Last updated: October 2026
Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges serving the U.S. market. It reported about $246 billion in assets on its platform at the end of June 2026. Founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase listed its shares on Nasdaq (ticker: COIN) in April 2021.
Note: This review covers the Coinbase exchange and the Coinbase One subscription. Coinbase Wallet is a separate self-custody product, covered in our Coinbase Wallet safety review.
A lot has happened since early 2025. The SEC dropped its lawsuit, Coinbase won its European MiCA license, it relaunched in India, and it started rolling out stock and prediction-market trading in the U.S. It is also still dealing with the fallout from the customer-data breach it disclosed in May 2025, and its simple-buy fees are still high. This review looks at whether Coinbase is still the right choice in 2026.
TLDR: Coinbase at a glance
In our view, Coinbase is still the easiest place for a U.S. beginner to buy crypto from a large, regulated company. It's a public company with licenses in the U.S. and Europe, and it keeps most customer crypto in offline storage.
Simple buys are expensive compared with an order-book exchange, and the 2025 data breach fed a wave of convincing scam calls and texts aimed at Coinbase customers. Active traders and fee-sensitive users can do better elsewhere.
Our rating: 4.0/5. Very good for beginners and long-term holders; less suited to cost-conscious traders.
Pros of using Coinbase
1. Easy to use
Buying, selling and holding crypto on Coinbase is straightforward, which is a big part of why beginners start there. The app and the website cover the everyday tasks most people need.
2. Regulated in the U.S. and Europe
In February 2025, the SEC dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase with prejudice, so it can't be refiled. In Europe, Luxembourg's regulator granted Coinbase a MiCA license in June 2025, which lets it serve customers across the EU under one set of rules. Licenses tie Coinbase to specific obligations that many offshore exchanges avoid, though they don't make it risk-free.
3. Bitcoin ETF custody
Coinbase reported holding more than 80% of crypto ETF custody assets in mid-2025, including for BlackRock's IBIT. See the Bitcoin ETF custody section below.
4. Base
Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 network Coinbase incubated, opened to everyone in August 2023. It offers cheaper transactions than Ethereum itself and is connected directly to the Coinbase app.
5. A wide selection of assets
Coinbase Advanced lists about 405 assets, and the app now offers decentralized exchange trading too. See Cryptocurrencies available below.
Cons of using Coinbase
1. High fees on simple trades
Buying through the simple buy screen costs more than using an order book. Coinbase charges a spread plus a fee that varies with the order size, payment method and market, and it shows the total before you confirm. Coinbase Advanced is usually cheaper for regular traders.
2. The May 2025 data breach
Criminals bribed overseas support agents to copy customer data, which scammers then used to pose as Coinbase support. See the Security section for details.
3. Customer service
Coinbase offers chat, phone callbacks and email support, with faster, priority support reserved for paid Coinbase One tiers. Complaints about slow resolution of locked or restricted accounts are a long-running theme in user reviews.
4. Location and product restrictions
Not every product is available everywhere. Staking, for example, isn't open to new deposits in California, Maryland, New Jersey or Wisconsin, according to Coinbase's staking eligibility page.
5. Recent regulatory penalties
Ireland's central bank fined Coinbase Europe €21.5 million in November 2025 over anti-money-laundering failures, and on October 22, 2026 announced a further €3.25 million sanction against Coinbase Ireland over safeguarding and outsourcing, subject to confirmation by the High Court.
Regulatory status
The SEC case
The SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging it operated as an unregistered exchange, broker and clearing agency, and that its staking program was an unregistered securities offering. In February 2025, the two sides agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice. The SEC said the decision reflected its changing approach to crypto regulation, not a judgment on the merits of the case.
State and federal compliance
In January 2023, Coinbase agreed to a $100 million settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services over anti-money-laundering failures: a $50 million penalty plus $50 million to be spent on its compliance program.
Licenses and registrations
Coinbase's derivatives businesses are registered with the CFTC through separate entities, including Coinbase Financial Markets (a futures commission merchant), Coinbase Derivatives (an exchange) and, since September 2026, Coinbase Clearing (a clearinghouse). In Europe, its crypto services now run through Coinbase Luxembourg under its MiCA license. In April 2026, the OCC gave preliminary conditional approval for a Coinbase national trust company; that approval doesn't make customer crypto FDIC-insured.
Products and services
Trading
Coinbase has two main ways to trade crypto. The simple buy and sell screen is built for beginners. Coinbase Advanced, which replaced Coinbase Pro in November 2023, adds charts, an order book, more order types and lower fees. Since December 2025, Coinbase has also been rolling out stock and ETF trading and prediction markets to U.S. customers. Those run through separate regulated providers, with their own rules and protections.
Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet is Coinbase's self-custody wallet: you hold the keys, not Coinbase. It was rebranded as the Base app in July 2025, then renamed back to Coinbase Wallet in September 2026, so you'll still see both names in Coinbase's help pages. The older classic app closed on August 15, 2026; recovery phrases and addresses carried over. Since 2024 you can also create a passkey-based smart wallet without writing down a recovery phrase, though you can add a phrase as a backup, and losing your only passkey can lock you out.
If you've lost access to a Coinbase Wallet browser extension, our guides cover recovering a forgotten Coinbase Wallet password and what to do with a lost or invalid recovery phrase.
Coinbase One
Coinbase One has three tiers (U.S. prices):
- Basic ($4.99/month or $49.99/year): no Coinbase trading fees on simple trades up to $500 a month, standard support, and up to $1,000 of account protection
- Preferred ($29.99/month): no trading fees on simple trades up to $10,000 a month, a staking boost, 24/7 priority support including phone, a 25% rebate on Coinbase Advanced spot fees (capped at $100 a month), and up to $10,000 of account protection
- Premium ($299.99/month): no trading-fee cap on eligible simple trades, a larger staking boost, a dedicated concierge, an uncapped 25% Advanced rebate, and up to $250,000 of account protection
Spreads still apply, and some fees aren't waived. Account protection covers eligible unauthorized account takeovers, with requirements such as using a passkey or security key, and it doesn't cover transfers you authorize by mistake, which is how most scams work. Coinbase also offers a separate Coinbase One credit card on the American Express network.
Coinbase Card
The Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card that converts crypto to cash when you spend. Eligible U.S. users can earn variable crypto rewards and choose which asset to spend.
Staking
Coinbase offers staking for proof-of-stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana. Rewards vary and are shown after Coinbase's commission, which is 35% for specified assets under its standard pricing. Some states and countries restrict staking, and unstaking can take time.
Coinbase Prime
Prime is Coinbase's institutional platform for custody, trading and financing. Its arrangements differ from those for retail accounts.
Is Coinbase safe? Security and track record
Coinbase keeps most customer crypto in offline cold storage and requires two-step verification on every account. It has had two serious customer-facing incidents: the 2025 data breach, and a flaw in its account recovery process that, according to its 2023 annual report, affected at least 6,000 customers in 2021, whom it reimbursed about $25.1 million.
The May 2025 data breach
On May 15, 2025, Coinbase disclosed that criminals had paid overseas customer-support contractors and employees to copy customer data they could see at work. Maine's breach notice dates the activity to December 2024 and lists 69,461 people affected. The data included names, addresses, phone numbers and emails, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, masked bank details, government-ID images, and account balances and transaction history.
Passwords and private keys weren't taken, and the agents couldn't move customer funds. But the stolen details made fake "Coinbase support" calls far more convincing, and customers did lose money to them. Our guide to Coinbase scam texts explains how those scams work.
Coinbase refused a $20 million ransom demand, offered a $20 million reward for information leading to the attackers' arrest and conviction, and said it would reimburse retail customers who were tricked into sending funds to the attackers as a direct result of the incident. Its loss-reporting page limits that to losses before the May 15 announcement. In its 2025 annual report, Coinbase recorded a net loss of about $345 million from the incident and said it had paid out about $311 million in reimbursements and legal costs that year. In December 2025, Coinbase's CEO said a former support agent had been arrested in India.
Security practices
According to Coinbase's 2025 annual report, it:
- generally aims to hold no more than 2% of custodied crypto in hot wallets
- stores cold-wallet key material at facilities in the U.S. and internationally
- keeps customer and corporate assets separate in its ledgers
- has its controls and reconciliations audited annually and reviewed quarterly
Its crime insurance covers only a portion of the crypto it holds. Crypto, including USDC, isn't covered by FDIC or SIPC insurance. Cash in your account may qualify for FDIC pass-through coverage if a partner bank fails, but that doesn't protect you if Coinbase itself fails or your account is compromised.
For your own account, use a passkey or a hardware security key rather than text-message codes, which Coinbase itself calls the least secure option.
Coinbase fees
Coinbase's fees depend on how you trade, your location, your payment method and the asset.
Simple trades
Coinbase charges a spread and a transaction fee on simple buys and sells. It no longer publishes a fixed fee table: the fee and spread are shown in the order preview before you confirm.
Coinbase Advanced
Coinbase Advanced uses maker and taker fees on a tiered schedule. Your tier depends on your trading volume or your USDC balance, and your current rates are shown when you sign in. Advanced has no added spread because you trade directly against the order book.
Coinbase One
Coinbase One removes Coinbase's trading fee on eligible simple trades up to your plan's monthly cap, but spreads still apply. Whether it pays for itself depends on how much you trade.
Coinbase vs. Kraken and Gemini on fees
Fee comparisons only work at the same trade size and volume tier. Check Kraken's and Gemini's published schedules against your own Coinbase Advanced rates before you choose. For small, occasional buys, the simple screen's spread is usually the biggest cost.
Bitcoin ETF custody
Coinbase's custody business is one of its biggest strengths. According to its Q2 2025 shareholder letter, it held more than 80% of crypto ETF custody assets as of June 30, 2025, and $245.7 billion in total assets under custody across all clients. Its ETF clients include:
- BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which also names a second custodian
- the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC)
- the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which uses several custodians
These are institutional custody arrangements. Retail accounts on the Coinbase exchange work differently, so ETF custody shouldn't be read as a guarantee for an individual's balance.
Cryptocurrencies available
Coinbase Advanced lists about 405 assets and more than 500 spot trading pairs. Since August 2025 the app has also offered decentralized exchange (DEX) trading of tokens on Base and, later, Solana. Major assets on the exchange include:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Solana (SOL)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Polygon (POL), which replaced MATIC on Coinbase in October 2025
Coinbase reviews tokens before listing them on its exchange, which filters out some obvious problems but doesn't make any token a safe investment. Tokens you reach through the in-app DEX trading feature aren't vetted by Coinbase, beyond blocking ones flagged as malicious.
Not every asset is available in every location, and some have transfer restrictions.
Educational content
Coinbase Learn publishes beginner guides on topics from "What is Bitcoin?" to DeFi, along with regular market commentary.
The old "Learn and Earn" program, which paid small amounts of crypto for watching videos and taking quizzes, ended on May 27, 2025.
Who should use Coinbase?
Coinbase is a good fit for:
- beginners
- users who want a large, regulated U.S. company
- long-term holders
- U.S.-based users
Coinbase may not be right for:
- fee-sensitive traders
- privacy-focused users
- users looking for very obscure tokens on a centralized exchange
- high-frequency traders
Recent developments (2025–2026)
- February 2025: the SEC dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase.
- May 2025: Coinbase disclosed the customer-data breach, and Learning Rewards ended.
- June 2025: Coinbase received its MiCA license in Luxembourg.
- August 2025: Coinbase completed its acquisition of Deribit, announced in May at about $2.9 billion in cash and stock, expanding into crypto options.
- December 2025: Coinbase reincorporated in Texas and began rolling out stock and prediction-market trading in the U.S.
- May 2026: Coinbase relaunched in India with rupee deposits and withdrawals, after registering with India's Financial Intelligence Unit in 2025.
- August 2026: the classic Coinbase Wallet app closed.
- September 2026: Coinbase Clearing registered with the CFTC as a clearinghouse.
Financial performance
Coinbase posted $6.3 billion in net revenue and $2.6 billion in net income in 2024, up from a much smaller profit in 2023. Results have been more volatile since: it reported a net loss of $359.5 million for the second quarter of 2026.
Conclusion
Coinbase is a public company licensed in the U.S. and the EU, and one of the simplest ways to buy crypto in the United States. The end of the SEC case, its MiCA license and its custody business make it a solid choice for beginners and long-term holders who value dealing with a known, licensed company.
It isn't the cheapest option, and the 2025 data breach showed how much damage leaked customer data can do even when no funds are directly stolen. If you use Coinbase, protect your account with a passkey or security key, and treat any unexpected call or text from "Coinbase" as a scam until you've checked your account yourself.
Final verdict: For a U.S. beginner who wants a familiar, licensed company and doesn't mind paying more on small buys, Coinbase is still a good place to start. Frequent traders should compare fees, and anyone who values privacy should look elsewhere.
