Coinbase is one of the worlds most popular places to buy bitcoin in the world. But is it a great option for buying Bitcoin if you're Australian? We look at some of the pros and cons of Coinbase.
Buying Bitcoin on Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the easiest places to buy Bitcoin. They have done an excellent job at making the entire experience straight forward. So even if you're brand new to Bitcoin, you'll have no trouble buying. Coinbase also offers a good cloud wallet for storing small amounts of Bitcoin, that is considered to be quite secure.
In Australia, Coinbase only lets you buy Bitcoin with a credit card. This has some upsides and downsides. On the positive side, it means you can buy Bitcoin instantly. It's no harder than online shopping. The downside is they do limit the amount you can buy each week and there are also some fees you need to be aware of…
Coinbase Fees
In Australia the fee for buying Bitcoin is 3.99% on all credit/debit buys. Basically you're paying for convenience and credit card providers charge transaction fees, which are getting passed onto you.
Coinbase Reputation
Coinbase has an excellent reputation. It's run buy an actual U.S company, not by a couple of anonymous guys. Coinbase is regulated and has built up it's reputation over many years as a trusted place to buy and sell Bitcoin.
Coinbase Vs Coinspot
In Australia there are a number of different exchanges we can choose from apart from Coinbase. The one I recommend to most people is CoinSpot. It's run locally and has some advantages over Coinbase – basically it has much lower fees, so you'll get more Bitcoin for your buck if you buy through Coinspot. You can also sell your Bitcoin on Coinspot back into AUD and withdraw it to your bank account. This is a feature that you can't currently access on Coinbase.
Coinbase Pros:
- Excellent Interface with mobile apps
- Run by a large corporation.
- Setup recurring purchases (great for dollar cost averaging)
- Buy bitcoin using a credit card
- A number of other coins are supported on Coinbase
Coinbase Cons
- 3.99% fee on all buys
- No way to sell bitcoin if you're an Australian (you can still transfer your bitcoin to another exchange and easily sell it there)
Coinspot Pros
- Australian Company with local support
- Deposit using PayID (instant bank transfer) and BPay.
- Huge range of coins supported
- Sell crypto back to AUD
- Fees of just 1%
Coinspot Cons
- No credit card purchases
- No mobile apps
- No automated recurring purchases
You should use Coinbase if…
- You want to buy using a Credit Card – if you don't want to use your bank account to purchase Bitcoin.
- You want to setup recurring purchases – if you want to setup automated recurring purchases every month or week. Then you can do this on Coinbase.
You can find out more about Coinbase here
You should use Coinspot if..
- You want to get the most Bitcoin for your $$$ – Coinspot has no deposit fees (depending on how you deposit) and the buy fee is just 1%. There are no withdrawal fees for AUD.
- You want to invest in alt coins – Coinspot lists dozens of other cryptocurrencies.
- You want to buy using PayID or BPay – it's super easy to transfer money from your bank account using PayID or BPay.
You can find out more about CoinSpot here
