Key Features

Coinbase is a feature-rich platform and offers a variety of products and services to Australian users including crypto staking and borrowing. Below is a quick overview of the platform's key features.

  1. Trade over 80 coins on the Coinbase Australia platform
  2. Stake nine tokens including Ethereum and Tether for APY (yields) up to 5.75%.
  3. Spend any of the supported tokens on purchases with the Coinbase Crypto card.
  4. Store hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrencies and dApps on the Coinbase Wallet.
  5. Borrow up to $1,000,000 from Coinbase by using Bitcoin as collateral with 8.7% APR with no credit checks are required.
  6. Buy and sell thousands of NFTs through the Coinbase NFT marketplace.
  7. Learn and earn rewards for taking quizzes and courses about crypto and NFTs.
  8. Join the exclusive Coinbase One program to access zero trading fees, $1M account protection, and 24/7 priority customer support.
  9. Use Coinbases professional trading platform, Coinbase Prime for an advanced trading experience.
  10. 24/7 customer support via live chat, email, phone, and through its online communities.
  11. Multiple AUD deposit methods including PayID, Bank Transfer, Osko, Credit Card, and Debit Card.
Coinbase Australia.
Coinbase Australia.

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Fees

Unfortunately as Coinbase in the United States, it doesn't have many deposit methods available for its Australian investors. At the moment, you can deposit AUD via PayID, Bank Transfer, Osko, Credit or Debit card. The fee is 3.99% for card deposits but bank transfers and PayID are free.

Trading fees however are more expensive and there is a flat fee of 1% on all trades. This is in addition to the platforms spread which varies between 1% - 3%, which is considerably higher than most exchanges. The maker/taker rebate is 0.6%/0.4%, this is extremely high compared to most derivatives trading platforms.

If you would like to avoid the high fees on Coinbase, we would recommend using an Australian crypto exchange like CoinSpot, which offers multiple free AUD deposit methods like POLi and provide low trading fees starting from 0.1%.

Coinbase: Fees.
Coinbase: Fees.

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Security

Since they were founded in 2012, Coinbase has never been hacked or faced any serious security breaches. It requires users to KYC in order to use their platform and recommends using 2FA to protect accounts and follows (and leads) industry best practices. For example, it keeps the majority of customer funds in cold storage.

The company claims to hold less than 2% of customer funds online, the remaining is stored in offline cold storage - away from possible online breaches. They said if they were to suffer a breach of the online storage, "the insurance policy would pay out to cover any customer funds lost as a result."

Coinbase: Security.
Coinbase: Security.

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Customer Support

Coinbase has 24/7 customer support through a variety of channels including live chat, email, phone, and through its online communities. You can get help from Coinbase staff directly on the platforms social media platforms including Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

Coinbase: Contact Us.
Coinbase: Contact Us.

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Coinbase Prime

Coinbase Prime, previously known as Pro or GDAX, is the advanced trading platform of Coinbase for professional traders. It gives investors access to more trading types, notably limit and stop orders, which are unavailable on the main Coinbase exchange. It is perfect for experienced traders and institutional clients.

Coinbase Prime.
Coinbase Prime.

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Mobile App

Coinbase is also available on mobile phones and tablets, with apps for both Android and Apple devices. It gives investors access to the same features as their desktop website, including the ability to trade/stake crypto and buy NFTs. The Coinbase app is rated 4.7 stars from 1.7 million reviews and ranked #37 overall in the Finance category on the Apple App Store. On the Google Play Store, it is rated 4.1 stars from 740K reviews.

Coinbase: Mobile App.
Coinbase: Mobile App.


Coinbase Crypto Card

The Coinbase Crypto card is a debit card that allows you to instantly spend your crypto directly from your Coinbase account. It works with Visa, allowing you to use your crypto for everyday purchases like groceries, gas, and bills. The Coinbase card allows users to spend any of the supported tokens on the platform for purchases, not just Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Coinbase Crypto Card.
Coinbase Crypto Card.


How to open an account on Coinbase

Opening an account on Coinbase is a relatively easy process, however, it may take up to two days to access your account while KYC (identity verification) takes place. Follow the below guide to open an account with Coinbase.

  1. Go to Coinbase and sign up with your name and email address.
  2. Verify your email address and complete the identity verification process.
  3. You will receive an email confirming you have completed KYC requirements.
How to open an account on Coinbase.
How to open an account on Coinbase.

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The Bottom Line

Coinbase is a solid choice for trading crypto, it has some great features like its mobile app and integrated crypto card. However, it does come with some high fees compared to other Australian exchanges like CoinSpot which offer lower trading and deposit fees. For Australian investors and traders, we recommend using CoinSpot as it is tailored for Aussie traders.