Coinbase review
The most transparent balance sheet in crypto, attached to the most expensive retail interface. Coinbase is a US-listed public company, which means quarterly filings, audited accounts and a level of disclosure no offshore exchange matches.
CEX.IO is not accepting new retail clients in your region, so we are not linking to it here. See which exchanges do serve you, or .
What it does well
- Publicly listed with audited financial statements
- Advanced Trade fees are competitive above modest volume
- Strongest US regulatory position of the major exchanges
- Insurance on custodied assets and clear proof-of-reserves reporting
Where it falls short
- The simple buy interface is very expensive — spread plus fee
- Base Advanced Trade taker fee of 1.20% is the highest among majors
- Customer support has a long history of complaints
- Fewer listed assets than the offshore venues
What Coinbase is for
Coinbase is a US-listed public company, which means quarterly filings, audited accounts and a level of disclosure no offshore exchange matches. The catch is pricing: the simple buy/sell interface most newcomers use is among the most expensive ways to buy crypto anywhere, while the Advanced Trade interface on the same account is competitive.
Founded in 2012, based in United States (publicly listed, NASDAQ: COIN), it lists 250+ assets and supports USD, EUR, GBP for fiat funding. Regulated futures through Coinbase Financial Markets in eligible jurisdictions
Fees in practice
The headline rate is 0.6% maker / 1.2% taker at the base tier. Advanced Trade base tier; falls sharply with volume.
The number that actually costs people money is rarely the headline one. The simple interface adds a spread of roughly 0.5%, widening in volatile markets, on top of its own fee — that is the single most common way retail traders overpay, and it applies on almost every exchange that runs a "simple" and an "advanced" interface on the same account. If you take one thing from this page: find the trading interface, not the buy button.
Who can use it
Over 100 countries, with the deepest product range in the United States. Restrictions we are aware of as of 2026-09-15: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Crimea, plus a number of sanctioned jurisdictions.
Two things to understand about these lists. First, they change — sometimes with very little notice, as several exchanges' exits from Canada and the Netherlands demonstrated. Second, account access and product access are different things: plenty of jurisdictions allow spot trading while blocking derivatives entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coinbase safe to use?
Coinbase is a US-listed public company, which means quarterly filings, audited accounts and a level of disclosure no offshore exchange matches. The catch is pricing: the simple buy/sell interface most newcomers use is among the most expensive ways to buy crypto anywhere, while the Advanced Trade interface on the same account is competitive.
No exchange is risk-free. The questions worth asking are whether it holds licences you can verify, how long it has operated, and whether it has ever lost customer funds. The answers are above, with links to the primary sources so you can check them rather than take our word for it.
What are Coinbase's trading fees?
Spot trading starts at 0.6% maker and 1.2% taker at the base tier. Advanced Trade base tier; falls sharply with volume. The simple interface adds a spread of roughly 0.5%, widening in volatile markets, on top of its own fee
Work out what a specific trade costs with our exchange fee calculator. Fee schedules change — this was checked on 2026-09-15.
Which countries can use Coinbase?
Over 100 countries, with the deepest product range in the United States. Known restrictions include Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Crimea, plus a number of sanctioned jurisdictions.
Country lists move constantly, and product-level restrictions are usually stricter than account-level ones — an exchange may let you open an account but not trade derivatives. Always check the exchange's own restricted-jurisdictions page before depositing.
Does Coinbase require KYC?
Full KYC required, including identity documents and proof of address.
Does Coinbase offer futures or margin trading?
Regulated futures through Coinbase Financial Markets in eligible jurisdictions
If you trade leveraged products, the liquidation heatmap and funding rates dashboards show where the rest of the market is positioned and what it is paying to stay there.