Most crypto touchdown pages characteristic a easy signup web page or a banner for his or her new crypto bank card. Crypto.com options full-screen Matt Damon explaining how “Fortune Favors the Courageous.”
How you want them apples?
Evidently, Crypto.com has been each unconventional and unrelenting in its mission to topple Coinbase, America’s hottest crypto platform. They’ve lowered charges, added options, and even bought a stadium to indicate that they’re critical.
However are these efforts sufficient? How does the brand new challenger stack up in opposition to the reigning heavyweight champ?
About Crypto.com
- Commerce charges: 0.4% maker, 0.4% taker (<$25k 30-day buying and selling quantity).
- Coin choice: 250+.
- Commerce choices: Purchase, promote, ship, obtain, withdraw, and swap.
- Safety: 2FA, FDIC-insured balances for as much as $250k, chilly storage, a bug bounty program, and extra.
- Entry: 100+ nations, all states however New York.
- Studying assets: Restricted.
- Native coin: Cronos (CRO).
- Standout options: Stake for as much as 14.5% curiosity.
- App availability: iOS and Android solely.
Initially based as “Monaco” in 2016, Singapore-based Crypto.com was in a position to safe the perfect area identify ever in 2018 for an estimated $5 to $10 million. And whereas different crypto websites are content material to serve a distinct segment below Coinbase’s towering market dominance, Crypto.com is gunning for the throne: CEO Kris Marszalek says he wants a billion users.
They’re off to begin, having attracted 10 million world customers thus far with their low charges, huge characteristic set, and Matt Damon.
Execs
- Decrease charges. Crypto.com’s charges are decrease — and extra clear — than Coinbase’s.
- Extra methods to earn crypto. Crypto.com allows you to stake crypto for as much as 14.5% curiosity, generate 8% money again from its Visa, and even earn 10% money again from easy P2P funds.
- Slick native coin. Cronos (CRO) is as much as $0.50 from its ICO worth of $0.10, and HODLing it unlocks extra perks and rewards tiers on Crypto.com
- Versatile fee choices. You need to use your Crypto.com pockets to pay dozens of retailers in crypto with no charge, money in for present playing cards, or ship crypto to a pal freed from cost.
- Expansive coin choice. Crypto.com provides 250+ cash in comparison with Coinbase’s 170, and in addition provides extra to the menu at a quicker fee.
Cons
- No desktop/browser choice. Crypto.com is a mobile-only expertise, and its apps obtain decrease rankings than Coinbase’s on each the Play Retailer and App Retailer.
- Prime rewards locked behind CRO staking. Most of Crypto.com’s prime rewards — like 8% money again on Crypto.com Visa purchases — require you to stake as much as $400,000 USD price of CRO.
- Questionable longevity. Crypto.com spent eye-watering quantities on advertising simply earlier than the 2022 crypto crash, main some to query its capability to stay afloat.
About Coinbase
- Commerce charges: Between 0.5% and 4.5% plus a flat charge of $0.99 to $2.99.
- Coin choice: 170.
- Commerce choices: Purchase, promote, ship, obtain, withdraw, and swap.
- Safety: 2FA, FDIC-insured balances for as much as $250k, chilly storage, a bug bounty program, and extra.
- Entry: 100+ nations, all states however New York.
- Studying assets: Expansive.
- Native coin: USD Coin (USDC).
- Standout options: Earn free crypto only for studying about crypto.
- App availability: iOS, Android, and browser.
Coinbase is America’s largest crypto trade by buying and selling quantity, and in 2021 grew to become the primary crypto market ever to be “knighted” with an IPO. The platform rose to prominence partially resulting from its founders’ ardour; as early as 2014 they have been on the telephone with execs at Dell, Time, and PayPal, changing them to crypto.
Right this moment, Coinbase maintains its popularity as essentially the most beginner-friendly crypto trade. It’s tremendously straightforward to make use of, boasts an expansive studying library that may pay you to find out about crypto, and options top-of-the-line safety to guard person property.
Execs
- Newbie-friendly. Coinbase eases you in with a perfectly intuitive UI, clear graphs, and an unbelievable array of studying supplies.
- Expansive studying library. Coinbase Be taught provides an unlimited, free studying library masking subjects like altcoins, tax implications, and so forth.
- Receives a commission to find out about crypto. Watch just a few slick elearning movies and take some temporary quizzes and Coinbase will reward you with free crypto.
- Nicely-received desktop and cellular apps. Coinbase provides each a desktop and cellular expertise that customers typically approve of.
- Bigger and extra established. Now over 10 years outdated, Coinbase has handed the SEC’s most rigorous scrutiny to turn out to be a publicly traded firm.
Cons
- Charges, charges, charges. Coinbase’s charges are excessive, quite a few, and complicated — a nuisance for informal merchants, an entire turnoff for superior/frequent merchants.
- Meh staking rewards. Coinbase additionally lets you stake just a few cryptos, however the rewards cap out at 5% (beneath the speed of inflation).
- “Restricted” coin choice. Relying in your investing targets, Coinbase’s sluggish, curated strategy to including cash to the menu could really feel comforting or limiting.
Charges
Proper out the gate, Crypto.com positively beats Coinbase on charges.
And it’s no shock, both. Coinbase has been lambasted for years for having charges which are each vexingly excessive and obscure. Their perspective has principally been “it’s too arduous to clarify, you’ll simply see the ultimate charge whenever you’re about to finish the commerce.”
People are inclined to tolerate Coinbase’s excessive/complicated charges in the event that they commerce small quantities or at a low frequency, and don’t thoughts hemorrhaging just a few percentages for comfort.
Everybody else will favor Crypto.com’s charge construction, which is each decrease and simpler to grasp. There’s a basic maker/taker construction, free conversions, free transfers, and even a decrease bank card buy charge (not that you simply’d need to purchase crypto with a bank card, however nonetheless).
Payment | Crypto.com | Coinbase |
---|---|---|
Commerce charges | 0.4% maker, 0.4% taker ( | Between 0.5% and 4.5% plus a flat charge of $0.99 to $2.99 |
Pockets conversion charge | Free | 0.50% |
ACH switch | Free | Free |
Wire transfers (USD) | Free each methods ($1k min. required on withdrawal) | $10 deposit, $25 withdrawal |
Debit/bank card transactions | 2.99% | 3.99% |
Conversion pairs | Free | As much as 2% unfold |
Options and Performance
Each Crypto.com and Coinbase provide iOS and Android apps, a digital pockets, and a local coin (CRO and USDC, respectively). Each exchanges additionally allow you to purchase, promote, ship, obtain, withdraw, and swap crypto pairs.
Solely Coinbase provides a web-based expertise. Crypto.com is cellular solely (extra on that in a bit).
Past the necessities, the platforms begin to diverge of their focus. Coinbase provides schooling for newbies, whereas Crypto.com provides a breadth of options and methods to earn.
Beginning with Coinbase, the platform provides a very staggering array of studying assets:
- Coinbase Be taught enables you to soak in the whole lot you might probably need to learn about crypto, from tax implications to how DeFi works to what makes Cardano particular.
- Coinbase Earn will truly pay you in free crypto only for watching brief movies and taking quizzes about crypto. In case you needed to construct a bit ~$25 portfolio of altcoins simply to observe it develop, Coinbase Earn might be the one greatest approach to do it.
In contrast, Crypto.com provides little in the way in which of academic assets, supplying you with the sense that it’s catering to a extra skilled crowd. That, or they only understand the web is already filled with literature on learn how to spend money on cryptocurrency, so they may as effectively focus their efforts elsewhere.
So as a substitute of an unlimited studying library, Crypto.com provides extra different methods to earn and spend crypto:
- The Crypto.com Visa lineup provides between 1% and eight% money again in CRO based mostly on how a lot you stake, plus free subs to Netflix, Spotify, and different perks
- Crypto.com Pay enables you to ship crypto to buddies without spending a dime ala Venmo, pay any service provider in crypto for a small charge, and even prime up your cellular minutes — all whereas incomes as much as 10% money again in CRO as you go
- Crypto Earn allows you to stake your crypto for one month, three months, or the versatile interval of your selecting in trade for rates of interest starting from round 6% to 14.5% p.a. (per 12 months).
It’s price mentioning that Coinbase additionally provides staking rewards and a bank card — however staking rewards are decrease than Crypto.com and the Coinbase Card just isn’t but obtainable to U.S. clients.
Neither platform provides crypto lending, since lending is a regulatory mess in the meanwhile.
General, neither platform is objectively higher when it comes to general options. They’re merely suited to totally different functions; Coinbase eases newbies into the fold, whereas Crypto.com provides long-term HODLers extra methods to spend and generate curiosity.
Coin Choice
On the time of this writing, Coinbase provides 170 tradable property whereas Crypto.com provides over 250. Which will appear to be a giant discrepancy, however it’s like saying one automobile has a prime velocity of 170mph whereas one other goes 250mph. Most folk will solely ever go 80, so prime velocity doesn’t actually matter.
What does matter, nonetheless, is the speed of acceleration.
In its decade of existence, Coinbase has added “solely” 170 cryptos. That’s as a result of Coinbase slowly and thoroughly vets its cryptos, providing solely a curated checklist freed from scams and trash (SQUID, for instance, by no means made the reduce).
In contrast, Crypto.com has added 250 cash in half the time. That may suggest that their vetting course of is quicker — or simply looser. Both means, the takeaway is that this:
And the way about these native cash?
- Coinbase’s USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin tethered to the worth of $1 USD. It’s basically a greenback that lives on the Ethereum blockchain, permitting you to ship USD backwards and forwards extra simply with out a checking account.
- Crypto.com’s Cronos (CRO) is not a stablecoin, and has skilled some impressive growth throughout its lifetime. Plus, holding sure tiers of CRO (4,000, 40,000, and so forth.) unlocks perks like increased rates of interest, decrease charges, and so forth.
Funnily sufficient, you may truly purchase USDC on Crypto.com and CRO on Coinbase — though it does make extra sense to purchase CRO with a Crypto.com account so you may unlock its myriad advantages.
Usability and Consumer Interface
Though Crypto.com took an early lead in charges, Coinbase makes up critical floor when it comes to usability.
Merely put, Coinbase provides a desktop expertise and Crypto.com doesn’t. The latter is mobile-only, and right here’s their justification: “We favor to construct cellular first — there isn’t any cause so that you can use a desktop if we ship a design that works brilliantly in your telephone.”
There’s nothing incorrect with making an attempt to make an amazing cellular expertise, however that latter assertion?
In contrast, Coinbase does have a desktop expertise and it’s superb: crisp, clear, even calming. It’s most likely essentially the most intuitive and stress-free place on the web to purchase crypto.
To make issues much more difficult for Crypto.com, their app maintains a decent 4.3 stars on the App Retailer however a less-than-stellar 3.9 stars on the Play Retailer. A number of customers have reported that the app merely gained’t launch on the newest Samsung Galaxy gadgets, whereas others report normal crashing and erratic habits.
The Coinbase app, in the meantime, maintains a better 4.7 stars and 4.1 stars on the App Retailer and Play Retailer, respectively.
Help
Coinbase provides e-mail, reside chat, and even reside telephone assist, which is just exceptional within the crypto world. Crypto.com in the meantime provides simply e-mail and reside chat, which is extra normal amongst exchanges.
In my expertise, Coinbase responded to reside chat nearly instantaneously whereas Crypto.com took 30ish minutes. Each are spectacular.
Safety and Stability
When it comes to safety, each platforms boast 2FA, FDIC-insured balances for as much as $250k, chilly storage, a bug bounty program, and extra.
Regardless of that, each Crypto.com and Coinbase skilled focused hacks within the final 12 months. 6,000 Coinbase accounts were exposed with an undisclosed quantity stolen, whereas 483 Crypto.com customers lost $30 million.
The excellent news is that each firms instantly patched the leak and reimbursed the victims, so I’m assured your funds will probably be protected with both.
As for long-term stability, i.e., “will this trade exist in 5 years,” Coinbase positively takes the cake. Not solely has Coinbase been round nearly twice as lengthy, it’s additionally publicly traded, that means it’s accountable to each the SEC and its shareholders.
On the flip aspect, Crypto.com’s lavish advertising expenditures make me a bit nervous. They clearly tried to capitalize on the 2021 crypto increase, however now that the market is in a bust, they is probably not raking in sufficient income to pay the piper.
Stability issues as a result of the extra secure crypto platform is extra more likely to survive, at the beginning, in addition to present a extra constant day-to-day expertise. I don’t suppose Crypto.com will collapse tomorrow, however I do suppose it’s price mentioning how and why Coinbase edges it out.
Entry and Restrictions
Each Crypto.com and Coinbase provide companies in over 100 nations.
Contained in the USA:
- People in New York can use Coinbase however not Crypto.com.
- People in Hawaii can use Crypto.com however not Coinbase.
So there ya have it — in case you reside in Brooklyn or Honolulu, the selection is straightforward!
You Ought to Select Crypto.com If:
You’re Trying to Decrease Charges
In case you’re seeking to reduce your maker, taker, and varied different charges in your crypto journey, Crypto.com would be the trade for you. The platform expenses low commerce charges, restricted withdrawal charges, and general appears devoted to letting customers maintain extra of their cash.
You’d Like Extra Methods to Earn and Spend Crypto
I’ve heard of us name Crypto.com “The Crypto Financial institution,” and I believe that’s an apt nickname. You possibly can safely retailer crypto there, spend it to earn money again, and even stake it to generate double digits of curiosity.
You Ought to Select Coinbase If:
You’re New to Crypto
Coinbase is certainly the perfect touchdown pad for newbies. Not solely will Coinbase ease you into the method with an intuitive UI and sturdy safety, however it’ll pay you to be taught extra about crypto.
You’d Just like the Choice to Commerce Crypto on Desktop
Put merely, Coinbase provides the flexibility to commerce crypto on a laptop computer and Crypto.com doesn’t. The latter doesn’t appear excited about including the characteristic, both, so in case you suppose you’ll ever need to swap XLM in your XPS, stick to Coinbase.
Abstract
For direct rivals, Crypto.com and Coinbase are surprisingly divergent of their approaches. Ten years later, Coinbase nonetheless caters to novices and passive traders, whereas rising star Crypto.com will attraction most to intermediate traders who need extra methods to spend and earn their holdings (plus extra altcoins to select from).
And for extra on whether or not you must spend money on crypt within the first place, try my Crypto Crash Course!