Coinbase – Tutorial, Main Features and How to Earn Free Cryptocurrencies in 2022
Coinbase: The First Exchange Listed on the Nasdaq
Coinbase is one of the leading exchanges in the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, United States, and born in 2012 by its founder Brian Armstrong, it is known for being the main cryptocurrency exchange platform in that country. Its simplicity, its security in the storage of said assets, and its constant adaptations to comply with the regulatory framework are some of its characteristics.
In recent times, it made headlines when it was listed on the Nasdaq on April 14, 2021, being the first firm that trades cryptocurrencies to go public.
Other important functions offered by the platform are:
Coinbase Earn: These are free cryptocurrency rewards offered by the platform.
Coinbase Pro: is a trading platform within Coinbase that will allow you to trade cryptocurrencies, at a better price and with greater detail.
Coinbase Wallet: it is a decentralized application that will allow you to have the private key of the wallet, being the only holder of your cryptocurrencies.
Before continuing, I would like to leave you the following articles on referrals to other Exchanges and Brokers that may be useful to you, to make a decision on which one best suits what you prefer.
Coinbase Account Registration and Verification
To register you will need to indicate your full name, email, and a password – always in this type of platform a secure password such as uppercase, lowercase, symbol, and the number is recommended. They will send you an email, to confirm said email.
Once your email is confirmed, you must add your telephone number which will serve as a Double Authentication Factor.
To add more security to your Coinbase account, I recommend that you review the Binance article, where I explain how to configure your account with Google Authenticator. This mobile application will allow you to generate a six-digit password every 30 seconds, which is highly recommended.
To verify your account you must go to the top right in the start menu and select your name. Then, you will have to select “Settings”.
Then, in the "Profile" section you must look for "Personal data", where you will place it. You will select “Here” to be able to upload some of your supporting documentation and the account verification process will be completed.
1) Registration of Personal Data
2) Select the type of document
3) Choose the charging method
4) Upload image front and back
5) Take a photo
How Coinbase works
Unlike other exchanges, the operation of the Coinbase platform is simpler, so in a way, it is quite useful for people who are just starting out in cryptocurrency trading.
The sections that I could mention from this start menu are:
a. Buy-Sell:
They will only be able to make Purchases and Sales in certain countries of Europe, in the United States, and in Canada, through certain payment methods such as PayPal, Deposit / Withdrawal to Bank Accounts, Debit and Credit Card.
Exceptionally, in Singapore, Mexico, and Chile you can make Purchases, but not Sales. Therefore, the only way to withdraw cryptocurrencies, in these cases, is by withdrawing to an external wallet.
The other admitted countries will not be able to make Purchases or Sales.
Although, they will be able to Convert Cryptocurrencies that were received to an address belonging to their Coinbase wallet.
It is important that you understand this alternative, since in principle the conversion costs from one cryptocurrency to another, when you exit the preview form, indicate that they are $0 .
But keep in mind that Coinbase will charge you an implied Conversion fee corresponding to a spread margin that can be up to 2%. Therefore, and as I will show you in the Coinbase Pro section, it will be convenient for you to operate with this other alternative.
b. Send/Receive:
As I mentioned in the previous point, through the Receive section the supported countries that cannot Buy will be able to load their Coinbase balance. In the same way, the countries that, if they can Buy, will be able to Receive cryptocurrencies to their wallet.
To Receive you must copy the address of the cryptocurrency you want to your Coinbase wallet and paste it in the Send address from the other external wallet. For example, you would see this in the case of the Litecoin cryptocurrency.
In the case of Send, it would be exactly the other way around, where you must copy the Receive address of the cryptocurrency from the external wallet and paste it in the space indicated by the Send form, to add an address.
Supported countries that do not allow them to Sell, will be able to withdraw the balance from their Coinbase account, this way.
Transfers to other Coinbase wallets or to your Coinbase Pro account are free of charge. But, if you make the withdrawal to other wallets that are NOT Coinbase, some of the commissions that you can find are:
Bitcoin 0.00002781 –about $2.5–
Ethereum 0.00336000 –around $13.5–
Litecoin 0.00000420 – around $0.29.
Therefore, it would be convenient that in order to minimize your exchange and withdrawal costs, you seek to Convert your Balances to cryptocurrencies, in which withdrawal costs are lower. For example, in the amounts that I showed you before, it will be convenient for you to withdraw your balance in Litecoin before in Ethereum.
Keep in mind that these costs are fluctuating, according to the mining network and the variation in the price of the cryptocurrency with which you choose to withdraw.
Also, make sure you always send to an address of the same cryptocurrency as the one you are withdrawing.
Briefcase:
In this section, you can access how your portfolio is composed.
Trade:
In this section, you can find the different crypto assets with which Coinbase operates. Currently, it has only 58 cryptocurrencies, being one of the main characteristics of Coinbase, since it is very selective when it comes to adding assets to its platform.
Here, if you click on the blue “Buy” button next to the selected cryptocurrency it will give you the possibility to BUY, SELL or CONVERT said cryptocurrency.
CoinbasePro
Coinbase Pro is Coinbase 's trading platform.
As much as it carries the PRO preposition, this platform is completely free and does not mean any Coinbase Premium service.
Coinbase Pro lists the same cryptocurrencies as Coinbase and transfers between these types of accounts are free of charge.
To enter Coinbase Pro you must search for the URL of the said platform – always taking care that it is the correct URL. You must give “Sign In” / “Start Session”.
Then, you will enter your Coinbase username and password to be able to log in to Coinbase Pro
You will find a platform similar to the Spot Market of other Exchanges, such as Binance. In principle, this platform is for people a little more experienced in cryptocurrency exchange, but it will end up being more convenient for you, in terms of the cost of exchanges and deposits.
Some features you will find in Coinbase Pro, regarding Coinbase :
– Chart: as it is a trading platform, you will be able to find a chart with some indicators. Coinbase does not own these tools.
Although, Coinbase Pro is still quite limited on a chart and indicator level, compared to Binance or Stormgain.
-Book of Orders: it is a list of purchase and sale orders currently open, organized by price, and that provides you with very useful information to determine support and resistance points. Keep in mind that you are analyzing one of the most liquid Exchanges in the market, so this information can be very useful.
-Buy/sell orders:
- Market order: in this case, you will buy or sell at a certain price in the market, instantly. When you buy or sell on Coinbase, you only have this alternative, since you are doing it at market price.
- Limit Order: in this case, you do choose the price of the order, but it is not executed instantly, but when the price is found.
- Stop Order: It is a type of order that is only activated when a certain price is reached.
Although in Coinbase Pro you can trade like in the Spot Market, you will not be able to use leverage.
fees and Commissions
For this point, we should be looking at both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro .
On Coinbase:
Both for Purchase or Sale you will have a variable rate , which includes:
– A margin of approximately 0.5%.
– In the case of European countries , an additional 1.49% for Buy or Sell operations . If you make bank transfers (SEPA) for the Purchase you will have no cost , while for the Sale you should pay €0.15.
-In the event that the operation is carried out with a credit or debit card, the additional fee is 3.99% .
-In the case of instant withdrawal from the card , up to 2% of any transaction and a minimum fee of €0.55.
You must compare this variable rate with a fixed amount / fixed rate that arises from the following:
For Transactions between $0 and $10, the fixed fee is $0.99
For Transactions between $11 and $25, the fixed fee is $1.49
For Transactions between $26 and $50, the fixed fee is $1.99
For Transactions between $51 and $200, the flat fee is $2.99.
You must bear in mind that the highest amount between the fixed rate and the variable rate will be taken.
In addition, for CONVERSIONS, as I mentioned before, when generating a preview it will appear that you are not charged any cost, in this case, you will be charged a spread margin that can reach up to 2% of the transaction.
In Coinbase Pro
Whether to deposit or withdraw money to your account, the amount is €0.15, in the case of European countries.
While, in the case of cryptocurrency exchange, the value is 0.5% per transaction, if you have carried out operations of less than $10,000 in the last 30 days. As your volume of transactions increases, the amount of the commission will be less, until it reaches 0.04% if you operate 500 M $, in the said period.
Also, regarding the cost of withdrawing a cryptocurrency, it will depend on the network of miners and the fluctuation of the value of cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, when it comes specifically to trading fees, bank deposits, and withdrawals, you will find it more convenient to trade with Coinbase Pro than Coinbase.
Meanwhile, if you want to withdraw your balance in cryptocurrency to an external wallet, you should look for that crypto in which you can lower said the cost in dollars.
Promotions and Coinbase Earn
Regarding the $10 promotion, just clarify that you review the previous section on Commissions and Rates, to try to get the most out of your investment 😊
As far as Coinbase Earn is concerned, some aspects that I would like to add to you are:
- You must perform full identity and photo verification. Also, it is possible that you will be asked again when you have to complete a campaign.
- The countries admitted to Coinbase Earn, so far, are:
Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, New Zealand, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania, Czech Republic, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan.
- It is important that you have patience since I have seen people who had to wait up to 6 months to get off the waiting list. In the event that you believe that you meet the conditions to be eligible and do not leave the waiting list, do not hesitate to contact support to verify that everything is correct.
- Surely, the more interaction, the more transactions you have on the platform, the greater your chances of being removed from the waiting list.
- You can earn an extra $10 for every person you invite to sign up and participate in a campaign . The maximum number of guests is 4 people per campaign, they must register through your link, accept your invitation and complete at least one survey of the corresponding campaign , so you can earn that extra $10 per person.
For example, when it was the EOS cryptocurrency campaign, you had to look under the questionnaire and you would find the following image.
You should select “Get 40US$ EOS” and your invitation link will appear.
Coinbase Safe
This alternative offered by Coinbase will provide greater security for the storage of your cryptocurrencies since it adds security steps for their withdrawal.
Once stored in this Safe, you will have to carry out multiple authorizations, either with several emails or people, with a period of 48 hours for it to appear available in your Coinbase balance and then only be able to withdraw it.
You will be able to deposit any of the cryptocurrencies available in Coinbase in your Safe, and you could even generate a certain reward or annual interest rate, for some of them. For example, here I show you the case of DAI, where it was generating an annual interest rate of 2%.
Therefore, in some cases, it can function similarly to a savings account. Other cryptocurrencies that generated annual interest rate (APY) were:
- ALGORANDS: 6%,
- COSMOS: 5% and
- TEZOS: 4%.
In this case, I would recommend you review the APY offered by Binance Earn, where you have a greater number of cryptocurrencies to choose from, being able to compare them with the passive income generated by the Coinbase Safes.
In order to add a Safe Box, you must go to Wallet in the start menu -> choose a cryptocurrency -> Safe Box -> Create Safe Box.
For example, if you want to create a Bitcoin Vault :
1) Assign a name to the Safe.
2) You will choose if only you approve the withdrawal or if more people are necessary. In this example, I will choose so that only I can approve the withdrawal.
3) Add a secondary email, to confirm withdrawals from the Safe. They will send you an email, where you must confirm said email.
4) Once the Safe is created, then you will have to choose the Bitcoin cryptocurrency again and the Safe will appear available to add funds. You will select “Deposit ”.
5) You will choose whether to deposit from your Coinbase account or from another – in the latter case, it will give you a deposit address. You choose the amount to deposit and it will be added to the balance of your Safe.
Coinbase Wallet
This Coinbase Decentralized application will allow you to store digital currencies independently. In other words, the cryptocurrencies that you send there will be yours since you will have the 12-word private key and it will not be in the custody of a Centralized Exchange.
It is not necessary to have a Coinbase account to use this application, which supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, all ERC-20 tokens -tokens supported by the Ethereum network-, NFT tokens, and crypto-collectibles. The application is available for IOS and Android.
The score of said application is quite positive, where there are quite a few people with more experience and several years in the Cryptographic Market in agreement with the application.
In the same way, I see many negative comments from people, in recent times, who try to test the application and find themselves with very high fee costs. This is largely about the high costs of Ethereum Gas, which will remain until that issue is resolved with the release of Ethereum 2.0.
If in case, you have significant capital in cryptocurrencies and what you need is a good place for storage, the recommendation, to take better care of it, would be that you seek to get your own physical cold wallet, study the providers correctly, and try to buy from the manufacturers. Cheap can sometimes be expensive.
NASDAQ listing of COIN
April 14, 2021, has become a historic day for the field of cryptocurrencies, since it meant the IPO of the United States Stock Exchange of the company Coinbase, being listed on the NASDAQ.
In principle, this fact presupposes a very important milestone, since Coinbase is the first company that performs the exchange of cryptocurrencies that becomes part of what are the traditional markets, meaning a greater acceptance of said asset.
Coinbase 's representative stock, on the Nasdaq, is Coinbase Global Inc – COIN –. At the time of going public, through the IPO process –Initial Public Offering– it started with a reference value of $250. Quickly, this value went up to $430 due to the enthusiasm of the market.
Today it is placed at a price of $280, after having touched $250 again and it can be expected that in the future it will touch its maximum of the initial moment, and I will surpass it in the longer term.
It is interpreted that at the moment that stock investors buy Coinbase stock they are betting Bitcoin and the rest of cryptocurrencies, whose value today is expected to continue to climb, being its greatest challenge to overcome times of great volatility, while It is supported by a solid company that has been operating since 2012.
conclusion
Coinbase is the leading Exchange in the United States and secures in Europe.
It is mainly intended for users from these areas, with greater benefits such as being admitted to Coinbase Earn, but little by little it is expanding to new areas.
It is a firm that is characterized by its security in storage, and for always adapting to regulations, helping the adoption of cryptocurrencies with its IPO.
It is ideal for people who are starting to learn about cryptocurrencies, due to its very simple interface, but if you will carry out many exchange operations, then it is convenient for you to do them in Coinbase Pro, or in other reliable exchanges such as Binance or Okex.
Therefore, I invite you to study and train on the subject of cryptocurrencies, since there is a lot of potential here in the future and that you can take full advantage of the features that Coinbase offers you.
As always, if you have any questions, you have me at your disposal, to help you improve your experience of earning money, from the comfort of your home.