Our Review – Coinbase

What Is Coinbase?

Located in San Francisco, California, Coinbase is one of the world’s leading digital asset brokers. Coinbase primarily brokers exchanges of Litecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, as well as a few other digital currencies. They broker the exchange of these digital currencies for fiat currencies.

By using Coinbase, anyone can buy, sell, or trade the most common cryptocurrencies currently available. It’s one of the few reliable platforms for profiting from Bitcoin as well as simply buying the virtual currency for any other reason. If trading, buying, or selling from another user with a Coinbase wallet there is no fee involved.

Any investor hoping to earn a supplementary income, or even make a profit via digital currencies, should consider using the Coinbase brokerage firm. They offer buying and selling in 25 countries. Their digital wallet application is available in nearly 200 countries.

Coinbase also provides an API that developers can use to create applications that accept cryptocurrencies as payment. If you’re an e-commerce owner who wants to incorporate Bitcoin, then this is one of the easiest ways to go about it.

How to Get Money Out

Cash-out
It’s quite easy to transfer your money from digital currency to US Dollar. The platform offers a Buy/Sell page, where you simply select the Sell tab, and from which wallet you want to cash out. Typically, you would transfer it to your linked bank account. The amount that you are cashing out is at your discretion. After reviewing your order, just click or tap Sell bitcoin.

The money in your wallet is what you would use on a daily basis. Coinbase offers a Vault option to all of their users, where you can move coin from your wallet into the vault. You get an extra layer of protection by moving your assets to the vault, and then defining additional security steps for withdrawal. While not a perfect analogy, it’s somewhat similar to keeping some cash on hand, and putting the rest into a locked safe.

While moving money from your wallet is essentially instant, there is a 48 hour delay when moving from your vault. Just as with other types of financial accounts (savings, checking, stocks, bonds, etc.) you should have a plan that covers what you need, and when; as well as what needs to be available for emergencies. If “emergencies” could effectively sustain a 48 hour waiting period, then there is no real argument against the security of a vault. You may well have enough funds elsewhere to cover you during that delay.

Coinbase Security

Not only is Coinbase easy to use, but it is highly secure as well. The majority of all customer funds are stored offline to prevent theft via hacking or loss due to digital errors. Bitcoin, drives, and paper funds are all stored in multiple geographical locations with state of the art security measures.
You can set up 2-Factor authorization, and you should!

You also have a responsibility to use a strong login password, and keep track of your login credentials. If you lose the key to your safe deposit box, it is possible (for a fee and a hassle) to get the contents, eventually. Just don’t rely on that for your digital funds.

For anything else, your funds that are held with Coinbase are fully insured! If you are a United States resident, your Coinbase USD Wallet is covered by FDIC insurance, up to a maximum of $250,000. This in itself is a great reason to choose Coinbase.

How to Get Started

Opening an account with Coinbase is fast, simple, and secure. You simply sign-up, link your bank account, verify your information, and start trading. You can begin with buying Bitcoin or moving your existing assets into your Coinbase wallet. You can access the broker site and service at any time using their secure website, Android app, or Apple application.

And truly, you don’t need to “trade” if that’s not in your nature. Buy and hold is a perfectly acceptable strategy.

Coinbase will also allow you to easily invest a set amount every day, week, bi-weekly, or monthly. It moves the funds from your linked bank account. This could be a good way to build your portfolio.

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