Coinbase is the leading exchange service when it comes to buying and selling Bitcoins. It started as an exchange and eventually had a feature to work as a software Bitcoin wallet. It is available in 32 countries with 8.9 million clients served as of this writing.
Coinbase as an exchange
As the leading Bitcoin exchange service, Coinbase can now do services like Ethereum exchange and Litecoin exchange. Beginners immediately buy coins at this company because of its reputation and popularity. This exchange gives away bitcoins easily that is why it is user-friendly to first timers. You can now buy bitcoins using your PayPal and other major credit cards.
It offers benefits and services such as purchase up to $1,000 worth of BTC per week, instant transfers among users, insured deposits, debit cards, well-documented API, and wallet services.
Coinbase as a wallet
Coinbase can also be a software wallet that can help you store, buy, and sell bitcoins. There is also a feature where you can request money, either in USD or BTC. The wallet also offers a vault where the bitcoins are stored. It is also convenient because you can easily add funds to your wallet.
This wallet ensures that all funds are stored offline. Drives and backups are placed in deposit boxes and vaults for safe keeping. The bitcoins can directly go the vault and is secured with a password. There is also a choice of creating a group vault but only up to five users.
Disadvantages of Coinbase
After learning about its advantage as an exchange and a wallet, it is also important to be aware of its disadvantages. Although it is a well-known and reliable company, there are still some flaws in its system.
The vault feature is skeptical to customers because it seems like the company has power over their fund. It is feels like how a bank would operate. Another would be some closed and frozen accounts. A lot of customers have complained regarding this issue since it integrates its system to traditional banking laws.
As much as this company receives love, it also receives a lot of hate from its customers. There are a lot of customers who complained that this company does not fix its bug problems or even bother to answer some of their questions. There was even a time when the company promised to give out rewards to those customers who can refer other customers but never received their coins.