COINBASE OR CRYPTO.COM: WHICH IS BETTER?

What is cryptocurrency?

According to Investopedia, a cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretical.

What is a cryptocurrency exchange?

According to Wikipedia, a cryptocurrency exchange, or digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers, or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies.

There are many examples of cryptocurrency exchanges but we’re here to see which cryptocurrency exchange is better: Coinbase or Crypto.com.

Coinbase

Coinbase is an American company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. It offers products for both retail and institutional cryptocurrency investors, as well as other related cryptocurrency products.

The company’s products for retail traders include:

·      Coinbase, an app used to buy, store and trade different cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, etc.

·      Coinbase Pro, a professional asset trading platform for trading digital assets.

·      Coinbase Wallet, an app that allows customers to access decentralized crypto apps (dapps) using a dapp browser.

Coinbase has several benefits for its users and it is a very popular cryptocurrency exchange platform. These benefits include:

·      Learning: Coinbase has several features intended for beginners to learn about the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies.

·      Trading: Coinbase makes it easy to trade one cryptocurrency for another and it enables buying cryptocurrency with fiat.

·      Base: Coinbase has its headquarters in the United States and it offers a wide range of products to U.S citizens.

·      Selection: Coinbase has access to nearly 100 cryptocurrencies, a number that is more than most exchange platforms around the world.

·      Cost: It has a low minimum for funding of accounts.

·      Service: Coinbase interface is reliable, quick, and user-friendly.

·      Insurance: Coinbase insures cryptocurrencies on the platform in the event that their website is hacked website.

With these benefits, it would be expected of Coinbase to be the first pick of a beginner but it, like other platforms, has its few setbacks. They are:

·      Fee: Coinbase has higher exchange fees and its exchange structure can be quite confusing for a beginner.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is a crypto exchange app based in Singapore. It offers a massive selection of digital assets and has fees that can be quite low. Though it doesn’t support conventional crypto-to-crypto trading, advanced users may be interested in its DeFi offerings. Crypto.com can appeal to customers who are comfortable carrying out transactions on mobile devices using traditional currencies.

Benefits of Crypto.com

·      Selection: With almost 180 cryptocurrencies on its exchange, it has a larger selection than any other service.

·      Assets: It has a massive selection of digital (crypto) assets.

·      Cost: There is no trading and transaction fee for money purchases transferred from your bank account via ACH or other transactions.

·      Website: There is good website transparency.

·      It allows the use of digital wallets.

·      It is one of the best for mobile-first users, fiat transactions, Decentralized Finance, or tokens.

Some of its drawbacks are:

·      Trading: With Crypto.com users cannot trade one cryptocurrency for another. This means that if a user has Ethereum and wants to trade it for Bitcoin, he will need to sell off his Ethereum and then buy Bitcoin.

·      Base: Crypto.com has its headquarters in Singapore and some services are not available in the U.S.

·      Fees: There are higher fees for credit and debit purchases.

·      Customer service: Crypto.com offers only chat-based help for site and transaction issues, especially in the form of Email.

Similarities

·      Both are leading crypto exchanges

·      Both are popular places to buy cryptocurrency

Comparing Coinbase and Crypto.com platforms

1.    Fees

There are three main fees to be aware of when using cryptocurrency apps and exchanges: deposit, trading, and withdrawal. Costs vary depending on the trading amount, payment method, and cryptocurrency.

Neither Crypto.com nor Coinbase charges fees to deposit money via a bank transfer, but both charge for debit card payments. On most exchanges, it’s free to deposit cryptocurrencies but costs to transfer a fiat currency (traditional money) from your bank account. Unfortunately, Coinbase does not have a very transparent plan for its crypto trading fees – it says they are calculated when you place your order but doesn’t publish its maker/taker fee as other sites do.

Let’s say you were to buy $200 worth of Bitcoin on Coinbase with a debit card, you’d pay a Coinbase fee of 3.99% to use the card and a spread of around 0.5%. The spread may change when you make the trade, although fees are much lower and more transparent if you use Coinbase Pro.

On Crypto.com, you’d pay 2.99% to use a debit card and a maker/taker trading fee of 0.4%. This fee is reduced for higher trading volume customers or those who stake the Crypto.com coin (CRO). Crypto.com waives the debit/credit card fee for new customers in the first 30 days. As with its trading fees, Coinbase only discloses the withdrawal fee when you make the transaction. It’s free to move money to a Coinbase wallet, but you’ll have to pay a variable fee to move your crypto asset to a different external crypto wallet. In contrast, Crypto.com publishes its withdrawal fees for each cryptocurrency, though it’s free to move assets to the Crypto.com wallet.

In retrospect, the fees on Crypto.com are lower but Coinbase does offer additional deposit options, such as a transfer from PayPal. When comparing costs, Crypto.com is the preferred exchange platform.

2.    Cryptocurrencies

Although Coinbase has expanded its cryptocurrency selection, it doesn’t yet have as many coins as Crypto.com. They both have all the major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), etc on either platform. Each one also trades major stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT).

Crypto.com offers U.S. customers around 140 cryptocurrencies and Coinbase has around 90. Both exchanges trade most of the top 30 cryptos by market cap, though Coinbase doesn’t trade Binance Coin (BNB), Avalanche (AVAX), or VeChain (VET). There are also a couple of coins that aren’t available in every U.S. state.

When comparing cryptocurrencies, Crypto.com has the highest crypto availability.

3.    Wallets

Coinbase and Crypto.com both have highly-rated decentralized wallets. These are non-custodial hot wallets (connected to the internet) that are separate from the custodial wallets on the exchanges themselves. You control your keys and your account security. Keys are like a bank PIN, and many crypto enthusiasts argue it’s important to control your private key, as it reduces the risk of hacking or having your account frozen.

Both wallets support a wide variety of coins, including all tokens built on the Ethereum network. However, Coinbase’s crypto selection could be broader – it doesn’t yet support fairly big coins like Cardano, Algorand (ALGO), or EOS (EOS). Crypto.com also makes it easier to stake coins (earn interest by tying them up) and to import an existing wallet.

Crypto.com’s DeFi wallet lets some users swap coins on decentralized exchanges through the app; however, this service is not available to U.S. customers. Coinbase’s offer is stronger here. Its U.S. wallet users can access its decentralized trading service but only for Ethereum-based coins.

When comparing wallets, Coinbase has the most service available but mostly to U.S users.

Conclusion

Coinbase and Crypto.com are both excellent cryptocurrency exchanges with services that will suit different types of customers. While Coinbase charges higher fees, its wealth of information and extremely easy-to-use trading platform may work well for first-time crypto investors. It also accepts payments from PayPal, and you can earn crypto by watching educational videos.

Crypto.com provides more ways to earn staking rewards, a wider range of coins, and lower fees. However, it has fewer educational resources, and its interface is not as intuitive as it could be – especially for those who prefer to manage their crypto assets through a web browser.

As with many things in life, there’s no one-size-fits-all cryptocurrency exchange. The cons you might not be able to handle are what another person might deem as insignificant. Interests vary and choosing the right cryptocurrency platform should be a well-thought-out decision.