Gate.io vs Coinbase | Why We Give The Edge To Coinbase
Jack Moreau
Feb 2024
10 min read
Fact checked
Gate.io vs Coinbase: We've thoroughly compared both exchanges across KYC requirements, product range, cryptocurrency support, trading volumes and fees, as well as deposit and withdrawal methods. Keep reading and we promise you will quickly discover the pros and cons of each exchange!
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.
Gate.io and Coinbase are two well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, each with its own unique features and offerings.
Gate.io was established in 2013 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. It is available in 184 countries, although there are restrictions in some countries such as the United States, Canada, and certain European countries.
Gate.io exchange
The exchange offers a variety of services, including spot trading, margin trading, futures, and options trading. It supports an extensive range of over 1000 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and numerous altcoins.
Gate.io has over 12 million users around the world with the majority being based in Europe and Asia. The exchange is also available on Android and iOS where it has been downloaded over 1 million times. The app has a solid rating of 4.4 stars with over 40,000 reviews.
Gate.io app
In contrast, Coinbase was founded in 2012 in the United States by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsa. The exchange is available in 100 countries and is known for its user-friendly interface, security and regulatory compliance.
Coinbase exchange
Coinbase supports +200 cryptocurrencies including well known Bitcoin, Ethereum and multiple altcoins. It offers a range of services which includes spot trading, recurring buys, staking, learn & earn programs plus some additional features.
Coinbase is one of the biggest exchanges in the world with over 100 million users mainly based in the US and Europe. It is 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
While Gate.io supports a wider range of cryptocurrencies and offers more advanced trading options, Coinbase is known for its user-friendliness and regulatory compliance. Ultimately, the choice between the two comes down to personal preference and specific trading needs.
Gate.io vs Coinbase Signup & KYC
Signing up for Gate.io is a quick and easy process. All you need to do is provide your email address and set a password, and you're good to go. However, if you want to trade with fiat currencies, you'll need to complete the KYC verification process.
Gate.io KYC
The KYC process on Gate.io involves providing your personal information, such as your full name and country of residence, and uploading a government-issued ID.
Once you've submitted your documents, the processing time is usually a few hours to 24 hours. After you've completed KYC verification, you'll have access to both crypto and fiat trading on Gate.io.
Creating an account on Coinbase is also a simple and fast process. You'll need to provide your full name, email address and a password. Once you've confirmed your email, your account will be created.
Coinbase signup
The KYC process on Coinbase then involves submitting your ID and allowing Coinbase to verify your identity. This process can take a few minutes to a few hours, and once it's completed, you'll have access to both crypto and fiat trading.
Gate.io vs Coinbase Products & Services
Gate.io has evolved into a significant player over the years by continually improving and broadening its range of products.
The platform's main attraction has been its spot trading feature that lets users buy and sell an extensive range of over 1700 cryptocurrencies.
Gate.io Spot Trading
This variety, combined with the proactive addition of hard-to-find altcoins, has made Gate.io the preferred destination for beginners eager to explore new investment opportunities.
Gate.io Crypto Markets
For traders interested in leveraging their investments, Gate.io offers margin trading with up to 10X leverage on hundreds of cryptocurrencies.
In addition to traditional margin trading, Gate.io provides ETF leveraged tokens. These tokens allow users to take long or short positions with up to 5X leverage, but without the usual margin requirements, thus eliminating the risk of liquidation.
Gate.io Leveraged Tokens
Instead, users pay a 0.1% daily fee to cover the costs associated with the ETF leveraged tokens.
Gate.io Leveraged ETFs
Gate.io has also ventured into futures trading which is a common offering among offshore exchanges.
The platform allows trading hundreds of perpetual contracts with options for either isolated or cross margin modes and up to 125X leverage.
Gate.io Perpetual Trading
Options traders have access to European-style Vanilla Options for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), adding another layer of trading options.
Gate.io also offers copy trading to primarily beginners that want to mirror the trades of more seasoned traders with a historical track record.
Gate.io Copy Trading
Additionally, the platform provides a variety of trading bots including strategies like spot and futures grid, infinity and margin grid, martingale, and rebalancing.
Gate.io Trading Bots
Gate.io is notable in the market for its trading volume, ranking in the top 3 for 24-hour spot trading with almost $8 billion and in the top 30 for derivatives volumes with $3 billion.
Gate.io Trading Volumes
Moving beyond trading, Gate.io's Finance section provides various opportunities to earn yield on digital assets.
Gate.io Earn
Products include lend & earn, hodl & earn, dual investments, and staking. Users can earn interest on their digital assets with flexible terms depending on the asset.
In the hodl & earn section, users can lock assets like BTC, ETH, and USDT to earn attractive Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) over different lockup periods. Additionally, users have the option to stake their ETH and earn up to 4.4% in ETH rewards APR.
Gate.io Staking
For those looking to use cryptocurrencies for everyday transactions, Gate.io offers the Gate.io Visa card, providing up to 1% cashback on spending.
Gate.io Card
In line with the growing trend towards decentralized finance (DeFi), Gate.io has launched its own Web 3 Wallet. This wallet offers non-custodial DeFi access and supports 29 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others.
Gate.io Wallet
For wealthier individuals and institutional clients, Gate.io offers tailored services such as custody solutions, Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading, VIP loans, and broker programs, catering to a wide range of financial needs and preferences.
Gate.io OTC Desk
On the other hand, Coinbase is a leading player in the global cryptocurrency exchange market. The company has crafted a suite of products that primarily cater to the needs of novice users and large institutional clients.
Coinbase USPs
Operating within the strict regulatory environment of the United States, Coinbase has shied away from offering highly leveraged products commonly found in exchanges outside the U.S.
This conservative approach though less attractive to seasoned traders seeking higher risk, significantly benefits beginners by simplifying the platform with a more manageable range of products.
Coinbase Dashboard
To suit different levels of trading expertise, Coinbase provides two separate user interfaces: the standard Coinbase interface, which is user-friendly and ideal for beginners, and the Advanced interface, which is customized for experienced traders.
Coinbase Buy & Sell
Coinbase enables trading in a diverse range of over 240 cryptocurrencies. These can be traded using a straightforward buy-and-sell feature, perfect for those seeking simplicity, or via the more detailed spot trading option available in the Advanced section.
Coinbase Spot Trading
For investors interested in gradually building their cryptocurrency holdings, Coinbase offers a recurring buy feature. This feature allows users to consistently invest over time, a strategy known as Dollar Cost Averaging.
Adding to its trading options, Coinbase recently introduced futures trading for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), along with perpetual contracts for BTC, ETH, LTC, SOL, AVAX and XRP with leverage up to 5X.
Coinbase Futures
While Coinbase is often ranked among the top three exchanges globally in terms of spot trading volume, its volumes in the futures market are more humble.
Coinbase Trading Volumes
For users looking to earn interest on their cryptocurrency holdings, Coinbase currently offers an attractive 5% interest rate on USDC as well as staking rewards for a wide range of coins including ETH, SOL, DOT, ADA and ATOM.
Earn 5% on USDC on Coinbase
Additionally, Coinbase provides a unique learning opportunity through its learn-and-earn program, where users can educate themselves about various blockchains and earn tokens as rewards.
Coinbase Learn & Earn
Coinbase has joined the club of the many exchanges that have developed their own NFT platforms. Here, users can mint, explore, purchase, and sell NFTs on popular blockchains such as Ethereum, Base, and Polygon.
Coinbase NFTs
Coinbase also offers a Visa Card that allows users to spend their cryptocurrency (USDC) or cash in real-world transactions and earn rewards from their everyday spending.
Coinbase Visa Card
For those who prefer a more direct control over their cryptocurrency assets, Coinbase has developed the Web 3 Coinbase Wallet. This wallet allows users to store and manage a wide range of coins across various blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Coinbase Web 3 Wallet
Recently, Coinbase launched the Coinbase One Membership, priced at $29.99 per month which offers numerous benefits like zero-fee trades, increased staking rewards, and priority customer support.
Coinbase One Membership
As a publicly traded company in the U.S., Coinbase adheres to strict regulatory standards which means that it's one of the safest platforms for trading and storing cryptocurrencies.
This level of safety and compliance is why major institutions such as BlackRock and Grayscale choose Coinbase for trading and custody services for an extensive range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Coinbase Institutions
With Coinbase Prime, high-net-worth individuals and institutions have access to advanced trading tools, financing solutions, secure cold storage, staking services, and much more.
When it comes to trading fees, Gate.io and Coinbase have some differences worth noting. Let's start with Gate.io which charges a spot maker fee of 0.20% and a spot taker fee of 0.20%.
Gate.io spot fees
For futures trading, the maker fee is 0.02% and the taker fee is 0.05%. Gate.io also offers fee rebates for those whose monthly trade volumes exceed $60,000 or who hold enough GT tokens.
Now, let's take a look at Coinbase's trading fees which include a spot maker fee of 0.40% and a spot taker fee of 0.60%. Similar to Gate.io, Coinbase also offers lowered trading fees for those that trade for more than $10,000 during a 30-day period.
Coinbase spot fees
As such, Gate.io clearly has lower spot and futures trading fees than Coinbase while exchanges such as OKX and Binance have lower fees than both of these two exchanges.
When it comes to depositing fiat currencies, there are some exchanges that support it and some that don't. In the case of Gate.io and Coinbase, there are some differences in the deposit methods they offer.
Unfortunately, Gate.io. does not support any fiat deposits. Users can only deposit cryptocurrencies or use a credit or debit card to buy crypto via MoonPay, Banxa, Advacash, or Simplex. However, be prepared to pay a high transaction fee ranging from 2-5%.
Gate.io buy crypto with card
On the other hand, Coinbase actually does offers fiat deposits for the biggest currencies such as USD, EUR, and GBP. Users can make deposits via ACH, Wire (USD), SEPA (EUR), and Swift (GBP). ACH deposits are free of charge while wire deposits come with a $10 USD fee.
Coinbase fiat deposits
SEPA deposits have a small 0.15 EUR fee while Swift deposits are totally cost free. Gate.io is thus clearly more limited when it comes to fiat deposit options compared to Coinbase which has the big currencies covered with low costs or no fees at all.
Let's move on by taking a look at the withdrawal options and fees for each exchange.
Not surprisingly, Gate.io does not offer fiat withdrawals. This means that users can only withdraw cryptocurrencies from the platform. The withdrawal fees for BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDT (ERC-20) are on the higher end on Gate.io.
The fees are 0.001 BTC fee for Bitcoin withdrawals, 0.0035 ETH fee for Ethereum withdrawals, 0.0046 SOL fee for Solana withdrawals and a 5 USDT fee for when withdrawing Tether USD.
Coinbase allows for fiat withdrawals for USD, EUR and GBP via ACH, Wire, SEPA, and Swift. While ACH withdrawals are free, wire withdrawals come with a $25 USD fee. SEPA withdrawals come with a small 0.15 EUR fee and Swift withdrawals come with a 1 GBP fee.
Coinbase fiat withdrawals
The withdrawal fees for cryptocurrencies are also minimal on Coinbase with a 0.0001 BTC fee for Bitcoin withdrawals and 0.003 ETH fee for Ethereum. For those that wish to withdraw their SOL the fees are 0.008 SOL and for ERC-20 Tether, the fees are $3 USDT.
In summary, Coinbase is the better option compared to Gate.io when it comes to depositing and withdrawing fiat currencies. Coinbase however also offers lower fees for users who wish to withdraw their cryptocurrencies.
After comparing the key numbers and facts of Gate.io and Coinbase, it is clear that both platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Without a doubt, Coinbase is the more beginner friendly platform as rookies can easily deposit fiat currencies and buy and sell over 200 cryptocurrencies.
Gate.io however has the edge when it comes to offering a more versatile exchanges with plenty of derivatives trading options.
In terms of trading fees, Coinbase is not very competitive with it's 0.4% maker fee and 0.6% taker fee. Having said that, it's important to take into account that Coinbase does offer low to no fees for fiat deposits/withdrawals and low fees when withdrawing cryptocurrencies.
Gate.io does however have the lower fee structure with a maker fee of 0.2% and a taker fee of 0.2%. When it comes to the number of cryptocurrencies offered, Gate.io has the much larger selection with over 1500 cryptocurrencies which is jam packed with hard to find altcoins.
Overall, while Coinbase may have a larger trading volume and user base, Gate.io offers a wider range of cryptocurrencies and lower fees. And while Coinbase offers a platform with more regulatory backing and security, Gate.io offers more futures products and higher leverage.
Ultimately, the choice between the two platforms will depend on the individual's specific needs and preferences.
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.
