Coinbase is a leading US cryptocurrency exchange and publicly-traded company with 90+ million users across the globe.
The exchange has its own self-custody wallet —the Coinbase Wallet, which supports more than 44,000 cryptocurrencies, including all ERC-20 tokens and EVM-compatible networks, such as Polygon, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain.
Coinbase Wallet is available as a downloadable app for iOS and Android users and as a web browser extension for Opera, Chrome, and Firefox.
Besides supporting a wide range of crypto assets, it also supports stablecoins, decentralized applications (dApps), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs.)
Who Is Exodus Wallet For?
Coinbase wallet is user-friendly and accessible to everyone, whether they are beginners or already have experience using cryptocurrencies.
Pros & Cons Of Coinbase Wallet
Pros:
- Supports a broad spectrum of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins
- Supports multiple blockchains
- Supports dApps and NFTs
- Highly secure and non-custodial: users have control of their private keys
Cons:
- Terrible customer support
- Not open-source
Our Take On the Coinbase Wallet
While I do appreciate a wallet that leverages top-notch security measures and has support for a wide range of crypto assets and DeFi tokens, the Coinbase Wallet app needs some major improvements in regard to customer support.
I would recommend this wallet mostly for newcomers who want to get a taste of a highly secure wallet and trade cryptocurrencies seamlessly.
Coinbase Wallet Fees
Coinbase Wallet is free of charge. There isn’t any kind of hidden cost for using its service.
The only fees applied to users are network fees —when you send a transaction to another wallet address.
Transaction fees vary depending on which blockchain you use. For instance, fees on Ethereum can be expensive depending on network congestion.
But like most wallets, Coinbase Wallet allows users to adjust fees depending on their timing needs: the higher the fee, the faster the transaction execution.
Safety Of The Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet leverages numerous security protocols that set it as one of the safest digital wallets in the world.
It’s a self-custody wallet, which means that users —and not the Coinbase exchange— have control of their private keys.
Private keys are basically a long string of numbers and letters that allows us to send crypto transactions in the blockchain and access our funds in a digital wallet.
This means that even if the Coinbase exchange is ever compromised, Coinbase Wallet remains safe from any type of cyberattack.
For advanced users, it can still do the job. I would, however, recommend exploring other cryptocurrency wallets before choosing Coinbase Wallet.
Coinbase Wallet Recovery
Every wallet will provide you with a seed recovery phrase —a random sequence of 12 to 24 words that allows you to regain access to the account in case you ever lose it.
Keeping our seed phrase saved and written down in a secure place is highly important so we don’t lose access to our funds.
Lose your seed phrase and pretty much forget about your wallet. This isn’t any different with Coinbase Wallet.
Coinbase however sets itself apart from its competitors by having a cloud backup feature for its customers, allowing them to store and save their seed phrases in iCloud or Google Drive.
To regain access to Coinbase Wallet we simply have to click on the “I already have a Wallet” option once we start the app.
Privacy & Anonymity
Coinbase Wallet has a strong focus on providing a high level of privacy for its users.
By being non-custodial, users have total control of their private keys.
Neither the exchange nor the wallet will ever ask users for their private keys, password, or any kind of personal information such as email address, full name, etc.
As such, Coinbase Wallet has a clean record of no security breaches or hacks. The wallet hasn’t been compromised in any form, and its high level of security is an appealing feature for its customers.
The mobile version allows users to implement additional layers of security by setting up a PIN password and biometric verification.
Coinbase Wallet also has a feature called an auto-lock timer.
This function allows users to set a specific time to determine how long will take for the wallet to automatically lock itself.
Coinbase Wallet Features
Coinbase Wallet is a hot storage wallet, which means it’s accessible online and connected to cryptocurrency networks.
Hot wallets are the counterparts of cold storage —physical wallets capable of storing funds offline.
Creating an account is quite straightforward. For the desktop version, we just need to add the Coinbase Wallet extension on the Chrome Web Store.
Once added, the installation process is rather simple. The wallet will prompt us to provide a username, create a password and enter the seed phrase.
Coinbase Wallet users can also search for your username and send you payments.
The mobile version is available on the App Store or Play Store, depending on the device you own. Biometric verification is available for both software and access through Face ID is also available for iPhone users.
If you already installed and set up Coinbase Wallet as a browser extension, simply click on the Restore Wallet option on the mobile version of the app, then enter your seed phrase to access the same account.
The restore wallet function comes in handy if you have lost or changed your device and you need to log in to your account.
This is why it’s important to always keep your seed phrase secure as you will need to access your wallet.
You can fund your wallet using other crypto wallets or buy crypto within the app using Coinbase Pay.
Coinbase Wallet allows users across 100 countries to buy crypto-assets and stablecoins via credit card or debit card.
Some of the most popular assets that Coinbase Wallet supports include:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Solana (SOL)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Avalanche (AAVE)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- DAI Stablecoin (DAI)
The wallet provides support for various decentralized networks, including Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum, and Polygon (MATIC).
The wallet has Ethereum as the default network, yet users can choose one of the following blockchains:
- Arbitrum
- Avalanche C-Chain
- BNB Chain
- Fantom Opera
- Gnosis
- Optimism
- Polygon
As we previously stated, Coinbase Wallet supports decentralized applications (dApps) for both desktop and mobile versions, although it’s easier to explore dApps and store NFTs on the mobile version as it has a more user-friendly interface with all of the wallet’s features better outlined.
Coinbase Customer Service
Customer support isn’t the shiniest feature of Coinbase.
While users can reach support via chat, email, and phone, thousands of customers globally have decried terrible customer support.
Numerous media publications have covered issues with customer support inside and outside of the crypto industry.
We can find a never-ending list of Coinbase clients complaining about poor customer support on Trustpilot.
Most of the complaints revolve around deliberate account closures or frozen accounts, with poor or no response at all from customer support.