Coin Base as an Cryptocurrency Exchange

Coinbase is the biggest Bitcoin broker / exchange around, supporting 32 countries and with more than 4 million customers around the world. Founded in 2012 as part of Ycombinator Coinbase is also one of the oldest exchanges around. Coinbase is a regulated an licensed company.

Coinbase allows users to buy and sell Bitcoins through their bank account, credit card, Paypal account (selling only), and other less known methods as well. Even though Coinbase has started out only as a broker (selling Bitcoins directly to customers), lately (May 2016) Coinbase started operating GDAX – A Bitcoin exchange, where Bitcoiners can trade Bitcoins with one another.

Coinbase offers its services in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

All Coinbase accounts have a wallet the can be used for sending / receiving Bitcoins. In order to open such an account you will need to supply your full name, verify your email address and accept Coinbase’s user agreement.

If you want to be able to buy Bitcoins with Coinbase you will need to supply a valid bank account to allow bank transfers to Coinbase.

Coinbase’s main payment method is the wire transfer. Depending on your country you will be able to either link your bank account directly to Coinbase or send money to a specific Coinbase bank account in order to fund your account.

Latelt Coinbase has introduced also the ability to buy Bitcoins via credit and debit cards. Using this method will cost you an extra % for processing fees but it’s faster than using wire transfer. If you’re looking to sell your Bitcoins on Coinbase you can also use Paypal as the receiving source of funds. However, the use of Paypal is limited to sellers only. At the moment it’s not possible to buy Bitcoins with Paypal on Coinbase.

Coinbase transaction times depend on the payment method you will use. For example, a wire transfer can take up to 5 days to be approved whereas a credit card purchase will be instant. Once your account is funded you will receive the Bitcoins after placing your order (tutorial to follow). Depending on your payment method there can be different fees to the transaction.