Coinbase Wallet Review: Is It Right for You?

Coinbase Wallet Overview

Coinbase Wallet is a “self-custody wallet,” meaning that the wallet owner has full control of funds and sole access to the wallet. Coinbase Wallet owners will receive a private key when they create a wallet, and they alone have access to their digital assets.

Key Features

Creating a Coinbase Wallet is free. It highlights several benefits that make it a good crypto wallet option.

Fees

While using a Coinbase Wallet, owners can access decentralized applications on the Ethereum network but should expect to run into some fees. 

Decentralized applications have countless use cases, but lending assets are some of the most popular features. For anyone who lends or withdraws assets from DeFi platforms, a fee is required, paid in Ethereum, for the transaction to go through.

Bridging — the movement of digital assets from one blockchain to another — carries no fee. However, those facilitating the bridge transaction may charge their own fee, which will be disclosed in the transaction summary.

Network fees, sometimes called miner fees, are the costs of making transactions from a Coinbase Wallet. These fees are necessary for securing the network, but they are not charged by Coinbase. The charges are from the miner, who provides the service of securing and making the transaction.  

The only true fee that Coinbase Wallet charges is on swaps. This is when a wallet owner swaps one crypto or token for another. The Coinbase Wallet fee on swaps is 1%, and Coinbase uses this to invest in the wallet’s overall functionality.

Features

Coinbase Wallet lets owners buy, sell, swap, stake, send, receive and store hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital assets. Users can access DeFi apps and exchanges through several networks:

• Ethereum
• Solana
• BNB Chain
• Polygon
• xDai
• Fantom Opera
• Avalanche C-Chain
• Gnosis Chain
• Arbitrum
• Optimism

Security

Due to the wallet’s self-custody nature, owners may find Coinbase Wallets extremely secure. When creating a wallet, a seed phrase (or recovery phrase) is provided for the owner’s safekeeping. The seed phrase must be safeguarded at all costs, as it’s the only way to access a wallet if an owner loses the private keys.

The only arguable downside with security being in the owner’s hands is that Coinbase can’t assist anyone who loses their keys or seed phrase.

Customer Service

Coinbase has various resources for owners with questions about Coinbase Wallet. This includes a comprehensive FAQ page for common problems, a 24/7 chat assistant and a dedicated online form for submitting questions.

By reaching out through the online form on Coinbase’s help page, owners can receive help with Coinbase Wallet elements, like decentralized applications, login issues and transactions. Even if there appears to be no answer through these resources, the customer support team will examine any other trouble an owner experiences.

How Does Coinbase Wallet Stand Out?

Coinbase Wallet stands out for its coaction with Coinbase’s own centralized exchange. Although Coinbase’s platform transfers with many different wallets, it’s helpful to have the same provider if an owner needs to troubleshoot any issues. 

Comparable Options

Here’s how Coinbase Wallet compares with other options.

Coinbase Wallet vs. Trust Wallet

Trust Wallet supports 65 blockchains — far more than the 10 Coinbase Wallet offers. Unsurprisingly, Trust Wallet also has more digital assets available. While Coinbase Wallet modestly supports hundreds of thousands of assets, Trust Wallet has more than 4.5 million to choose from.

Coinbase Wallet vs. Exodus

Coinbase Wallet provides access to hundreds of thousands of digital assets. The Exodus wallet is limited to just 240 digital assets.

How To Set Up a Coinbase Wallet

Potential owners can set up a Coinbase Wallet via the app by following these steps:

1. Download the Coinbase Wallet app on the App Store or Google Play.
2. Select “Create new wallet.”
3. Read and accept the terms and conditions.
4. Create a username for the wallet and choose suitable privacy preferences.
5. Set up biometric authentication or a passcode.
6. Take note of the unique 12-word seed phrase used for backup and store a written copy of it somewhere safe, preferably not on a digital device.
7. Enter the seed phrase again to confirm for recovery.

To set up Coinbase Wallet using a web browser, users can add Coinbase Wallet’s extension from the Chrome Web Store. Once that’s done, they can click “Create a new wallet” and follow the prompts to get started.

Who Coinbase Wallet Is Best For

Coinbase Wallet is likely perfect for those who value the security of being the sole owner and want access to various DeFi apps. When using Coinbase Wallet, owners don’t have to rely on a centralized platform to complete transactions. 

Final Take

Coinbase Wallet is likely a wise choice for crypto enthusiasts wanting to explore the DeFi space and have full autonomy over their digital assets. That being said, there are several digital wallet alternatives, so potential users will do well by researching which wallet best fits their needs before making any decisions. 

Information is accurate as of Oct. 3, 2022.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.