Bittrex vs Coinbase | Why Coinbase Is Much Better Than Bittrex
Jack Moreau
Apr 2024
10 min read
Fact checked
Trying to decide between Bittrex vs Coinbase? Our comprehensive comparison looks at factors such as signup procedures, KYC requirements, country availability, trading fees, product offerings, and overall user experience. Read on so that you can easily decide which exchange is best to use!
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.
Bittrex and Coinbase are two of the most well-known and highly regarded cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry.
While both platforms share a commitment to regulatory compliance and robust security measures, they differ in several key areas.
Bittrex was founded in 2014 by a team of cybersecurity experts and offers a wide selection digital assets including well known cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. With over 1 million users worldwide, the platform is recognized for its secure and reliable trading platform.
Bittrex exchange
While Bittrex is overall a very basic and slightly boring exchange, it does support a solid range of over 400 cryptocurrencies. Their services are also available on mobile where it has a good 4-star rating with over half a million downloads.
Bittrex app
Coinbase which was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsa is a leading US-based exchange with a massive userbase of over 100 million users in over 100 countries.
Coinbase offers a bigger range of services than Bittrex which includes spot trading, recurring buys, staking and Coinbase Learn & Earn, an educational program that rewards users for learning about cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase exchange
The exchange supports a decent range of over 200 cryptocurrencies and its Android app has been downloaded over 10 million times with a 4.1-star rating.
Coinbase app
Bittrex vs Coinbase Signup & KYC
For those looking to signup to a new exchange, two platforms that you are likely considering are Bittrex and Coinbase.
Both of these exchanges require KYC verification for all users, so let's take a closer look at their signup processes and verification requirements.
To get started on Bittrex, you'll need to be prepared to spend a little more time on the signup process than you would on some other exchanges. This is because Bittrex requires a full KYC verification in order to access any features on the platform.
Bittrex signup process
However, the process is still relatively painless and shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to complete.
Once you've submitted your documents, the ID verification process can be as swift as 10 minutes but can take several days in the slowest case.
On the other hand, Coinbase offers a faster signup process that can be completed in just 1 minute.
However, you'll still need to go through the KYC verification, which involves verifying your email, phone and uploading a government ID. The verification process on Coinbase can be completed in a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the volume of applicants at that moment.
Coinbase signup process
Bittrex vs Coinbase Products & Services
In terms of product offering, Bittrex unfortunately offers a very limited range of products and services such as spot trading and staking of cryptocurrencies such as Cardano.
Spot trading on Bittrex
The user experience on Bittrex is also pretty uninspiring and basic. Among other things, It's annoying that the signup process requires immediate KYC without having a chance to browse the features.
The exchange also suffers from low liquidity with average daily spot trading volume of only $10 million.
Staking on Bittrex
As a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase has tailored its array of products and services primarily to suit the needs of beginners and institutional investors.
Coinbase USPs
Navigating within the rigorous constraints of U.S. financial regulations, Coinbase has steered clear of offering the high-risk, high-leverage products that are commonplace in many offshore exchanges.
This restriction, while possibly limiting its appeal to professional traders, has proven to be advantageous for beginners, simplifying the platform and making it more user-friendly.
Coinbase Dashboard
Coinbase provides two distinct user interfaces to cater to its diverse user base. The standard Coinbase interface is designed with beginners in mind, while the Advanced interface is aimed at more experienced traders.
Coinbase Buy & Sell
In terms of trading options, Coinbase offers a solid 240 cryptocurrencies available for trading. These can be bought or sold using a straightforward, user-friendly buy-and-sell feature, or through more detailed spot trading available in the Advanced section.
Coinbase Spot Trading
For those looking to invest over time, Coinbase offers a recurring buy feature, ideal for implementing a Dollar Cost Averaging strategy.
Recently, Coinbase expanded its offerings to include futures trading in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Coinbase Crypto Futures
The exchange now also offers perpetual contracts for several other popular cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, SOL, LTC, XRP and AVAX with 5X leverage.
And while Coinbase is often ranked among the top three exchanges globally for spot trading volumes, it has not yet managed to make the same impact in the futures market.
Coinbase Trading Volumes
For users interested in earning interest on their digital currency holdings, Coinbase currently offers an attractive 5% interest rate on USDC.
Coinbase Earn
Additionally, Coinbase has launched a learn-and-earn program where beginners can educate themselves about different blockchain projects and earn token rewards.
Coinbase Learn & Earn
Coinbase has even developed its own NFT platform so that retail users can create, discover, buy, and sell NFTs on popular blockchains such as Ethereum, Base, and Polygon.
Coinbase NFTs
Coinbase also offers a Visa Card where users can spend their cryptocurrency or cash in everyday transactions and earn rewards on their spending.
Coinbase Visa Card
For those who prefer a more private approach to managing their crypto assets, Coinbase has developed the Web 3 Coinbase Wallet.
Coinbase Wallet
This non-custodial wallet solution supports thousands of coins and tokens and allows for simple access to DeFi Dapps across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and many other blockchains.
Coinbase recently introduced the $30 Coinbase One Membership with benefits such as zero-fee trades, enhanced staking rewards, and priority customer support.
Coinbase One Membership
Being a publicly traded company in the U.S., Coinbase adheres to strict regulatory standards, ensuring a high level of safety and reliability for its users.
This commitment to security and compliance is why major institutions like BlackRock and Grayscale trust Coinbase for trading and custody services for a wide range of cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase Institutions
With Coinbase Prime, 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, Bittrex and Coinbase are quite different. Bittrex charges a flat 0.75% spot maker and taker fee, with the possibility of earning rebates if your monthly trade volume exceeds $5,000. This spot fee structure is quite and above what Coinbase offers.
Bittrex fees
On the other hand, Coinbase's spot maker and taker fees are higher at 0.40% and 0.60% respectively. Similar to Bittrex, these fees can be lowered if your monthly trade volume exceeds $10,000. Having said that, the trading fees of both Bittrex and Coinbase are quite high. For those that want to spend less on trading fees, we recommend using exchanges such as OKX and Phemex which only takes 0.1% in spot fees.
When it comes to making deposits on cryptocurrency exchanges, Bittrex and Coinbase both support fiat deposits, but each has its own unique deposit methods and fees. Let's start with Bittrex which supports three fiat currencies in USD, EUR, and GBP. Users can deposit funds using wire transfer, bank transfer (ACH), SEPA or by using their credit/debit card. Bank deposits are free of charge, but if you choose to deposit with a credit/debit card, you'll have to pay a 3% fee.
Coinbase also provides support for three fiat currencies in USD, EUR, and GBP as well. Users can make deposits via ACH, wire (USD), SEPA (EUR), and swift (GBP). ACH deposits are free of charge while wire deposits cost $10 USD and SEPA deposits cost 0.15 EUR. Swift deposits are free of charge.
When it comes to withdrawing your funds from Bittrex, you'll have a few options to choose from. The exchange offers fiat withdrawals via Wire, ACH, SEPA, and Debit Card. While Wire withdrawals incur a $25 fee, ACH and SEPA withdrawals are free of charge. On the other hand, if you prefer to withdraw your funds in cryptocurrency, this comes with different fees depending on which cryptocurrency you are withdrawing.
Coinbase also offers fiat withdrawals via ACH, Wire, SEPA, and Swift. While ACH withdrawals are free, Wire withdrawals will cost you $25, SEPA withdrawals will incur a fee of 0.15 EUR and Swift withdrawals will cost you 1GBP.
For those that wish to withdraw their cryptocurrencies, Coinbase is actually a low cost way of doing that. The withdrawal fees for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are 0.0001 BTC, 0.0001 ETH, and 0.005 SOL, respectively. However, when withdrawing USDT, you'll have to pay a $3 fee. These are actually quite decent and competitive withdrawal fees for cryptocurrencies.
Bittrex and Coinbase are both popular cryptocurrency exchanges that offer their users a range of features and services. While both exchanges prioritize security and compliance, they differ in several key areas. Bittrex supports over 400 cryptocurrencies and has a decent 4-star rating on its Android app. The exchange charges a 0.35% fee for maker and takers and offer rebates for those that trade higher volumes. The user experience on Bittrex is not great both in terms of the platforms usability but also in terms of the limited range of products on offer.
In contrast, Coinbase has over 200 supported cryptocurrencies, offers a winder range of services such as staking and lending, has a highly-rated website and mobile app but does charge a higher spot maker and taker fee of 0.40% and 0.60%, respectively. Coinbase similar to Bittrex requires full KYC verification from all of it's users in order to use their services.
When it comes to deposit and withdrawal methods and fees, both exchanges offer similar options for USD, EUR and GBP. This is a big plus for those that wish to deposit and withdraw from and to their bank without paying high fees.
While Bitrrex has the benefit of supporting more cryptocurrencies and slightly lower fees than Coinbase, overall, Coinbase is the much better exchange across most categories.
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.
