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How to use Coinbase, the most popular cryptocurrency trading platform

Jasmine Birtles 15th Jul 2021 No Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase started in 2012 with the radical idea that anyone, anywhere, should be able to easily and securely send and receive bitcoin.

Today, Coinbase is known as a trusted and easy-to-use platform for accessing the broader crypto economy. In other words, you can buy and sell loads of cryptocurrencies on it now, not just bitcoin.

We have recommended it here as a trustworthy platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Here’s how you use it.

 

Why use Coinbase to buy and sell cryptocurrencies

The world of cryptocurrencies is like the Wild West at the moment. There are thousands of ‘bad actors’ operating in this space so if you don’t want to lose all your money, you need to be sure of the platforms, websites and apps you are using and interacting with.

So it’s really important to pick a cryptocurrency trading platform that is safe, secure and honest when it comes to buying and selling crypto. Coinbase is one of the most trusted – if not the most trusted – on the net. It is also pretty easy to use – another important quality in the cryptosphere. Essentially, Coinbase offers a simple, safe way to buy, manage and sell your cryptocurrency.

It is also a great place to store your crypto. Again, trustworthiness is key for storing your crypto as there are many people and organisations out there bent on stealing it from you and you need to find ‘wallets’ that are trustworthy and safe from hackers. Coinbase’s ‘hot wallet’ (i.e. cryptocurrency storage within their website) is one of the most secure in the world and easy to use.

 

How do you use Coinbase?


As mentioned above, Coinbase is pretty simple to use, unlike some of the other platforms that are full of graphs, tables and acronyms. Very confusing for the novice trader (which is most of us, let’s be honest!).

how to join coinbase

Like most financial products and platforms, Coinbase needs to check your identity when you sign up.

  • You will need to upload your passport or driving licence plus some information about your address like a utilities bill or similar.
  • You will need to answer questions about what you want to use the platform for.
  • Choose a password that is difficult for others to guess.
  • Put in your bank details for transferring money in and out of the platform as you buy and sell your crypto.
  • This helps you create your own digital wallet (hot wallet) on Coinbase so that you can start to trade.
  • It’s also important to set up ‘two-factor authentication’ to keep your account really safe. Download the Coinbase two-factor authenticator onto your phone then, every time you sign in to your account, you will need to generate a code on your phone to put into the website.

how to trade on coinbase

Coinbase is the one of the easiest places to buy and sell cryptocurrency. You can buy crypto, sell crypto. Safe, fast and simple. It’s really the best platform for beginners to use because it is so simple and you can see the price movements of different currencies very simply on line graphs.

Once you have set yourself up on the site it’s easy to trade.

  • Transfer money from your bank account into your Coinbase wallet.
  • Then pick a cryptocurrency you want to buy.
  • Click on ‘Buy/Sell’ at the top of the page and a box will appear.
  • Click on the cryptocurrency you want to buy (there’s a drop-down menu in the box) and put in how many £s you want to spend on it.
  • Then buy that crypto and it will automatically be stored in your wallet.

 

Which cryptocurrencies can you buy on Coinbase

Coinbase hosts around fifty different cryptocurrencies, including the best-known ones such as:

  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Stellar Lumens
  • Litecoin
  • Bitcoin Cash
  • XRP
  • Monero
  • ZCash
  • Matic
  • Tether
  • Cardano
  • Dogecoin

….and more!

How to earn cryptocurrencies on Coinbase

You can earn cryptocurrencies on Coinbase by watching short videos about them and answering easy quiz questions about what you’ve watched. Sometimes the cryptocurrencies are very new ones that you might not have heard about, but at other times they are better-known ones like Matic (also known as Polygon), which has become very popular recently.

It’s worth doing these little tasks to earn crypto. You might not make much but if you happen to earn crypto that massively goes up in price later on then you’re quids in!

 

coinbase’s fee structure

It’s free to store your cryptocurrencies on Coinbase but they charge when you buy or sell them.

You can also transfer crypto from your wallet to someone else’s wallet on the Coinbase network for free, and vice versa.

Coinbase charges a ‘spread’ of about 0.50% when you buy or sell cryptocurrencies, as well as a flat fee for doing it.

That flat fee depends on the transaction amount and is laid out by Coinbase on its fee page.

Sign up to Coinbase here.


Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

“Cryptocurrency is not regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is not subject to protection under the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme or within the scope of jurisdiction of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service. Investing in cryptocurrency comes with risk and cryptocurrency may gain in value, or lose some or all value. Capital gains tax may be applicable to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
 
​“Content is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing in cryptocurrency comes with risk.”
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Jasmine Birtles

Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.

Jasmine Birtles

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