Before Coinbase went public, there were some articles that: Coinbase Vs Coinbase Pro – why you should buy bitcoin on coinbase pro and not coinbase, as well as the fact that Coinbase relies almost entirely on high transaction fees for the bulk of its revenue.
During the earnings call, Coinbase offered three different levels of guidance accounting for how the crypto market might perform over the coming months.
Coinbase offers a simple consumer platform and a professional trading platform. While the latter used to be called GDAX, in 2018, it was rebranded as Coinbase Pro. This has led to confusion, as many people now refer to consumer and expert trading platforms as “Coinbase.” So let’s take a quick look at each and determine the difference between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro.
Coinbase Vs Coinbase Pro: Basic Overview
Below are the homepages for each platform. The core difference is that Coinbase appears very simple, while Coinbase Pro can appear fairly intimidating. But all trades take place on the Coinbase Pro engine, with Coinbase offering significantly higher fees for that simplistic interface.
Coinbase
- Available at coinbase.com or through the Coinbase app.
Coinbase Pro
- Available at pro.coinbase.com or through the Coinbase Pro app.
Order Entry: Why You Should Buy Bitcoin On Coinbase Pro And Not Coinbase?
Coinbase
Once you place a trade, you’ll find that the mechanics behind the two platforms are the same. Clicking “buy” or “trade” on Coinbase will bring up the following interface. You need to make the following selections:
- Buy or Sell
- Asset, e.g. Bitcoin
- Amount, in USD
Coinbase Pro
On Coinbase Pro, it’s the same. As with Coinbase, you need to select an Asset (e.g., Bitcoin), Buy or Sell, and an Amount. However, the difference is that you can specify an order type, which defaults to Market. Leaving Market’s default will make your order behave the same as with Coinbase; it will just fill you at the best available market price.
However, as we’ll see later, you’ll pay a lot less. If you want to consider order types beyond Market, you can read about them here.
Fee Structure Overview
Coinbase
Coinbase will charge you a Spread of 0.5%, though this can be higher in volatile markets. They also charge a Coinbase Fee, which is higher than a Flat Fee, which depends on trade amount, and a Variable Fee, which depends on where you live and how you pay. For example, if you buy $100 of bitcoin in the US, you will pay a fee of $2.99, or 2.99%, plus the 0.5% spread, for a total of 3.49%.
If you pay with a credit or debit card, your Coinbase withdrawal fee will be even higher.
More information can be found on Coinbase’s Pricing and Fees page, though most traders are probably not reading the fine print. This is one reason why Coinbase is making billions of dollars, all on the back of uninformed retail traders.
Check Your Coinbase transaction Fees
Coinbase Pro
Coinbase Pro fees are designed in an industry-standard tiered structure dependent on maker/taker status. These trading fees start at 0.50% and taper downward for higher volume traders based on monthly trading volume. Most retail traders will end up paying 0.5%.
| Pricing Tier | Taker Fee | Maker Fee |
| <$10K | 0.50% | 0.50% |
| $10 – 50K | 0.35% | 0.35% |
| $50 – 100K | 0.25% | 0.15% |
| $100K – 1M | 0.20% | 0.10% |
| $1- 10M | 0.18% | 0.08% |
| $10 -50M | 0.15% | 0.05% |
| $50 – 100M | 0.10% | 0.00% |
| $100 – 300M | 0.07% | 0.00% |
| $300 – 500M | 0.06% | 0.00% |
| $500M – 1B | 0.05% | 0.00% |
| $1B+ | 0.04% | 0.00% |
Read more: Difference Between Maker vs Taker: Top Full Guide 2023.
Case Study on Impact of Fees
Coinbase
Say I want to buy $100 of bitcoin right now. The displayed price is $57,973.53/BTC. However, I can easily see the true price of BTC is $57,685.10. The price has been marked up by 0.50%. This is the Spread, much higher than the true bid-ask spread in the market.
Then they charge the Coinbase Transaction Fee, the greater of a fixed fee (from a schedule) or a different fee based on region and payment method. In the case of a $100 order from a US bank account, it is $2.99, or 2.99%. Your total fee is 3.49%, leaving you with $96.50 in bitcoin.
Now let’s imagine that Bitcoin goes up 10%, and you sell. You pay another 3.49% and are left with just $102.43. Coinbase has taken $7.20 of your $10 gain! Not optimal for the trader to take all the risk.
Coinbase Pro
This is just as easy as using Coinbase, with more data and charts that you can ignore. In the previous example, you would pay $57,685.11. (instead of $57,973.53) and the spread between bids and asks is $0.01.
The fee is just 0.50%, or $0.50 on a $100 order, leaving you with $99.50. Now, if bitcoin goes up 10% and you sell, you are left with $108.90. Coinbase has taken $1.10 but left you with a gain of $8.90. Much better!
Supported Coins
As of April 2021, Coinbase Pro lists 50 coins and 152 pairs for trading. Popular pairs include Bitcoin (BTC/USD, BTC/EUR, BTC/GBP, BTC/USDC), Ethereum (ETH/USD, ETH/BTC, ETH/EUR, ETH/USDC), and other coins like Filecoin (FIL), Stellar (XLM), Litecoin (LTC), and more. And you can make a deposit from your credit card and bank accounts or Coinbase wire transfer.
The latest info can be found on sites like CoinGecko. The offerings on Coinbase and Coinbase are nearly identical, especially for the most actively traded coin pairs. And offerings can differ based on your region. Coinbase has a great overview on its website.
Notable difference on supported coins in the US:
- 1INCH: Coinbase Pro, but not Coinbase
- BSV: Coinbase, but not Coinbase Pro
- ENJ: Coinbase Pro, but not Coinbase
- GNT: Coinbase Pro, but not Coinbase
- LOOM: Coinbase Pro, but not Coinbase
- NKN: Coinbase Pro, but not Coinbase
Exchange Availability
Both platforms are generally available 24/7 with periodic maintenance windows where certain services may be temporarily unavailable. In terms of trading, Coinbase has had issues dealing with increased exchange demand as the popularity of cryptocurrencies has peaked and has had temporary outages or delayed withdrawals.
You can dive more into the complete incident report here. Customers can avoid these outages using a third-party front-end like Cove Markets that sends orders via API directly to the exchange, bypassing the problematic Coinbase and Coinbase Pro websites and apps.
Security
Coinbase is one of the most secure and best cryptocurrency exchanges to buy and sell crypto like Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT) and more, which applies a lot of security features to Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. With 98% of crypto stored in offline, encrypted wallets, theft is greatly mitigated.
Other, more standard security features are also used by Coinbase, such as 2-Authentication-Factor (2FA), two-step verification, SSL encrypted web traffic, and AES-256 encrypted crypto wallets and private keys. Another way Coinbase tries to stay ahead of hackers is with its bug bounty program.
The exchange offers rewards of anywhere from $200 to $50,000 for developers who disclose software security vulnerabilities. To date, 484 reports have been resolved, with a total of $441,281 paid out to developers for their work on better securing the platform.
Coinbase also regularly updates its users about attempted phishing attacks, which run rampant in the industry. From a security standpoint, there is no difference between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro.
Wallet Services and Custody
Coinbase and Coinbase Pro offer digital wallets for storing bitcoin and other best cryptocurrencies. While each wallet is separate, the same technology and security are behind each wallet. 98% of crypto assets are stored offline in cold storage, which removes the ability for the funds to be hacked into remotely. Its custody solution is so good that it is offered to institutional clients for the storage of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Coinbase Custody is a crypto asset custody solution for institutions and is a fiduciary under New York State Banking Law. The cost for the service ranges from $0-$10,000 for implementation, dependent on the use case, with a 50 bps (0.50%) annualized custody fee. Additionally, there is a $1 million minimum balance for Coinbase Custody users.
Coinbase Custody features include:
- Segregated cold storage
- The industry’s leading insurance policy with a $255 million limit
- Seamless integration with Coinbase Pro
- Closing in on 100 digital assets available for storage
- Regular external financial and security audits
Switching from Coinbase to Coinbase Pro
While Coinbase and Coinbase Pro are linked, each has its wallet. While you might have a funded Coinbase account, you might not have a funded Coinbase Pro account. Luckily, the process for transferring between the two is free and easy.
For more information on how to complete this transfer, please reference this help article on Coinbase’s website. The basic steps are outlined below:
- Go to the Coinbase Pro trading page
- Select Deposit under Wallet Balance (a pop-up window will appear)
- Select the currency type (i.e., BTC, ETC) that you’d like to deposit to Pro from Coinbase
- Select Coinbase Account
- Enter the amount you would like to deposit to Pro from Coinbase. Please note that you will only be able to deposit funds that are “Available to Deposit”
- Select Deposit at the bottom of the window
Or you can use mobile app version to start trading.
Consideration of Multiple Exchanges
Coinbase Pro is a great platform, but it’s only one source of liquidity. Sometimes different exchanges can have better prices. And most other exchanges have fees lower than 0.50%. Best online Exchanges sometimes advertise a low fee, but you’ll note in the fine print that the fee is much higher for small traders, so be careful.
There are many alternatives to Coinbase available. One of the best online exchanges in the world is Binance; however, they are not available to US residents and have started cracking down on this. Many continue to access the exchange via VPN with its mobile app version.
However, US residents are encouraged to use Binance US, a separate entity, and exchange with the same talented team, technology, and strategy underpinning it to buy and sell altcoins. Launched in 2019, it continues to grow.
Kraken is one of the largest exchanges in the US and a great alternative to Coinbase. Liquidity is very high and similar to Coinbase, while the exchange also has a huge European presence. Fees are also about half those of Coinbase Pro. Other exchanges like Bitstamp and Gemini are also large and very trustworthy.
Many users will opt to access the market through mobile apps like Robinhood and Voyager, which, while not exchanging, can offer trading services to their users. For those who want to get really wild, they can explore decentralized exchanges like Uniswap. Be warned that fees are quite high for small traders, and some additional risks are involved.
Read more: Coinbase vs Binance: Which Crypto Exchange is Best?
Key Takeaways
Pro Tip 1: Beware the Easy Option
Sometimes companies offer an “easy” option, which sounds nice. However, it’s just a way to identify the suckers, provide limited transparency, then gouge them on price. Many exchanges and vendors offer a basic version for “everyone” and a pro platform for “advanced traders.” The differentiator is usually just price. And never use a credit card if you can avoid it.
Pro Tip 2: Watch out for Hidden Price Markups
Be careful about the quoted price. It might be the best price from an exchange order book or reflect a, sometimes massive, price markup. These markups are usually not disclosed in an obvious or transparent way.
Pro Tip 3: Look at Multiple Exchanges
To get the best price in the market, it’s a good idea to consider opening multiple exchange accounts and using a price aggregation tool like CoveTrader that can route to the best price net of fees.
Conclusion
The main difference between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro is price. All trades are executed in the same place, and your Bitcoin is stored with the same reputable custodian. While the order entry interfaces might look different, the main inputs are the same. Moreover, you can deposit your funds from your savings accounts, credit card, debit card.
The biggest difference comes down to fees, with Coinbase Pro significantly cheaper than Coinbase. It’s easy to get a better deal with little research and effort to secure you personal finance.
Most traders, even novices, will be much better off trading on Coinbase Pro and avoiding high fees. As traders become more comfortable, they should consider opening up multiple exchange accounts to source the best liquidity and personal finance at any point.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is not investment advice from Cove Markets. Cryptocurrency investment activities are yet to be recognized and protected by the laws in some countries. Cryptocurrencies always contain financial risks.
TOP 12 Best Altcoins To Trade & HODL In 2023: Best Trading Coins For Beginner
TOP 15 Best Metaverse Coins To Trade & HODL In 2023: A Full Guidance For Crypto Beginners
What Is Near Protocol Coin (NEAR) & How It Works: Full Review Of 2023 For Crypto Traders
What Is Bitcoin Gold Coin (BTG) & How It Works: Full Review Of 2023 For Crypto Traders
Pingback: Best Coinbase Alternatives: 7 Platforms Cryptocurrency Traders Should Consider - covemarkets.com
Keep this going please, great job!