Coinbase Review Australia
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In this Coinbase review Australia, I will discuss what features the Crypto exchange offers its users. I’ll dive into how it enables users to buy and sell cryptocurrency,
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is a global cryptocurrency exchange that facilitates cryptocurrency trading. It also enables users to self custody their assets in the Coinbase wallet. As well as providing crypto backed loans and a crypto spend credit card. Not to mention an educational platform where you earn crypto while learning.
With over 73 million verified users globally and over $7billion in revenue, Coinbase is a legitimate digital currency exchange. They can provide a Coinbase account to retail investors as well as institutional investors or a business Coinbase account.
A couple of cool features offered by Coinbase include; Coinbase earn and learn, a Coinbase pro account, Coinbase card, Coinbase wallet and Coinbase borrow. I will delve into all of the features Coinbase offers later on in this Coinbase review Australia.
Use BlockFi to Trade, Earn & Borrow Crypto. It also has a Crypto rewards credit card for those looking to earn crypto while they spend.
Who owns Coinbase?
Coinbase was co-founded by the current CEO Brian Armstrong (former Airbnb Engineer) and Fred Ehrsam (former Goldman Sachs trader) in 2012. The two co-founders met on the reddit forum discussing bitcoin.They received an initial investment from the famous Y-Combinator before continuing to raise capital.
Over one third of Coinbase is owned by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Coinbase is a publicly listed company, so their financials are available as is the ownership of the business. ARK Invest has a substantial holding in the company as they are big believers in bitcoin.
Safety
How Does Coinbase Work?
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange that enables users to trade crypto and self custody. As well as make crypto backed loans, spend crypto with a debit card and earn rewards from staking. Users can set up an individual account or a business/institutional account.
Coinbase offers a self custody wallet solution to compete with the likes of Metamask or Phantom wallet. Its users can also earn rewards for staking their assets and in the US get their paycheck made in crypto.
Coinbase users can also select Coinbase Pro to access more advanced features and functionality. Although this is only advised for serious cryptocurrency traders, it can be quite confronting otherwise.
Crypto
Coinbase Review Australia – Features
Coinbase has a lot of features on offer. From Coinbase pro, to low transaction fees, crypto backed loans or a crypto spending card. Eitherway, these features suit retail investors and institutional investors alike. Please keep reading this Coinbase review Australia to learn more about the different features.
Buy & Sell
Coinbase offers over 50 cryptocurrencies for its users. The decision regarding which crypto to invest in will be solely your own, and you should seek professional help if needed. Coinbase pro users will have a more professional trading platform to use than retail investors.
You are able to buy and sell crypto with ease on the Coinbase mobile app. However, you are limited to the 50 cryptocurrencies available on the platform. Some may want greater options, in which case you could consider
The market price is available either through the Coinbase website or mobile app and you can purchase cryptocurrency via both options. With a Coinbase account you can make instant trades or set up recurring trades. These trades will be subject to trading fees. Initially Coinbase fees are on a tiered structure, but become a flat fee on trades over $200.
Coinbase Earn & Learn
This has to be one of the coolest features offered by Coinbase. Anyone with a Coinbase account can earn crypto while learning about crypto. While this doesn’t cover their entire educational content range, I still think it is pretty cool.
With Coinbase earn, you will receive crypto for watching different tutorials that Coinbase offers users. The idea being here, that you will learn more about that specific digital currency and potentially add more to your crypto wallet.
Earn & Learn
Coinbase Wallet
The Coinbase wallet is an interesting feature. This feature is trying to compete with the Metamask wallet. It is a self custody wallet solution that enables users to store thousands of digital assets, including NFT’s.
You don’t need to have a Coinbase account to have a Coinbase wallet. This wallet is its own entity and you can send assets to it from your other exchanges if you want to. Obviously Coinbase has created this feature to try and provide an all in one solution for its users.
When you create a Coinbase account, you will receive a cryptocurrency wallet, which stores your assets when you are trading. This is a separate wallet solution. The in app wallet is technically a ‘hot’ wallet. This means it is connected to the internet, and isn’t as safe as other wallet solutions. Also Coinbase is the custodian of this wallet, so they have control as opposed to their self-custody wallet.Coinbase Staking
Staking has become an interesting avenue for crypto investors to be able to earn some passive income off their crypto holdings. Staking by yourself has traditionally been quite difficult and required some technical knowledge. However, platforms like Coinbase and
With Coinbase you can
The Coinbase card
Coinbase Crypto Card
Coinbase offers a crypto spending card, which is a pretty cool feature. I personally am not ready to spend my crypto as I plan to keep accumulating as much as possible. However, I understand that we need people to use these features to get greater adoption of the technology.
The Crypto card is linked to your Coinbase account and enables you to pay for everyday items from your card. You get to select which crypto to use if you have multiple assets in your wallet. This Coinbase card can be used globally at millions of locations and can use PIN, contactless payments or be used to withdraw cash from ATMs. There may be a fee for withdrawing from ATMs and while there is no transaction fee on spending crypto, there is a spread.
Coinbase Borrow
Another feature from Coinbase is the ability to borrow fiat currency against your bitcoin. You are able to put your bitcoin up as collateral and take out a loan for fiat currency. Similar to
There are obvious risks involved with borrowing, especially using such a volatile asset as collateral. So make sure you are sure with what you are doing if this is something you are exploring.
You are able to borrow up to 40% of the value of the bitcoin in your account. Take into consideration you will need to maintain this value or face a margin call. Hence volatility can be an issue. You will need to make repayments as you would with any other type of loan. Currently the rates are 8% APR. This is very high compared to
The Coinbase Pro Account
Coinbase Pro
Coinbase Pro is a more advanced platform aimed for more active crypto traders. It has advanced charting and trading features like limit orders and stop losses. It has lower fees and trade volume based fees. While it could be interesting for new users to access this for lower fees. It is worth noting the user interface is a lot more complex and confusing for new investors.
Coinbase Review Australia- Education
One of the key things I look for in cryptocurrency platforms is their educational content. I want to see great educational content as it shows they actually care for their users. That they want them to be educated on crypto and how it works, rather than investing with no idea.
Given how confusing crypto can be, a strong educational presence can really help newcomers to the crypto industry. With Coinbase being one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally they have a big responsibility to their users. I believe they have delivered a quality educational platform.
Let’s start with the fact that their users can actually earn crypto for learning about it with Coinbase. Watching specific tutorials means you will earn some crypto just for watching and learning. That’s a pretty cool way to incentivise someone to learn!
The next thing I really liked is the sheer amount of content Coinbase has on their website. There is all the information anyone would need to learn the basics of crypto and be confident to get started investing. Not to mention some more advanced information too.
Lastly, the fact they have video tutorials is a big positive. People learn in different ways, so having video content is going to appeal to different people. Therefore making their educational platform more inclusive. I am very pleased with Coinbase and their educational content.
Coinbase Education
Coinbase Review – Fees
You should always consider fees as one of the most important factors when choosing a cryptocurrency platform. If the fees and spreads are too high, this will eat into your potential profits. So I expect transparency on fee structures from crypto platforms.
Unfortunately, Coinbase has a confusing fee structure and they aren’t very transparent with it on their help centre. Whenever a cryptocurrency exchange buys or sells digital assets for users they charge a spread. The Coinbase fee/spread is 0.5%, which in fairness is quite low. However on top of this Coinbase fee/spread there are trading fees as well.
Coinbase charges $0.99 on trading less than $10. $1.49 for trades between $10 and $25. They charge $1.99 on trades greater than $25 and up to $50. Additionally, they charge $2.99 for trades greater than $50 and up to $200. After $200, the Coinbase fee is a flat fee.
Coinbase doesn’t charge any account fees for the Coinbase crypto card, but users may be hit with high transaction fees at ATMs. Other fees Coinbase charges depend on your payment method for funding your crypto wallet from your bank account.
If you use a bank transfer as your payment method you will be charged 1.49%. Whereas, if a debit/credit card is used as the payment method a fee of over 3% is charged.
There are no account fees for using Coinbase pro. In actual fact the fees Coinbase charges are less than Coinbase Pro. The Coinbase Pro account is a great option for active traders or people wanting advanced functionality.
Coinbase Crypto
Coinbase Review – SMSF
Using a self managed super fund to invest in cryptocurrency has become a lot more popular in the last few years. You should know there are lots of rules and regulations around SMSFs, as well as additional costs.
If you don’t have an SMSF but are considering it to invest in cryptocurrency, it is worthwhile speaking to a financial professional first. Coinbase has the option for users to sign up via business accounts. However, it seems like they don’t currently have the functionality for an SMSF.
Even if they did have the ability to use an SMSF, it wouldn’t be a big focus. Given their global reach and relatively small pool of users requiring an SMSF function. Compared to platforms like
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Tax Reporting
With cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase offering users the ability to earn interest, trade frequently and make crypto backed loans. It can all get extremely confusing and complicated when it’s time to file taxes.
The days of using a spreadsheet are long gone. With extra scrutiny on cryptocurrency investors from the ATO, it is important to get it right. Fortunately there is an automated solution from Koinly that takes care of this all for your.
The Coinbase app integrates with
You trigger a capital gain event every time you dispose of an asset. Those airdrops or staking rewards you get are classed as income. Doing it yourself will become extremely difficult to get the correct cost base for these assets. Make sure you don’t get this wrong!
Koinly could be a great option to consider if you want to save yourself time and money getting ready for tax time! You can learn more about
Coinbase Review Australia – FAQ’s
Hopefully you are enjoying this Coinbase review Australia so far. In case you had further questions regarding Coinbase Australia and what Coinbase offers, I have compiled a list of FAQs below.
The Sign-up Process
If you need to set up an institutional or business account the KYC process will be slightly harder than just setting up an individual account. This is because there are more requirements to verify the entity than an individual.
Once you have signed up, you can fund your Coinbase wallet from your bank account. Either through a bank transfer or debit/credit card. Ensure you have checked the fees for each option. It is strongly suggested you set up two factor authentication with the app.
Can I trust Coinbase Australia?
Coinbase has crime insurance on digital assets, so your assets are very safe with Coinbase. Importantly, your assets aren’t covered if you lose your credentials. This is fair enough as you are responsible for securing your own passcodes.
Coinbase
Who is Coinbase for?
Gemini is a great option for both retail investors and institutional investors. Coinbase is more targeted towards the individual investor or someone that wants to keep their cryptocurrency investing simple.
Whereas Coinbase Pro is for institutional or active crypto traders. It provides them with better user friendly charting and trading features like limit orders. Additionally it has lower fees for users too. There are other cryptocurrency exchanges offering better specific features, like
Is Coinbase a wallet?
Coinbase offers users a self custody wallet, similar to a Metamask wallet. This means that the assets are always still under control of the user. From here you can use the wallet to enter the world of DeFi or NFTs.
The in app wallet however, where the assets are kept when trading is a classic hot wallet. Coinbase is the custodian of this wallet and therefore has access to the assets.
Is Coinbase legitimate?
Coinbase is a global crypto platform that has to comply with many global regulations. Their custodial accounts are insured under FDIC up to $250,000. Coinbase is also registered with FinCen and carries a Money Transmitter Licence in the US, therefore ensuring it complies with all applicable rules and regulations.
How do I trade on Coinbase?
You would need to create an account with Coinbase, and pass their KYC requirements. Once you have done that you will need to fund your Coinbase wallet from your bank account. As soon as your funds arrive you are good to start trading.
Is Coinbase Australia good?
A good cryptocurrency exchange will be determined by your goals and specific requirements. That being said, Coinbase has a versatile product offering including a wallet, trade and lending option. Not to mention a great educational platform and the ability to learn about blockchains, network fees and consensus mechanisms to name a few. Its fees are on the higher side, so take that into consideration!
What is the best crypto exchange in Australia?
The answer to this question will depend solely on what you need out of a crypto exchange. However, my favourite Australian exchanges are
Does Coinbase Australia have an app?
Yes, it is available via mobile app and also on your desktop too.
Top Shot
Is Coinbase Pro good?
Coinbase Pro actually offers better value for money than Coinbase does. However, it may be very daunting for new users or newcomers to crypto. Which is why Coinbase is the better place to start initially at least. Coinbase Pro offers better advanced trading features and lower fees.
Is Coinbase Safe?
Coinbase provides users with a self custody wallet option, so the user can take complete control of their assets if they want to. Otherwise Coinbase provides custodial services which are insured and very secure.
Is Coinbase Worth It?
Coinbase is one of the biggest global crypto platforms, with a vast array of features. So from this point of view it carries a lot of weight as a trusted platform for users. However, whether it is worth it will depend on what you seek in a crypto platform.
If you like the idea of having an all in one platform that offers, staking, self custody, crypto backed loans and a crypto spending card. Then this could definitely be a great option for you.
If you want a platform that provides yield through lending assets
Coinbase Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Self Custody solution
- Get paid crypto to learn
- Crypto backed lending feature
- High level of security and transparency
- Staking functionality
- Crypto spending card
Cons:
- Their fees are on the higher side
- Staking rewards are quite low
- There is no demo account
- The borrowing APY % is quite high
- Swyftx – Most Trusted Australian Crypto Exchange
- Celsius Network – Earn Yield On Your Crypto!
The Best Australian Crypto exchange. Trade and Stake crypto with some of the lowest fees.
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Celsius is a great platform to earn weekly yield on your crypto. It also enables you to buy, sell, swap, transfer and borrow crypto too.
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Coinbase Australia Alternatives
Coinbase provides users with a great array of features. Including crypto backed loans, a crypto spending card, staking and trading to name a few. For some these features are cool and others they may see the costs attached as a bit too high. For those people there are a few alternatives you coils also look into.
These alternative platforms include
Celsius is my favourite crypto lending platform, that offers users interest, crypto backed loans and the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Users earn weekly interest on their assets and it offers users a native token.
You can check out my
Another alternative to Coinbase is
Coinbase Review Australia – Conclusion
Coinbase has lots of features to keep all types of crypto investors happy. They cater to both experienced and new investors with a great user interface. Coinbase does have a complex fee structure and it sits on the higher end of crypto platforms. However, their overall feature offering and functionality make it a very solid option.
Digital Surge is the Cheapest place to Buy, Sell & Trade Crypto in Australia. Especially through a Trust or SMSF.
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