For those of you who aren't familiar with coinbase, coinbase is one of the most popular and recommended websites for those who are looking to get into crypto-currencies. But if you are new to crypto, you may be wondering, is this right for me and should I use it. In this review, I will give as much of a non-bias view of the pros and cons of coinbase.
If you do decide Coinbase is right for you, please use the link below to setup your account.
https://www.coinbase.com/join/58191df1d4a82e008ae02e8e
1.Ease of Use
To those who are trying to get into crypto, coinbase is very easy to use when you are trying to buy/sell crypto, but hard and annoying to setup. Below is a brief outline of the setup
Step 1: Create account
Step 2: Email verification
Step 3: Add a bank account or credit card.
-Credit Card: Put in your Credit card information and verify the card
-Bank Account: Need to get your routing & account number.
-Once added you will have to choose instant or deposit verification. Instant you login via a web portal, deposit takes 2-3 days via snail mail
Step 4: Verify Phone Number (This will require you to use your phone on login)
Step 5: The Next Step is to buy your currency. If you use your credit card, there is a $100 limit per week, which is the biggest drawback. If you use your bank account, you can spend up to $2500, but takes 1 week to get the coins.
-Note you can increase your weekly limit, but you have to submit government ID's for verification
Step 6: Once they go into your account, you can either store on the website or send them to an external wallet (recommended).
2.Wallet Security
Overall the wallet system is somewhat secure, but because they are online they are susceptible to hacking and are technically held in the hands of coinbase. For Bitcoin, you can store your coins in a vault which requires a couple day limit to withdraw the coins if you choose, but be warned that unless you hold the private key of the coins you don't really own them. (For wallet setup guides, please see the video's at the bottom for tutorials)
3.Buying and Selling
Although I talked a bit about this in part one, there are a few pros and cons with buying and selling on coinbase.
-1)It is highly probable the government has access to coinbase's records, meaning they may be able to audit you
-2)There is a small fee that coinbase charges over spot price
-3)The interface is very user friendly
-4)Easy to buy and sell once setup
-5)Easy to send
-6)Can Set automatic payments to buy crypto-coins
*Note coinbase restrics use in some countries
4.Reputation
If you google coinbase you will probably notice it either has very good reviews and very bad reviews. The reason for this is is because coinbase works closely with the banks, and because they make your information accessible to the government and sets capital limits on buying/selling, many people are put off by this and right about it.
On the flip-side, if you go to any person in crypto, by default 99% of them will recommend you go to coinbase because it's ease of use (once setup) to buy and sell coins
5.Rating
If you are new to crypto, unfortunately coinbase is really the only real option to use right now that is reputable. With it's slick interface it is very easy to buy and sell bitcoin. On the other hand as soon as you buy/sell anything, the government will no it and will potentially audit you if you don't declare it on your taxes.
In my opinion, until their is a better option, coinbase should be what use to dive into crypto.
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Wallet Setups
Ethereum Wallet Setup: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzB3eLRQvCJ23s6p_O8GIoImtR3M9IN5p
Bitcoin Wallet Setup: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzB3eLRQvCJ3yku2Sm7ujZdfGz96thRXG