Changelly vs Coinbase | 5 Reasons Why Coinbase Is Better
Jack Moreau
Apr 2024
9 min read
Fact checked
Changelly vs Coinbase: New to cryptocurrency trading and not sure which exchange to choose between Changelly vs Coinbase? We have compared these two exchanges on a variety of metrics including product range, supported countries, trading fees, user experience, security features, and much more!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Changelly and Coinbase are two well-known cryptocurrency exchanges that offer a range of services to their users.
Changelly was founded in 2013 by Konstantin Gladych and is registered in Malta with its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic.
Changelly exchange
The company has over 100 employees mostly based in Malta, and it is available in most countries around the world, except the United States and the Virgin Islands.
In 2020, Changelly branched out to accommodate the needs of traders with Changelly PRO, which is a compliant, regulated, and easy to use platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Changelly has over 3 million users with the majority being based in Europe. Changelly is also available on IOS and Android where it has over 500,000 downloads with a 3.7-star rating.
Changelly app
On the other hand, Coinbase was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsa and is a leading American exchange and wallet service known for its user-friendly interface, security, and regulatory compliance.
Coinbase exchange
The platform supports over 200 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cosmos, along with multiple fiat currencies.
Coinbase offers a range of services such as spot trading, recurring buys, staking, and Coinbase learn & earn, an educational program that rewards users for learning about crypto.
The exchange caters to both retail and institutional investors with its advanced trading platform, Coinbase Pro, offering additional features and lower fees.
Coinbase is, of course, available on both Android and IOS where it has 10 million downloads and a 4.1-star rating with over 750,000 reviews.
Coinbase app
Changelly vs Coinbase Signup & KYC
When it comes to signing up for Changelly or Coinbase, there are some key differences to note.
To create an account on Changelly, users just need to provide an email address. Once the email has been verified, users can start buying and selling cryptocurrencies through third-party providers.
However, each provider will require their own KYC process before a purchase can be made. For those that signup to Changelly Pro, they can deposit cryptocurrencies and begin trading without the need to pass KYC.
Changelly Pro KYC
On the other hand, Coinbase's signup process is a bit more involved with users needing to enter full name, email, password and then verify the email address before opening the account.
Coinbase signup
Once the account has been created, users need to submit additional information and documents for KYC verification.
This includes country of residence, address, and government ID. The verification process generally takes a few minutes to a few hours before an approval is received from Coinbase.
Changelly vs Coinbase Products & Services
Changelly's product range quite limited with users mainly being able to buy cryptocurrencies on Changelly via third-party providers such as MoonPay, Simplex, Banxa and others.
Buy crypto on Changelly with Banxa
While Changelly is easy to use in this regards, we don't recommend buying from third-party providers as they are expensive to use.
Changelly also offers a product called DeFi swap, which allows users to connect their MetaMask and swap tokens on EVM compatible blockchains such as Ethereum, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain.
Changelly DeFi swap
Changelly Pro is also available for those who wish to access spot trading, margin, and futures trading.
The good thing about Changelly Pro is that users can get access to spot, margin, and futures without the need to KYC.
In terms of liquidity and leverage on Changelly Pro, daily spot trading volumes reach up to $400,000,000 and users have access up to 100X max leverage on BTC contracts and 10X leverage on margin trading.
Changelly Pro futures trading
Coinbase on the other hand is the one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and has developed a suite of products and services primarily aimed at beginners and institutional clients.
Coinbase USPs
Due to the stringent financial regulations in the United States, Coinbase has steered clear of offering highly leveraged products like those with 100X leverage, which are commonly found on offshore exchanges.
This limitation has meant fewer offerings for professional traders seeking high-risk opportunities but has simultaneously made the platform more approachable and simpler for beginners, with a more navigable range of products.
Coinbase Dashboard
The platform thoughtfully caters to users of varying expertise by providing two distinct user interfaces: the standard 'Coinbase' interface, which is designed for ease of use and is ideal for beginners, and the 'Advanced' interface, tailored to meet the needs of experienced traders.
Coinbase Buy & Sell
Coinbase supports trading in over 240 different cryptocurrencies. Users have the option to engage in transactions either through a user-friendly buy-and-sell feature, ideal for those seeking simplicity, or via more detailed spot trading in the Advanced section, suited for strategic and in-depth trading.
Coinbase Spot Trading
For investors who prefer to build their positions over time, Coinbase offers a recurring buy feature allowing users to steadily invest through a strategy known as Dollar Cost Averaging. This approach helps in mitigating the impact of market fluctuations over time.
Expanding its trading options, Coinbase recently introduced futures trading for BTC and ETH as well as perpetual contracts for various other cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, XRP and LTC with 5X leverage.
Coinbase Futures
While Coinbase consistently ranks as one of the top three exchanges in terms of spot trading volumes, it is less dominant in the futures trading arena.
Coinbase Trading Volumes
For those interested in earning interest on their digital currency holdings, Coinbase currently offers an attractive 5% interest rate on USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Coinbase Earn
Additionally, Coinbase has a particularly beginner-friendly feature called the learn-and-earn program, where users can educate themselves about various blockchain projects and earn token rewards.
Coinbase Learn & Earn
In the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Coinbase has developed its own NFT platform where users can mint, explore, purchase, and sell NFTs on popular blockchains such as Ethereum, Base, and Polygon.
Coinbase NFTs
Coinbase has also launched a Visa Card, enabling users to spend their cryptocurrency (USDC) or U.S. dollars in real-world transactions and earn rewards on their spending, further bridging the gap between the crypto world and everyday commerce.
Coinbase Visa Card
For those who prefer a more direct control over their crypto assets, Coinbase offers the Web 3 Coinbase Wallet. This non-custodial wallet enables users to store and manage thousands of coins and tokens and provides easy access to DeFi on blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Coinbase Web 3 Wallet
Coinbase recently introduced the Coinbase One Membership priced at $29.99 per month, which offers a range of benefits including zero-fee trades, enhanced staking rewards, and priority customer support.
Coinbase One Membership
As a publicly traded company in the U.S., Coinbase adheres to rigorous regulatory standards, making it one of the safest platforms for cryptocurrency trading.
This high level of security and compliance is a key reason why major institutions like BlackRock and Grayscale choose Coinbase for trading and custody services for a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Coinbase Institutions
Coinbase Prime offers high-net-worth individuals and institutions access to advanced trading tools, financing solutions, secure storage options, staking services, and much more.
When it comes to trading fees, Changelly and Coinbase are quite different. Let's start with Coinbase's trading fees which charges a spot maker fee of 0.40% and a spot taker fee of 0.60%.
Coinbase also offers rebates for it's high volume traders that exceed $10,000 per month. Coinbase's spot fees are on the higher end compared to the market average.
Coinbase spot fees
On the other hand, Changelly Pro offers competitive fees for both spot and futures trading. The spot trading fees for makers and takers on Changelly Pro are just 0.1%.
And if you're a high volume trader, these fees can be further reduced if your trading volumes exceed a minimum of 5 BTC during a 30-day period.
Changelly Pro trading fees
When it comes to futures trading, Changelly Pro charges makers just 0.02% and takers 0.05%, which are very competitive fees similar to what you would find on Binance and OKX.
Having said this, for users that do not buy and sell on Changelly Pro and instead buy and sell via third-party providers or the DeFi swap, they will end up paying higher trading fees than on Coinbase.
When it comes to deposit methods, Changelly and Coinbase offer vastly different options for their users. Let's take a closer look at what each exchange has to offer.
Changelly does not support fiat deposits, meaning users have to either deposit cryptocurrencies on the exchange or buy via third-party sellers that charge high commission fees.
This can be a bit of a hassle for those looking to quickly and easily deposit fiat currency into their account.
On the other hand, Coinbase offers three fiat currencies for deposit including USD, EUR, and GBP.
In terms of deposit options, those include Bank transfers via ACH, Wire (USD), SEPA (EUR), and Swift (GBP). This gives users a lot of flexibility when it comes to depositing funds into their account.
Coinbase fiat deposits
Additionally, Coinbase offers free ACH and Swift deposits while Wire deposits for USD cost $10 dollars and EUR deposits have a low 0.15 EUR fee.
When it comes to fiat withdrawals, Changelly doesn't offer any options besides cryptocurrency withdrawals.
However, these come with varying fees depending on the blockchain being used. For example, Bitcoin withdrawals have a fee of 0.0007 BTC and Ethereum withdrawals have a 0.002 ETH fee.
To withdraw Solana, there's a 0.01 SOL fee and for Tether USD (ERC-20), the fee is 12 USDT.
On the other hand, Coinbase offers multiple fiat withdrawal methods such as ACH, Wire, SEPA, and Swift. ACH withdrawals are free, while wire withdrawals have a fee of $25 USD. SEPA withdrawals cost 0.15 EUR and Swift withdrawals cost 1 GBP.
When it comes to cryptocurrency withdrawals, the fees to withdraw Bitcoin are 0.0002 BTC, for Ethereum it's 0.000768 ETH, and for Solana it's 0.008 SOL.
Coinbase thus offers both options for fiat withdrawals and lower cryptocurrency withdrawal fees than Changelly.
In conclusion, Changelly and Coinbase are two very different exchanges with a different audience and product range.
Changelly is the much smaller and less known exchange which offers two main products, Changelly and Changelly Pro.
The regular Changelly allows users to buy cryptocurrencies via third-parties at high fees or to use their DeFi Swap.
Changelly Pro provides users with a non-KYC environment to deposit cryptocurrencies and trade spot and futures with up to 100X leverage.
The trading fees on Changelly Pro are competitive with spot fees of 0.1% for makers and takers. While Changelly is mainly for beginners, Changelly pro is a trading venue that can attract more advanced users.
Coinbase is one of the biggest exchanges in the world with over 100 million users and regulated in the US.
All users on Coinbase need to pass KYC to use it's services and be able to buy and sell over 200 cryptocurrencies. Spot trading fees on Coinbase range from 0.4% to 0.6% but the user experience is nice and easy to use for beginners.
Coinbase also offers additional products not available on Changelly such as NFTs, Web 3 wallet, Visa card and custody solutions.
This also includes the ability to deposit and withdraw fiat currencies at low prices which is not an option with Changelly.
As such, both exchanges have their unique strenghts and weaknesses that should be leveraged or avoided depending on the users needs.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
