Coinsquare vs Coinbase | Competitive Advantages Of Coinbase

coinsquare vs coinbase image
Jack Moreau
Sep 2024
10 min read
Fact checked

Coinsquare vs Coinbase: Don't worry, our comparison covers key factors such as country availability, product range, user experience, trading fees, deposit/withdrawal methods, and more. So, stick around and quickly discover which exchange is best for you!

Coinbase

Trade +240 Cryptocurrencies

Earn 5% Interest On USDC

Great UX & Beginner Friendly

Safest Crypto Exchange

Visit Coinbase
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Uphold

+300 cryptos & Staking

Fast & Free Bank Deposits

Regulated: US, CA, EU, UK, AU

100% Proof Of Reserves

Visit Uphold
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Coinsquare vs Coinbase Overview

Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
Founded
2014
2012
2011
Registered
Canada
United States
San Fransisco
Countries N/A
All but Canada
OFAC
OFAC
Users
500K
120M
10M
Cryptos
40
+200
+220
Spot Fees
0.5%
0.4%-0.6%
0.16%
KYC Required
Yes
Yes
Yes
Best for
Canadian Beginners
Earning USDC Interest
Beginners & Security
Rating
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk

Coinsquare is a Canadian-based exchange founded in 2014. The exchange mainly provides a secure and easy-to-use platform for Canadians to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

This includes support for a limited range of over 40 cryptocurrencies which includes BTC, ETH, XRP, ADA, ALGO, ATOM and a few others.

Coinsquare exchange
Coinsquare exchange

Coinsquare is an easy-to-use platform which offers a clean and intuitive user interface that is beginner-friendly. Coinsquare has over 500,000 registered users and is also available on both Android and iOS, with over 50,000 downloads.

Coinsquare app
Coinsquare app

On the other hand, Coinbase is a US based exchange founded in 2012 that has gained popularity for its user-friendly interface, security, and regulatory compliance.

Coinbase exchange
Coinbase exchange

The platform supports +200 cryptocurrencies including the most well known ones such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche and many others.

Coinbase offers a variety of services such as spot trading, recurring buys, staking services, learn and earn products for beginners and NFTs where users can buy and sell digital collectibles.

Coinbase is also one of the biggest exchanges in the world with over 100 million users based mainly in North America and Europe. The exchange is available on both Android and iOS with over 10 million downloads and a 4.1-star rating based on over 750,000 reviews.

Coinbase app
Coinbase app

Coinbase and Coinsquare ultimately cater to different audiences. Coinsquare is a much smaller and more limited exchange that just focuses on the Canadian market with simple buy and sell products.

In contrast, Coinbase provides it's users a much wider range of cryptocurrencies and services compared to Coinsquare.

Coinsquare vs Coinbase Signup & KYC

Now let's talk about signups and KYC. On Coinsquare, KYC is mandatory for all users and no trading can occur until users are verified.

To sign up for Coinsquare, users first need to enter their email and verify it. They will then be prompted to enter their phone number and complete KYC by providing personal information such as full name, address, a valid government ID, and a selfie.

Coinsquare KYC
Coinsquare KYC

Coinsquare only allows Canadian residents to use their platform and users who are not Canadian won't be able to pass KYC. Once all the required documents have been uploaded, Coinsquare typically verifies users within 1-2 business days.

On Coinbase, KYC is also required for all users. The signup process is quick and only takes about 1 minute to complete.

Once the signup process is complete, users can submit the required documents such as personal information, country of residence and a valid government ID.

Coinbase signup
Coinbase signup

The verification process on Coinbase can be complete in matter of a few minutes to a few hours. Overall, both Coinsquare and Coinbase require users to complete KYC verification before trading can occur. While Coinsquare only allows Canadian residents to use their platform, Coinbase is available to users worldwide.

Coinsquare vs Coinbase Products & Services

Moving on to products and features, Coinsquare is a smaller local exchange that offers buying and selling of 40 cryptocurrencies via their spot exchange called Coinsquare Pro.

Coinsquare pro
Coinsquare pro

The user experience on Coinsquare is pretty average with nothing that stands out as particularly impressive when it comes to the product offering or user experience. Spot trading volumes on Coinsquare are in the range between $20 to $40 million on a daily basis.

Coinsquare cryptocurrencies
Coinsquare cryptocurrencies

On the other hand, Coinbase is the biggest exchange in the world with a range of products and services that cater primarily to beginner users and institutional clients.

Coinbase Products
Coinbase Products

The exchange's approach has been shaped significantly by strict U.S. regulations, which have limited its ability to offer high-risk products like those with 100X leverage found on many offshore exchanges.

The user experience on Coinbase is designed to cater to different levels of expertise. They offer two main user interfaces: the standard 'Coinbase' and the 'Advanced' version.

Coinbase Interface
Coinbase Interface

The regular Coinbase interface is tailored to beginners, providing a simple, intuitive user experience. On the other hand, the Advanced version is suited for experienced traders, offering more sophisticated tools and features for complex trading strategies.

Coinbase Spot Trading
Coinbase Spot Trading

Coinbase supports trading for over 240 different cryptocurrencies that can be bought or sold using either a user-friendly buy-and-sell feature for casual users or through spot trading available in the Advanced section.

Coinbase Buy & Sell
Coinbase Buy & Sell

For those looking to invest steadily over time, Coinbase provides a recurring buy feature which is erfect for implementing a Dollar Cost Averaging strategy.

Coinbase Cryptocurrencies
Coinbase Cryptocurrencies

In addition to these services, Coinbase has recently expanded its offerings to include BTC and ETH futures, as well as perpetual contracts for BTC, ETH, LTC, SOL, XRP, and AVAX with 5X leverage.

Coinbase Futures
Coinbase Futures

And while Coinbase is a top 3 leading exchange in terms of 24/7 spot trading volumes, it is comparatively less competitive in the futures market.

Coinbase Trading Volumes
Coinbase Trading Volumes

Coinbase also offers a lucrative opportunity for users to earn interest, particularly with a 5% interest rate on USDC. Moreover, users have the option to earn staking rewards by staking ETH, SOL, ATOM, AVAX, and many other cryptos.

Coinbase Staking
Coinbase Staking

One of the unique features of Coinbase is its learn-and-earn program that is a beginner-friendly initiative where users can learn about different blockchain projects and earn tokens as rewards.

Coinbase has also developed its own NFT platform so that users can mint, explore, buy, and sell NFTs on various blockchains like Ethereum, Base, and Polygon.

Coinbase NFTs
Coinbase NFTs

For those who wish to use their cryptocurrency for everyday transactions, Coinbase offers a Visa Card where cash (USD) or crypto (USDC) can be spent to earn cashback rewards.

Coinbase Visa Card
Coinbase Visa Card

For users who prefer a more hands-on approach to managing their crypto, the Web 3 Coinbase Wallet is a non-custodial wallet allows users to store and manage 1,000s of coins and tokens across several blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others.

Coinbase also caters to users seeking premium services with its Coinbase One Membership. At $29.99 per month, this membership offers benefits like zero-fee trades, enhanced staking rewards, and priority customer support.

Coinbase One Membership
Coinbase One Membership

Being a publicly-traded company in the U.S., Coinbase adheres to strict regulatory and accountability standards, making it a safe and reliable platform.

This reliability is a key reason why major institutions like BlackRock and Grayscale use Coinbase for trading and custody services for a wide range of crypto assets.

Coinbase Custody
Coinbase Custody

Coinbase Prime is a service tailored for high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients, offering advanced trading tools, financing solutions, cold storage options, staking services, and more, ensuring a secure and comprehensive cryptocurrency management experience.

Coinbase Prime
Coinbase Prime
Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
Spot Trading
Yes
Yes
Yes
Futures
-
Yes
Yes
Perps
-
Yes
Yes
Margin
-
-
Yes
Options
-
-
-
OTC Desk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Copy Trading
-
-
-
Trading Bots
-
-
-
Staking
-
Yes
Yes
Lend & Borrow
-
Yes
Yes
NFTs
-
Yes
Yes
Web 3 Wallet
-
Yes
-
Debit Card
-
Yes
-
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk

Coinsquare Fees vs Coinbase

So we talked about products, but how does Coinsquare and Coinbase compare in terms of trading fees? 

Starting with Coinsquare, the exchange charges spot trading fees of 0.5% for both makers and takers on their Pro platform. This is on the higher end compared to most exchanges with the option for fee discounts for high volume traders.

For those using Coinsquare trade (swaps), the fees are even higher, with the exchange taking a portion of the spread.

Coinsquare trading fees
Coinsquare trading fees

On the other hand, Coinbase charges maker fees of 0.40% and taker fees of 0.60%. And similar to Coinsquare, Coinbase also offers the option for lower fees if monthly trade volumes exceed $10,000.

Coinbase spot fees
Coinbase spot fees

While Coinbase has slightly lower fees than Coinsquare, both Coinbase and Coinsquare are on the higher end in terms of trading fees compared to exchanges such as Binance, OKX and Phemex.

Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
Spot (mkr)
0.5%
0.4%
0.16%
Spot (tkr)
0.5%
0.6%
0.26%
Futures (mkr)
-
-
0.02%
Futures (tkr)
-
-
0.05%
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk

Coinsquare vs Coinbase Deposit Methods

When it comes to depositing fiat currencies on Coinsquare, users can only do so with CAD and USD. However, they do offer a few different methods for depositing these currencies.

Coinsquare fiat deposit
Coinsquare fiat deposit

USD can be deposited via wire transfer free of charge with a processing time of 2 days. For CAD, users can deposit via Interac e-Transfers (faster) or wire transfers, both free of charge.

On the other hand, Coinbase offers a slightly wider range of fiat currencies to deposit, including USD, EUR, and GBP. Deposits can be made via ACH, wire (USD), SEPA (EUR), and Swift (GBP).

ACH deposits are free, while wire deposits incur a $10 USD fee. SEPA deposits incur a small 0.15 EUR fee while Swift deposits are free of charge.

Coinbase fiat deposit
Coinbase fiat deposit
Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
USD
Wire transfer
ACH/Wire
ACH, Etana, SWIFT, Wire
EUR
-
SEPA
Etana, SEPA, Wire
GBP
-
SWIFT
Etana, FPS, CHAPS, BACS
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk

How to withdraw from Coinsquare and Coinbase?

Moving on to withdrawals, Coinsquare offers users the ability to withdraw their USD or CAD funds with a few different options.

For USD, Wire transfer is the only option and for CAD, that can be withdrawn via Interac e-Transfer (free), Bank withdrawal (1.5% fee) or Wire transfer (1.5% fee).

Certain cryptocurrencies (but not all) can also be withdrawn from Coinsquare with different fees depending on the blockchain being used.

Some of these fees are dynamic and change based on network activity such as BTC and ETH while others are set like Litcoin, XRP and Stellar which are free.

On the other hand, Coinbase offers several fiat withdrawal methods which includes ACH transfers, Wire transfers, SEPA, and Swift.

Coinbase withdrawal fees
Coinbase withdrawal fees

ACH withdrawal is free, while Wire withdrawal costs $25 USD, SEPA withdrawal costs 0.15 EUR, and Swift withdrawal costs 1 GBP.

Additionally, users can also withdraw cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH with varying fees of 0.0002 BTC and 0.000768 ETH, respectively.

Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
USD
Wire transfer
ACH/Wire
ACH, Etana, SWIFT, Wire
EUR
-
SEPA
SEPA, Swift
GBP
-
Wire/SWIFT
FPS, CHAPS, SWIFT
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk
Coinsquare
Coinbase
Kraken
Bitcoin
Dynamic
0.0003 BTC
0.0002 BTC
Ethereum
Dynamic
0.003 ETH
0.003 ETH
Solana
Dynamic
0.008 SOL
0.01 SOL
USDT (ERC-20)
Dynamic
2.9 USDT
5 USDT
Signup
Coinsquare
Your Capital is at risk.
Coinbase
Your Capital is at risk.
Kraken
Your Capital is at risk

Is Coinsquare better than Coinbase?

In conclusion, Coinsquare and Coinbase cater to different audiences and provide their users with a different product range.

Coinsquare focuses on the Canadian market and offers a limited range of over 40 cryptocurrencies. The exchange is basic and users can basically only buy and sell cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

In contrast, Coinbase is available in over 100 countries and offers a wider range of cryptocurrencies and services, making it a better choice for advanced traders and investors.

Both exchanges require KYC verification before trading can occur. Coinsquare only allows Canadian residents to use their platform, while Coinbase does not have such a limitation.

When it comes to trading fees, Coinsquare charges spot trading fees of 0.5% while Coinbase charges maker fees of 0.40% and taker fees of 0.60%.

While the exchanges don't differ too much from each other in terms of trading fees, both are on the higher end in this regard.

Choosing between these two exchanges in our opinion is quite simple, Coinbase offers the best user experience, more cryptocurrencies, lower trading fees and wider product range. It's also the more secure exchange being a public listed company in the United States.

Coinbase

Trade +240 Cryptocurrencies

Earn 5% Interest On USDC

Great UX & Beginner Friendly

Safest Crypto Exchange

Visit Coinbase
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Uphold

+300 cryptos & Staking

Fast & Free Bank Deposits

Regulated: US, CA, EU, UK, AU

100% Proof Of Reserves

Visit Uphold
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
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.

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