CoinSpot vs Coinbase Fees

CoinSpot is the better option by far when it comes to fees. Continue reading on to see the fee structure for both of these crypto exchanges.

Deposit Fees

CoinSpot charges ZERO fees on AUD deposits using POLi, PayID, or Direct Deposit (via OSKO). If you prefer to deposit using BPAY, it will incur a 0.9% fee, and if you choose cash deposit, the fee is 2.5%.

Coinbase works slightly differently, in that you don't need to pre-fund your account by depositing money first. When you wish to buy crypto, you simply pay using your debit card at the time of purchase. Coinbase only accepts Debit cards for payment (it no longer accepts credit cards), and charges a high fee of 3.99% per transaction.

Trading Fees

CoinSpot charges 1.0% fees when buying or selling cryptocurrency.

Coinbase charges 0.5% fees, PLUS the 3.99% debit card fee on each transaction. In total, your fee when you buy crypto is 4.49%. Also note that you will NOT be able to sell cryptocurrency on Coinbase in Australia. Currently, you can only purchase crypto and send it to an external wallet or another crypto exchange. Read here to find out why this is the case for Australians.

Withdrawal Fees

CoinSpot charges ZERO fees for AUD withdrawals to Australian bank accounts.

Coinbase does NOT allow any fiat withdrawals in Australia, since you CANNOT sell cryptocurrency. Please be aware of this major limitation if you choose to use Coinbase. Coinbase's help article explains why this is the case.

CoinSpot vs Coinbase Deposit Methods

CoinSpot offers a variety of methods to deposit funds into your account, including Direct Deposit, PayID, POLi and cryptocurrency, which are all free of charge. You can also elect to deposit via BPAY or cash deposits at a newsagent. 

When you use Coinbase, you don't deposit money beforehand to fund your account, you simply use your debit card for payment of the coin at the time of purchase. For Australians, Coinbase only supports Debit cards as payment. Credit cards used to be accepted, but are no longer, according to Coinbase in their article.

CoinSpot vs Coinbase Features 

CoinSpot and Coinbase are two well-established cryptocurrency exchanges that boast a ton of features. I won't go in-depth about every service they offer, but if you are interested in that, click on my reviews for CoinSpot (here) or Coinbase (here). Instead I am going to talk about the features that set them apart from each other. 

CoinSpot's customer service is excellent, with support available 24/7 via Live Chat. I have tested the Live Chat a few times, and I am always chatting to a real person (no bots) within a few minutes. I have always found the Support team to be friendly, professional, and competent in solving my issues. Coinbase on the other hand does not offer Live Chat support, which is an area they could improve in.

CoinSpot has a really useful service called CoinSpot Bundles which you can use to diversify your portfolio. You are able to buy a variety of coins in a single transaction, which spreads out the risk, minimises fees, and affixes an average cost over several cryptocurrencies.

I like the 'Top Ten Market Cap' Bundle which is just what it sounds like - the top ten biggest coins based on market capitalisation. This is great for me because it encompasses the popular coins that I like to buy anyway, such as BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA and spreads out risk to reduce volatility. Here are all the CoinSpot Bundles currently available.

CoinSpot also offers users an easy way to invest in NFTs with their NFT marketplace. You can browse various collections and use any cryptocurrency you own to make your purchase. 

Coinbase has a unique feature on their platform called Coinbase Earn. You can earn free crypto while you are watching a video teaching you about cryptocurrency! These are only short videos, that reward you upon completion. An example of rewards currently available, is that you can earn $9 of COMP crypto by watching three short videos (3 minutes each).

Coinbase has a popular Wallet app that is available for download on mobile devices, both iOS and Android. On the Google Play store, it has over 1 million downloads and a 4.3-star rating from 24K reviews. With the Coinbase Wallet users can store crypto securely, and also access a wide range of decentralised innovation. You can participate in airdrops and ICOs, collect NFTs, browse decentralised apps (DApps), and send crypto to anyone, anywhere on the planet.

CoinSpot vs Coinbase Security

Security is always a high priority for any top crypto exchange, and both CoinSpot and Coinbase are leaders in this respect. CoinSpot's multi-layered security incorporates Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), custom withdrawal restrictions, anti-phishing phrases, geo-lock logins, session timeout settings and offline cold storage of the vast majority of its digital assets. CoinSpot is registered with AUSTRAC, fulfilling its strict AML/KYC obligations, and is a certified member of Blockchain Australia, so it's fully compliant with the Australian Digital Currency Industry Code of Conduct. CoinSpot also boasts that it is the most secure and audited exchange in Australia, and is the only one with the ISO 27001 certification. 

Coinbase's extensive security includes 2FA (2-factor authentication), biometric logins (fingerprint and face ID), and data encryption, with USB drives and paper backups distributed geographically in safes and vaults around the world. Every employee at Coinbase has also passed a criminal background check, and their hard drives are encrypted. Coinbase stores 98% of its digital assets in offline cold storage, and even carries crime insurance cover to protect the digital assets held across their storage systems against losses from theft, including cybersecurity breaches. If Coinbase is hacked and your cryptocurrency is stolen, Coinbase will endeavor to cover you for the losses. To find more information, read about Coinbase's insurance.

Verdict - CoinSpot

CoinSpot is one of the best Australian crypto exchanges, and Coinbase is one of the top USA crypto exchanges, but when it comes to a comparison for Aussie investors, CoinSpot wins by far.

CoinSpot has lower fees, various deposit methods, and Live Chat customer support that makes it one of the best exchanges in Australia. Unfortunately for Coinbase, even though it has immense popularity in the US, it isn't really suitable for the Australian market. Coinbase has some serious limitations in Australia, only accepting debit card purchases, along with the high 3.99% fee. Add that on top of the 0.5% transaction fee and you are losing 4.49% on every transaction - almost 4.5x the fee on CoinSpot.

Coinbase also has another big problem for Aussie customers. It isn't possible to transfer fiat currencies onto your debit card, and because of that, Australian users will not be able to sell digital currency. On Coinbase, Australians can only buy crypto and transfer it to a personal wallet, or send to another exchange if they want to sell it.

Still Researching?

To find out more about CoinSpot and Coinbase, you can check out my detailed reviews of CoinSpot (here) and Coinbase (here). If you would like to read about other Australian crypto exchanges, click here to see my comprehensive overview. I have put a comparison table below for you to see a snapshot of the important details.

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