investment decisions. Coinbase App also allows users to directly connect their Coinbase account with their bank account for easy transfers.

Coinbase was one of the first mainstream onramps of its kind, which has given it an edge over competitors like Binance which came around in 2017.

How many cryptocurrencies are available on Coinbase?

From Bitcoin and Ethereum to Solana and Polygon, the app supports almost every major cryptocurrency. Find a complete list of cryptocurrency assets supported by Coinbase here.

Check out more coin pairings available in our KuCoin Review

What Fees Does Coinbase App Charge For Buying and Selling?

When it comes to trading fees, you can expect to pay a maximum of 0.60% as a taker and 0.40% as a maker. In addition to that, there is a flat fee on transactions. See the table below for the fee structure:

$10 or less	$0.99
More than $10, less than or equal to $25	$1.49
More than $25, less than or equal to $50	$1.99
More than $50, less than or equal to $200	$2.99

That is relatively high compared with similar crypto platforms but if you’re a casual trader, it is totally worth the convenience of trading in fiat. For a full list of fees, feel free to check this out!

Borrowing Money on Coinbase App

In addition to trading, you can borrow as much as 40% of the value of the Bitcoin in your account. And that is up to a whopping $1,000,000! This borrowed cash is transferred to your bank account or PayPal with no fees. You can pay off the interest due each month with the minimum amount to be paid at around $10. The rest of it can be paid when you want to (as long as it’s within 2 years of borrowing). The Bitcoin that you use as collateral is safely held by Coinbase and isn’t lent out or used for other purposes.

Outside of the US and looking to trade with leverage – learn about Binance and their crypto derivatives.

Terms and Conditions to Borrowing Money on Coinbase

If you’re residing in Nebraska or Virginia, you can only borrow $100,000. But if you’re residing in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, you can borrow $1,000,000.

The minimum amount you can borrow in most states is $100 except for Ohio, where the minimum is $1,001, and Arizona and California where the minimum is $10,001.

Borrowing Money on Coinbase Interest and Collateral Ratio

As the value of your BTC increases, you can draw additional money from your credit line. That said, the total borrowed amount must remain under 40% of the value of the BTC you hold.

Based on the outstanding principal amount of your loan and the daily interest rate (calculated by dividing the APR by 366), the interest is accrued on a daily basis. And on the 1st of each month, the interest accrued in the previous month is charged to your account. Before the 1st of the month, if you’ve paid any amount, it is applied to the principal loan amount, lowering your interest for the rest of the months.

The payment for the interest needs to be made by the 15th. Failing to pay by the 20th would lead to Coinbase selling enough of your BTC to cover the payment and an additional 2% of the total transaction.

Fixed Term Borrowing on Coinbase

This was the line of credit loan that Coinbase offers. The platform also offers fixed-term loans of up to 30% of your BTC balance (max $100,000). The minimum amount for this is $2,000. Repayment for this needs to be done by the 10th of each month. If not done by the 15th, the results would be the same as the line of credit loan.

If you want to know more about the loans, check this out!

What is Coinbase Pro?

While the Coinbase app is geared toward beginners, Coinbase Pro is geared toward advanced traders. The platform provides fee discounts for those with a high trading volume.

Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro: Fees

What really seals the deal is the real-time charting tools it provides with moving averages and exponential moving averages. Moreover, unlike the Coinbase app, you aren’t charged any fee on the transactions. That said, it does have a variable fee structure for trading. Look at this table to learn more about it:

Pricing Tier	Taker Fee	Maker Fee
$0 – 10K	0.60%	0.40%
$10K – 50K	0.40%	0.25%
$50K – 100K	0.25%	0.15%
$100K – 1M	0.20%	0.10%
$1M – 20M	0.18%	0.08%
$20M – 100M	0.15%	0.05%
$100M – 300M	0.10%	0.02%
$300M – 500M	0.08%	0.00%
$500M+	0.05%	0.00%

Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro: Featured Coins

Adding to the list of benefits of using Coinbase Pro is the fact that it supports more than 250 cryptocurrencies as opposed to Coinbase’s 107. Check out the supported markets here.

Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro: User Interface

One of the biggest differences between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro is its user interface. Since Coinbase is geared toward beginners, the interface is pretty simple. But when it comes to Coinbase Pro, the interface is somewhat complex. Now, if you’re an experienced trader, you would find it pretty handy, but if you’re just starting out, you might find it overwhelming.

That said, the sheer amount of data that it presents right from the get-go is quite useful for experienced traders.

Is Coinbase Pro Better than Coinbase?

So, is it better than Coinbase? Depends. If you’re an active trader who would benefit from more trading options, a simple fee structure, and user-friendly (yet comprehensive) charts, you would love Coinbase Pro. But if you’re looking for a simple interface with just enough options to get you started, the Coinbase app might be the right choice for you.

Coinbase Pro vs Coinbase – Which is Safer?

With industry-standard security features like cold storage (where 98% of the customer funds are stored), AES-256 encryption for digital wallets, biometric fingerprint logins, and two-step verification, Coinbase Pro is the safer option.

Another option for high volume crypto traders is FTX.

Coinbase Customer Support

Both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro allow you to connect with them for support from the contact page. The available options are email and phone. You could also check their Twitter support page for account-related support and updates.

What is the Coinbase Wallet?

The Coinbase Wallet is a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet software that keeps your digital assets secure. It has multi-currency support. Coinbase wallet is available as a web app, Android and iOS app.

Coinbase Wallet vs Coinbase Pro & Coinbase – Custody

When your wallet is on Coinbase or Coinbase Pro, the platform has your private keys. But with the Coinbase Wallet, you have the private keys and have complete control over how you use your funds.

Attacks like the one that famously drove Mt Gox defunct are only effective when a third party is entrusted with private keys. This centralizes all users’ funds and makes for a large honey pot for hackers.

Furthermore, since a centralized entity owns these accounts – governments can order funds to be frozen or shut down.

Storing your crypto on the Coinbase Wallet puts security in your hands – which is a good and bad thing. The good news is – no one can freeze your account.

The bad news, if you lose your seedphrase – you lose your coins. There’s no customer service to help you when it comes to Coinbase wallet. ALWAYS WRITE DOWN YOUR SEEDPHRASE AND STORE IT SOMEWHERE OFFLINE AND SAFE. NEVER SHARE IT WITH ANYONE INCLUDING SOMEONE CLAIMING TO BE COINBASE SUPPORT.

True Access To The Blockchain – Coinbase Wallet + DeFi

Having control of your own keys isn’t the only reason the Coinbase Wallet is great. In addition to security, you have the feature of storing basically any ERC20 token in the wallet.

This also opens up the world of DeFi and Decentralized Exchanges (DEXes) for you. So, if you want to trade tokens on Uniswap or crypto perpetuals on dydx, you can do so with the Coinbase Wallet. You can also store your NFTs in the wallet.

Coinbase wallet is a non-custodial decentralized solution that gives users “true access to the blockchain”. Again, if you lose your password, and don’t have your seedphrase, you’re in trouble. That is the only way for you to recover your wallet.

With the Coinbase Wallet, you can use the “real blockchain” instead of sticking to a centralized ledger (which is what Coinbase and Coinbase Pro essentially are). This, in no way, means that a centralized ledger is bad. But if you want to explore the world of blockchain beyond a centralized ledger, the option is now open to you.

Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro vs Coinbase Wallet – The Verdict

It wouldn’t be right to crown a winner between coinbase vs coinbase pro vs coinbase wallet. Each platform serves a specific purpose.

If you’re just starting out and want to keep it simple by buying a few of the major cryptocurrencies and hodling, go for Coinbase.

But if you’re more experienced and want to trade on a regular/day-trading basis in a more traditional environment with low fees, go for Coinbase Pro.

And if you want to truly explore the blockchain and the world of DeFi, DEXes, and more, go for the Coinbase Wallet!

The options aren’t mutually exclusive. Many users use them all both for their utility and to spread their risk among platforms.

Best of luck and we’re excited for you to get started. Thank you!