CEX.IO vs Coinbase | Key Reasons Why Coinbase Is Superiour
Jack Moreau
Apr 2024
9 min read
Fact checked
Looking for the best cryptocurrency exchange and wondering if Cex.io or Coinbase is the better choice? Our team has done the research to help you make an informed decision. We've compared their signup and KYC processes, trading fees, product range, user experience and more to determine which exchange comes out on top!
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.
Cex.io was founded in 2013 by Alex Lutskevych and is registered in Gibraltar with its headquarters in London, UK.
The exchange is available in 99% of countries around the world besides restricted countries such as Singapore, Japan, Russia, OFAC countries and the state of New York.
Cex.Io offers support for over 130 cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, ADA, UNI, SOL, DOGE and many others.
CEX.io exchange
The platform allows users to buy, sell and trade a range of digital assets making it accessible to beginner and advanced traders.
Cex.io has over 4 million registered users around the world, and its Android app has been downloaded over 1 million times with an average 4.1-star rating based on 23,000 reviews.
CEX.io app
Coinbase, on the other hand, was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsa and is a leading US-based exchange and wallet service.
Coinbase is registered in the District of Columbia and is available in over 100 countries. The platform supports 200 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, along with multiple fiat currencies.
Coinbase exchange
Coinbase offers a range of services such as spot trading, recurring buys, staking, coinbase learn & earn which is an educational program that rewards users for learning about cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase has over 100 million users mainly based in the US and Europe and its Android app has 10 million downloads with a 4.1-star rating based on over 750,000 reviews.
Coinbase app
Cex.io vs Coinbase Signup & KYC
When it comes to Cex.io and Coinbase, both exchanges require users to complete KYC verification before they can access all the features.Signing up for Coinbase takes about a minute and users need to verify their email before accessing their account.
Once done, users can submit their personal documents (ID, addres, country of residence) for KYC verification which usually takes a few minutes to a few hours to get verified.
CEX.io signup
Coinbase signupCex.io's signup process is just as smooth and simple, requiring only a name, email and country of residence.
To verify for KYC, users will need to upload a government ID and a selfie with that document. The verification process can take as little as one hour to pass if all documents have been correctly uploaded.
Both exchanges prioritize user security and require KYC verification, but Coinbase has a slight edge when it comes to speed of verification.
Coinbase signup
Cex.io vs Coinbase Products & Services
Cex.Io offers a range of products including spot and margin trading with BTC, ETH or USDT as underlying collateral.
In terms of margin leverage, CEX.io offers up to 10X leverage. The exchanges also offers trading APIs, instant buy with credit card, staking and earning and a debit card.
CEX.io products
The exchange has improved significantly in terms of user experience over the last few years. It now provides a modern interface with a wide range of products and services to satisfy the needs of beginners and more advanced users alike.
However, the average daily spot volume on Cex.Io is quite low as it hovers under $10 million.
CEX.io savings
Coinbase also offers a decent range of features considering it's regulated in the US which to a large extent ties it's hand in terms of what products it can offer.
That said, Coinbase offers spot trading, lending and borrow, Coinbase web 3 wallet, Coinbase card, NFTs, learn and earn and recurring buys.
Coinbase trading
The exchange provides a great user experience with a beginner-friendly and easy-to-navigate website. However, the website frequently experiences connection issues where users have to wait to log in.
Liquidity on Coinbase is great with daily spot trading volumes frequently exceeding $1 billion. Coinbase Pro customers in 23 US states can access up to 3X leverage on USD-quoted books.
When it comes to trading fees, Cex.io and Coinbase have their own twist on things. Let's take a closer look at each exchange.
First up, Cex.Io offers a spot trading fee of 0.15% for makers and 0.25% for takers. In terms of trading fees, this is quite average with many well known exchanges such as Binance, OKX and Bybit offering lower spot fees.
Cex.Io does offer some benefits for frequent traders. For example, traders who execute more than $10,000 per month can enjoy slightly discounted trading fees.
CEX.io trading fees
Coinbase also has a tiered fee structure for its users. The spot maker fee is 0.40% while the spot taker fee is 0.60%.
Coinbase also offer some incentives to users who trade frequently. If your monthly trade volume is above $10,000, you can enjoy reduced fees. Coinbase spot fees. Obviously CEX.io offerse lower trading fees than Coinbase but overall, neither exchange is a top contender when in this category.
When it comes to depositing fiat currencies on cryptocurrency exchanges, the options can vary widely. Let's take a look at CEX.io and Coinbase and see what deposit methods they offer. CEX.io offer support for three fiat currencies in USD, EUR, and GBP.
For deposit methods, they have a range of options available. Customers can deposit via SWIFT, wire transfer, SEPA, Faster Payments, credit/debit card, and through payment providers like Neteller and PayPal.
If you opt for a Swift or wire transfer, there will be a $2.99 fee. Meanwhile, SEPA transfers have a fee of €2.99, and Faster Payments will cost you £2.99. If you deposit with a credit or debit card, there will be a 3-4% service fee.
CEX.io fiat deposits
Coinbase also supports three fiat currencies as well: USD, EUR, and GBP. Coinbase offers a few different deposit methods. You can deposit funds via ACH (in the US), Wire (USD), SEPA (EUR), or Swift (GBP).
ACH deposits are free of charge, but wire transfers will cost you $10. Coinbase SEPA deposits have a fee of 0.15 EUR while swift deposits are free.
Both exchanges ultimately offer a decent range of fiat deposit methods with varying fees, giving customers a range of choices to suit their needs.
When it comes to withdrawing funds from an exchange, it's important to know the available options and the fees for each method.
Let's start with Cex.Io, they allow fiat withdrawals for three fiat currencies USD, EUR and GBP.
The available withdrawal options include wire transfer, SEPA and Faster Payments. The withdrawal fees range from 2.99 USD/EUR/GBP for wire transfers or SEPA, and 1.8%-3% for credit/debit card withdrawals.
When it comes to withdrawing cryptocurrencies on CEX.io, the exchange charges the following for Bitcoin (0.0005 BTC), Ethereum (0.0005 ETH) and USDT (10 USDT).
Coinbase fiat withdrawal
Switching to Coinbase, the exchange offers fiat withdrawals via ACH, wire transfer, SEPA and Swift in various fiat currencies such as USD, EUR, and GBP.
The withdrawal fees differ depending on the method used for withdrawing, ranging from free for ACH withdrawals to $25 for wire withdrawals.
Cryptocurrency withdrawals from Coinbase come with a 0.0001 BTC fee, a 0.005 SOL fee for Solana withdrawals and a $3 fee when withdrawing USDT.
In conclusion, Cex.io is a smaller exchange than Coinbase with 4 million registered users compared to Coinbase's 100 million.
They support 130 cryptocurrencies and offer a user-friendly interface and a range of products and services for mainly for beginners.
However, its daily spot volume is relatively low hovering under $10 million. Coinbase boasts over 100 million users mainly based in the US and Europe and offers a great user experience with a beginner-friendly website.
The exchange supports over 200 cryptocurrencies and has daily spot trading volumes frequently exceeding $1 billion.
When it comes to trading fees, Cex.io is proving to be the better alternative with spot trading fee of 0.15% for makers and 0.25% for takers.
This is quite a bit cheaper than Coinbase's spot maker fee is 0.40%. Regarding deposit and withdrawal methods, both exchanges offer a range of options at varying fees to suit the needs of their customers.
Cex.io supports USD, EUR, and GBP for fiat deposits and withdrawals, while Coinbase supports USD, EUR, and GBP as well.
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.
