Coinbase is a great place to start learning to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is highly recommended for users entering cryptocurrency trading because of its ease of use and reliability.
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But despite these qualities, Coinbase is far from the ideal place to buy Bitcoin and comes with a number of Coinbase disadvantages. Engaged enthusiasts quickly frustrated due to its high fees, strict monitoring policies, extensive anti-fraud features, one of which requires users to wait for 3 days before they can move their currencies to an external cryptocurrency wallet. This has led to traders constantly seeking for some of the best Coinbase alternatives.
What can I use instead of Coinbase?
Whether you have previously used Coinbase to trade Bitcoin or you have simply carried out some research on the cryptocurrency exchange, you may have encountered some of its limitations. We have compiled a comprehensive list of some of the best Coinbase competitors to help you kickstart your trading journey with ease.
Gemini
Gemini is a leading New York-based cryptocurrency exchange and custodian founded in 2015. The exchange is currently ranked by Coinmarketcap as the 58th largest exchange by market volume, with a daily trading volume of $25 million. Gemini offers three unique features on its trading platform namely: Gemini Auction, Gemini block trading, and Gemini Clearing.
Gemini Auction
Gemini Auction allows market participants to place auction-based orders or state a minimum buy price specifying how much they are willing to pay through order limits or by placing a minimum sell price. Gemini auction will then calculate the total number of buy and sell demands to arrive at a cross-price that allows for the filling of the biggest quantities.
Gemini block
Gemini block trading is made for users who want to trade digital assets in “large block quantities”. Gemini block traders will not be subject to the exchange’s ever-changing order books which favor liquidity and decreases the tendencies for large block orders to affect market prices.
Gemini Clearing
Gemini Clearing is fully electronic and is designed to settle and clear over-the-counter and off-exchange trades between two Gemini accounts. Trades can be negotiated between Gemini accounts or through a third party brokerage service. Upon agreement, Gemini clearing will settle these trades swiftly.
Expert traders should do we to check out the “Gemini Active trader” platform to access the trading features listed above. The trading platform grants access to advanced charting tools and additional trading pairs. We strongly advise beginner traders to start with the standard Gemini web trader platform.
49 counties worldwide
Gemini currently supports trading in 49 counties worldwide and 49 states in the U.S, including Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. Gemini users can trade with 9 digital currencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Gemini supports the following USD trading pairs: BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, BAT/USD, DAI/USD, OXT/USD, BCH/USD, LINK/USD, ZEC/USD. Gemini also offers 19 digital asset trading pairs.
Deposits can be made with all 9 supported digital currencies, and also through wire transfers and (ACH) bank transfers. Do keep in mind that Gemini only accepts USD Fiat and bank transfer deposits for U.S residents and will convert international wire transfers in other currencies to USD. Gemini doesn’t accept credit cards for deposits. VISA, American Express Card, Master Card, are also not supported as payment methods.
More affordable fees
While sites like Coinbase will begin to charge between 1.49% and 3.99% for transaction fees, Gemini’s fees are more affordable and begin from as low as 0.25%. A full list of transactions and withdrawal fees can be found here.
Transaction limits also vary based on the type of account you select. For U.S. institutional investors, daily and monthly deposit limits start at $10,000 and $300,000 respectively.
Daily withdrawal limits start at $300,000. For personal US accounts, daily and monthly deposit limits are between $5,000 and $15,000 respectively, with a $100,000 daily withdrawal limit. Wire transfers on both institutional and personal US accounts are free, while withdrawal attracts a minimum fee of $100. Depositing digital assets on both accounts is free. Make sure to follow this link to learn more about transactions and transfer limits.
Kraken
Additional security, cheaper trading fees, wider areas of operations, these are a few of the qualities that make Kraken one of the exceptional alternatives to Coinbase. Founded in 2011, Kraken is a U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange that caters to more than 10 million users worldwide.
Kraken offers three main services ;
Margin trading
Margin trading allows you to enter a trade contract without owning any digital assets. The exchange provides you with funds to trade against other Cryptocurrencies with a leverage ratio of up to 5:1.
Over-the-counter trading
These features permit trades outside the exchange platform. Institutional traders are presented with better liquidity and personalized services for bigger trades. Kraken’s OTC desk guarantees strong privacy and settlement services.
Futures investment
Kraken offers futures trading for customers who are interested in futures contracts that allow them to trade assets on a fixed price, at any time of their choosing. You can expect to trade Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple and Bitcoin futures with a 50x leverage. Tap on this link for more information on how to use these features. If you’re just beginning your trading journey, Kraken has a streamlined trading interface for newcomers.
Wire and bank transfers
For payment methods, Kraken only accepts (in-person) cash and debit card deposits for Canadian dollars (CAD). Kraken does not accept credit cards and debit cards for other supported fiat currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY).
Other options like Sepa and Swift can be used for transacting, but they come with additional fees and restrictions. Withdrawals can be made in supported cryptocurrencies. All other forms of transactions will require some forms of wire and bank transfers.
To enjoy most of Kraken’s services, we strongly recommend that you verify your account to the highest level possible. The three verification stages will qualify your account as one of the following: Starter, Intermediate, or a Pro account.
To deposit in Fiat, users must complete the KYC verification process. Trading fees usually start at 0.26% for takers and 0.16% for makers. Kraken’s withdrawal fees are also very low compared to Coinbase. Charges start from 0.0005 per Bitcoin withdrawal and go even lower for other altcoins. Click here to learn more.
One of the most secure
In terms of security, Kraken is arguably one of the most secure Cryptocurrency exchange to date. It will interest you to know that since its inception, the cryptocurrency exchange has never been hacked.
Kraken’s customer support boasts of a 24hrs live chat, a portion of its blog is also dedicated to clarification for customers.
To start trading on Kraken, go to www.kraken.com and sign up on the web or through the exchange’s mobile app. You will be asked to provide an email, phone number, and username which be used to generate an activation code for you. Progressively, users will need to provide more information for verification before the registration process is complete.
Binance
Binance is a popular digital currency exchange and arguably one of the best places to buy and sell Bitcoin. With a 24-hour trading volume of $4 billion, Binance is ranked as number one in CoinMarketCap’s list of 343 exchanges and serves 15 million users all over the world. Thus, consider is also an alternative to Coinbase.
Asides from regular trading, If you want to do more than just buy and sell your Cryptocurrencies, Binance offers two types of trading features :
Binance Margin
The exhibit simply allows you to borrow assets with a small amount of interest. Binance allows you to borrow up to 5x assets. This means that if you have an asset worth 1x, you’re eligible to borrow up to 4x in loans.
Binance OTC
Instead of placing a large limit order on your exchange which can possibly lead to a price increase, Binance offers over the counter services that allow you to buy coins at a fixed price and access deeper liquidity as opposed to when you make an order from the exchange’s order book.
180 countries
Binance is largely regarded as a top Coinbase alternative because the exchange is almost unrivaled when it comes to diversity. Binance operates in more than 180 countries, has listed 184 tokens, and Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum, and supports 591 trading pairs. The exchange even has a native Coin known as Binance Coin (BNB). The platform provides an easy to use interface for novices and experts to navigate its basic and advance trading features.
To customize your trading experience, Binance provides an Application Programming Interface (API) to traders to aid the sharing of data with several other applications.
Fiat-crypto trading for 23 currencies
Initially, a crypto-to-crypto exchange, Binance now supports fiat-to-crypto trading for 23 currencies including the Nigerian naira (NGN), Russian ruble (RUB), euro (EUR), Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) and Kazakhstani tenge (KZT). The currencies can be used to purchase the following cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). For supported payment methods, the exchange accepts debit card and credit card options, using Visa and MasterCard.
To trade on Binance, you will be required to create an account on the exchange, there’s also a mobile app version for both Android and iPhone users. To successfully carry out deposits and withdrawals, you will be required to complete a two-level verification process. You will be able to withdraw up to 2BTC after completing the first level, the second will allow you access up to 100BTC daily.
Binance is one of the exchanges with the cheapest trading fees. It charges 0.1% for all trades, which is way less expensive than Coinbase’s 1.49%. Interestingly, Binance users are entitled to a 25% discount when they pay trading fees with the exchange’s native currency, Binance Coin (BNB). Binance accepts Visa and MasterCard as well as bank transfers for purchasing Cryptocurrencies.
Only suffered one major attack
Security is crucial when it comes to choosing an exchange for trading crypto assets. This is because exchange platforms are the primary targets of hackers. Since its launch, Binance has only suffered one major attack, which occurred in May 2019. The exchange lost 7,000 BTC worth $40.4 million at that time.
Binance strongly advises that traders enable the two-factor authentication 2FA feature either via SMS or Google. To better safeguard your money, the exchange recommends traders to take advantage of the Binance trust wallet. The wallet supports major Cryptocurrencies on the exchange, and can also be merged with Binance’s decentralized exchange (DEX) platform for trading.
For support, you can find complaint tickets on the official Binance website. Like many other exchanges, Binance’s customer support, although very responsive, cannot be totally reliable.
Coinmama
Coinmama was founded in 2013 and is located in Israel. The exchange is home to more than 2 million traders with operations in nearly 200 countries.
While Coinmama is without a trading platform, it’s brokerage service rids you if the stress of finding customers for yourself and will instead match you to a customer they find fitting. Coinmama also doesn’t have a mobile application, so you will need to familiarize yourself with the exchange’s official website which is the only place where you can successfully buy and sell your Cryptocurrencies. Coinmama is reputable for ease and speed, this makes it a top Coinbase alternative when the user interface flexibility is considered.
On Coinmama you can buy the following Cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Cardano (ADA), Qtum (QTUM), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Tezos (XTZ) and Eos (EOS). Unfortunately, you can only sell Bitcoin at present. For credit card and debit card options, Coinmama supports Visa and MasterCards as Payment methods.
Thankfully, you do not have to register your debit and credit card to carry out transactions, in fact, to maintain your privacy, Coinmama does not save your card details online. You’ll also be required to get an external wallet for withdrawal as Coinmama is currently without one.
Supported Fiat includes USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, AUD, and JPY. You can also buy Bitcoin with your Bank Account using SWIFT and SEPA. Coinmama services are available 190 countries worldwide, for areas that the exchange cannot directly serve, Coinmama partners with third-party platforms to Carter to traders in 31 countries and four states in the USA.
Coinmama has four levels of transaction limits, all of which depend on factors like verification and medium of payment.
Level 1:
To complete your level 1 verification, you will be asked to provide your driver’s license, government-issued photo ID. US residents will only be asked to provide a driver’s license or non-driver’s ID.
Make sure you have a functioning camera to take a photo of yourself holding the ID and another piece of paper with the words “Coinmama” along with the current date. Once you complete your level 1 verification, your transaction limit will be set at $15,000 (USD).
Level 2:
For level 2, you will need to provide a different ID from the previous one, issued in a country where Coinmama operates. For U.S. customers, a passport will do.
You will need to provide a six-month-old utility bill with your name on it. This could be water, electricity, or a gas bill. Lastly, a picture of you holding up the words Coinmama with the current date along with the second ID you provided. After completion, your transaction limit will be set at $50,000.
Level 3:
To complete level 3 which will automatically place your transaction limit at $1,000,000, you will need to download Coinmama’s KYC questionnaire, fill and upload it through verification form on your Account page and you’re set! To see more on specific buy and sell limits, click on this link.
Note that you can only verify your account after you have signed up and registered on Coinmama.
To sign up, head to Coinmama.com and click on the sign-up page to start creating your account.
Fees above industry rates
We have to point out that Coinmama’s fees are way above industry rates. There’s a 5.5% fee charged for every purchase. Fees can also increase depending on your payment method. For example, the use of credit cards can also warrant additional fees if your cash issuer classifies your transaction as “cash advance”. Make sure to inquire from your card issuer before you proceed.
Generally, storing your funds on exchanges is not recommended, as hackers can find loopholes and access funds faster. Because Coinmama has no internal wallet and doesn’t hold any of its customer’s funds, one can say security breaches are less likely to occur. However, Coinmama still strongly advises customers to install an external wallet before carrying out any form of transaction on the platform.
Coinmama makes up for its lack of a live chat with a series of educative blog posts, FAQ’s and guides for basically anything from how to set up an account. For additional support, you can reach Coinmama’s team via email and expect a response between 24 to 48hrs.
Is Gemini Better than Coinbase?
Whether Gemini makes your list of best Coinbase alternatives is highly dependent on the user’s needs. Generally, both exchanges can boast of a good number of features designed to aid the selling of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, but some features particular to one might not be available on the other, this is why it is important to highlight your personal preferences and match them to the exchange that best serves you.
Although Coinbase is considered one of the best Cryptocurrency exchanges for beginners, thanks to its simplified user interface, Gemini’s interface also models ease of use and cater to both beginner and advanced traders.
Similarities
When it comes to safeguarding user funds, Gemini and Coinbase share some similarities with their security features. Both exchanges require users to enable the two-factor authentication feature such that users have to input their passwords and mobile numbers to generate code before they are successfully logged into their accounts.
However, Gemini integrates additional advanced security features on its platform. On Gemini, only a limited amount of funds are stored online in its hot wallet, which is backed by Amazon’s security web services and insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
To use Gemini, you can either register on the exchange’s website at www.gemini.com or download the Gemini mobile app and follow the required steps to complete your registration.
Samsung Wallet
Gemini has also partnered with Samsung’s Blockchain wallets which traders can use alongside its own official wallet. The Samsung Wallet will permit residents of Canada and the United States to buy, trade, and sell cryptocurrencies on their Samsung mobile phones.
For a more personalized trading experience, Gemini has an Application Program Interface (API) that lets traders view, place, cancel market orders.
For support, Gemini dedicates its blog to creating step by step guides and FAQ. While Gemini is yet to implement a live chat, users can send complaints via email or call the official customer support number.
Is Kraken better than Coinbase?
Again, this is largely subjective. Kraken is one exchange to consider when looking for stronger Coinbase alternatives, most of Kraken trading features cannot be found on Coinbase.
Kraken aids crypto to Fiat, Fiat to crypto and Fiat to Fiat (forex) trading, the exchange integrates features like margin trading also known as Cryptocurrency leveraging, which is not allowed on Coinbase. You can trade with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 31 other Cryptocurrencies on Kraken.
Unique features
On Kraken, you can buy and trade 33 digital currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ethereum classic. The exchange offers a large number of trading pairs and introduces you to a lot of unique features that Coinbase is still yet to integrate, this easily makes Kraken a better alternative to Coinbase.
There are also 33 fiat-to-crypto trading pairs, 33 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, nine Fiat to Fiat trading pairs and six fiat currencies to trade with, these include Great British Pound (GBP), United States Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Japanese Yen (JPY), Confoederatio Helvetica Franc (CHF). Kraken also has a wider reach than Coinbase. While Coinbase is only available in 102 counties, Kraken is available in over 190 countries.
Bottom line
Still, looking for some of the best Cryptocurrency exchanges? There are hundreds of Bitcoin exchanges besides the Coinbase alternatives we listed above. On these platforms, you can buy Bitcoin and almost any digital currency of your choosing. These Coinbase alternatives come with different advantages for different traders. Some of these include CEX, Localbitcoins, Bitfinex, and Okex to name a few. So, if you’re looking to learn about the best alternatives to Coinbase, consider ones with a flexible trading environment, and that which gives you a better trading experience.