Coinbase Reviews
Coinbase is an online “digital wallet” that allows you to store, spend, and acquire bitcoin currency.
About Coinbase
In business since 2012 and based out of San Francisco, CA, Coinbase is a web-based digital wallet that allows you to send and receive bitcoins. The company is backed by several large venture capital firms, and claims to hold 617,000 consumer wallets, 16,000 merchants, as well as integration with U.S. banks.
Coinbase holds a C- rating with the Better Business Bureau, which is based on two closed complaints within the past three years. From a customer satisfaction standpoint, the company appears to have a mainly positive reputation, though online reviews are somewhat scarce due to the company’s newness.
By far the most common complaint we found is the amount of time it takes for Coinbase to approve your transaction.
Bitcoin valuations are volatile (e.g. they change often – similar to stocks), so you may purchase yours at one price, but after the minimum four-day waiting period has passed, find that it has significantly increased or decreased in value. However, Coinbase’s newer Instant Buy feature appears to directly address this concern.
What are Bitcoins?
In order to understand the benefit of using a “digital wallet” such as Coinbase, it’s important to first understand what bitcoins are.
Bitcoins have been in use since 2009, and represent a digital peer-to-peer payment system. Each bitcoin represents one unit of currency, and are specially encrypted to prevent theft, and to prevent the same bitcoin from being used as payment more than once. While bitcoins were initially associated with “underground” enterprises, they have more recently become accepted by larger vendors, such as the popular blogging platform Wordpress, and the dating site OkCupid.
According to Coinbase, bitcoins are the “world’s largest alternative currency,” and represent a “total market cap of approximately $10.3 billion.”
How Coinbase Works
To begin using Coinbase, you’ll first need to sign up for an account, which simply entails entering your email address and choosing a password. After verifying your email address, you’ll be redirected to your user home page, which will include a quickstart guide. This will help you buy your first bitcoin, learn how to accept bitcoin payments, and invite friends and earn a $5 bitcoin credit. On this home page, you’ll also be able to quickly view your account activity, current balance, as well as the ability to send and request money.
In order to add bitcoins to your Coinbase wallet, you’ll need to connect it to a bank account or credit card (Visa only), and verify your phone number. The number of bitcoins you can purchase each day depends on your “level”:
- Level 1 – Verify your email address and phone number, and link your bank account. This will then give you the ability to purchase up to 10 bitcoins per day, and sell up to 50 per day.
- Level 2 – Complete a purchase, and verify your identity. You’ll then be able to purchase and sell up to 50 bitcoins per day.
When purchasing bitcoins, Coinbase gives you two options: Regular buys and Instant Buys. Regular buys will take four business days to process, while Instant Buys will allow you to receive your bitcoins “in seconds.” Once bitcoins have been added to your account, Coinbase securely stores them, and allows you to send them out as needed, whether you’re investing, paying friends, or shopping online.
Coinbase also allows online merchants to accept bitcoins as well, as a whole section of their site is devoted to creating a payment button. Here, you’ll be able to choose your payment type (Buy Now, Donation, or Subscription), button style, and item name, amount, and description. Once you’ve filled in this information, Coinbase will generate the appropriate code so the button can be added to your website.
Coinbase implements several features to keep your bitcoins safe and secure, including AES-256 and SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, the Coinbase Bug Bounty Program, and even extensive background checks on all Coinbase employees.
Coinbase Pricing
Coinbase is free to sign up for, but will charge you a 1% fee for every bitcoin transaction you make. As an example: As of the time of this writing, one bitcoin cost $852.70, which means that Coinbase will charge $8.53 as their transaction fee. While the price of a bitcoin may initially seem very high, keep in mind that you can purchase fractions of a bitcoin (e.g. 0.1 bitcoin = $85.20).
Pros:
- Allows you to quickly and easily purchase, send, and receive bitcoins.
- Can be used by individuals as well as online merchants.
- Numerous security features help ensure you’ll never have to worry about theft.
- Free to sign up, and only 1% fee on all transactions.
- Backed by several large venture capital firms, and is based on the U.S. dollar.
Cons:
- Newer company, so there aren’t a whole lot of online reviews.
- Many customers complained of the minimum four-day wait time for bitcoins to be available in your account, though their Instant Buy feature seems to directly address this.
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Coinbase a scam
As the saying goes, I wish I could give less than one star. I've been totally screwed by Coinbase - twice. Once when they shut down BCH trading for weeks without notice and I watched the value of my coin plunge with no ability to sell it. A day or two is one thing. But weeks without notice while it is crashing is an entirely different animal.
A second butt mongering (still unresolved) is being unable to move my coin out of the vault. During months of trying, I get an error message every time I try to move ETH out of my vault. I've tried calling, emailing, "chatting" (what total BS, they have no chat just a search result auto-reply) over a period of months. No one ever answers the phone ("we are not able to support this or that particular issue by phone at this time"), and no one ever replies to email. They get your money and totally ignore you if you have an issue.
It is an unbelievable scam, and I am amazed they do not fall under some regulatory agency that would have shut them down by now. I would not go near them with a 100-foot pole and I am on a mission now to spread the word on Coinbase as far and wide as I can online and on social media. They think they have you by the balls being unable to reach them.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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14 out 14 people found this review helpfulUpdated review
Update
January 2019 - ha, I forgot I wrote this review (old review).
Coinbase has made changes. Some improvement, some not. But they are (in my honest opinion) one of the less cluttered and easy sites to use. Limited offerings (not a real exchange), but facilitates a purchase of crypto with fiat.
REMEMBER, these are ALL rehypothecating agencies.
None of your funds/cryptos are truly safe from scam, "hack" or whatever the reason will be - you use the site to purchase, and TAKE IT OUT. If you don't own your keys (public number, private number - both), you don't own the crypto.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
NO customer service
(read moreread less...)Their customer service is non-existent.
The payment processor is in the UK, and test debit amounts are processed as part of the registration. If using a debit card, it will be BLOCKED by the bank, and you will lose your debit card, hands down. Then you will have to deal with the bank to get your debit card back; then you will NOT be able to add it back to the Coinbase account.
You can send them email after email to "help," and you will receive cut-and-paste answers which bear no resemblance to the original inquiry. I would use ANY other bitcoin vendor (like MultiBit?) but this. Any other, because it can't be any worse.
Log-ins are also a problem, with verification codes not appearing promptly and passwords and logins not being recognized (exactly the same ones were used).
If you use this vendor after my warnings; good luck! That said, the website setup is clear and nice, but they just have no staff for answers (or staff which knows anything). Very frustrating.
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1 out 1 people found this review helpful
A total scam
When I originally set up an account, I was never informed that I would have to jump through hoops just to withdraw my money. Also, they never informed me that I need to give them my bank ID and password. No way! Here's a copy of the email they sent me during my 6 months of trying to get my money. Their response:
It seems you are not able to access your account, because you are not receiving the 2FA verification code, since you have an old phone number under your account. Therefore, in order to be able to access your account and withdraw your balance, you must update the phone number to access your account through the account recovery process.
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Login normally to your Coinbase account with your username and password
2. Once you have logged in successfully with your login credentials, click on the link "Code not working?"
3. If you do not receive this 2-step prompt when logging in, try clearing your browser cache and/or following the above steps in your browser's "private" or "Incognito" mode.
4. Click on "I no longer own the phone number ending in +1 xxx xxx 1234" (as an example)
5. You will be prompted to start an Account Recovery process for your security codes.
Please note that, while the pictures of the front and back of your ID can be uploaded from files, the photo of your face will need to be taken live by webcam. This process must be completed through the website and cannot be completed using the mobile app.
This process may take 48-72 hours to complete. This process will only work if you are using SMS for your security codes - not an app. You will receive a confirmation that the process has been completed. Then you will start receiving your codes on your new phone. If you do not receive your codes on your new phone, or have any issues, please let us know.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
TOTAL FRAUD!
Coinbase fraud! Delays and hold completely UNACCEPTABLE! Tragic joke. I bailed when they held my funds for two weeks, which I've come to understand is short, compared to some. Do not suffer them! Unless you like being LIED TO!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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3 out 3 people found this review helpful
Alerted them of fraud, got back in a week or two, never tried to resolve
SEC, FINRA, all government agencies should investigate!
Even though one tells them there's fraud involved, they haven't gotten back to me for a week or two, thus holding me accountable for approximately $1000. Furthermore, even if currently reach customer service, they have no way to resolve it, as they pass it up to above, even though agreeing I am 100% right. I get a generic letter from the company subsequently with no explanation or rudimentary understanding of events, just denying trying to figure all out, as they should apologize.
Stay away, as to this day, as of a year ago, I can't get anyone to speak to have authority to resolve the issue, let alone look into it!
No customer service!
No fraud intervention!
No interest in curbing fraud and remedy!
They DON'T CARE! SEC, FINRA, and the US Government should definitely open multiple inquiries, as they can fix a $1000 mistake of theirs on a fraud I had alerted them to, yet don't have the manpower to do so!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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4 out 4 people found this review helpful
Worst customer support I've ever experienced
Coinbase has the worst customer service of any company in the world.
There are 6200 customers who are using Coinbase with our mining pool who are in limbo because Coinbase has not replied to four times we have tried to contact them over the course of 34 days. This level of service is unacceptable. The customer service is so bad that criminals have taken over their Reddit forums and are now impersonating Coinbase staff, "helping" desperate people get support. They post a number to call and then try to get the user to install executable files that allow them to steal money from Coinbase! If Coinbase actually replied to its tickets, nobody would trust these criminals.
Avoid Coinbase at all costs. bitFlyer is a much more reputable exchange, and every ticket I have ever submitted to them has been answered within three hours.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 3 people found this review helpful
They will take your money!
It's this simple - if you invest with Coinbase, they will eventually take your money and cost you thousands in fees. This is my opinion and personal experience.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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3 out 3 people found this review helpful
Coinbase stole $600 from me
I opened a Coinbase account about a year ago and all was fine until I wanted to change my e/m associated with my account.
I did everything they required which took over a month because of their ineptitude and run around.
I now have a new account with my new e/m, but they won't transfer the money in my old account to my new account.
I have been given the classic run around and have finally given up all hope that anything will get resolved. How hard is it to assign a new e/m to my account? It is just a way to steal my money!
BEWARE! Do not use Coinbase.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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4 out 4 people found this review helpful
Referral offer
We need to get what we were offered and promised! It's a contract!
The issue here, I think, can be that the person which I sent a referral to used my original email address when I registered with Coinbase almost a year ago, and which I gave to her to register for Coinbase, while she didn't have any spare email for that time. So their automated system probably detected duplicate email address, which already received a referral offer a year ago. But the person who got a referral has her own name, social security, account number; it's not a duplicate profile! And referral offer was under her name!
We contacted Coinbase many times, they are not willing to help, or even to understand what the issue is and why it's not triggering the referral offer for both of us.
They should manually give me $10 and my friend $10 as stated in their referral program. We triple checked every requirements have been met on our side!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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11 out 13 people found this review helpful
Coinbase - fraud, scams, money-laundering and corruption
WARNING, Coinbase is poison!
On Friday, 06/30/17, I had been notified that Coinbase, LLC had unilaterally WITHOUT authorization initiated a multitude of transactions. Prior to this close to 30 ETH had magically vanished from our "Wallet."
After I had notified Alex H, Supervisor of FRAUD with Coinbase that if it would be impossible to email myself anything. Especially since their graphics department forgot to put the letter "g" in my Gmail address. After I had notified Coinbase that I desired to close my account in a PROFESSIONAL matter they immediate locked me out of my ability to access my "Wallets." They owe my daughters approximately $50K.
Join me in the fight: Coinbase is poison to the Blockchain and are engaged in money-laundering, corruption, scams, and more!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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5 out 6 people found this review helpful
Fraudulent company
I live in Canada and, in 2014, I bought two bitcoins at Coinbase. Today I tried to sell one of them and was notified by Coinbase that, because I live in Canada, I could not sell them. What kind of nonsense is that? They let you buy but don't let you sell.
Stay away from this outfit. They STEAL!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
