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Are you looking to buy or sell cryptocurrencies and you might have heard about both Gemini and Coinbase? And now you are wondering which one you should use?

Or maybe you are already a Coinbase or Gemini user? And now you are thinking about moving to the other exchange?

Either way I wanted to give my thoughts on the matter and provide you with an in-depth comparison of both of these two popular cryptocurrency exchanges. So that you can get some more insight into which one to pick!

I think either one would be an excellent choice to use, but lets see how they compare to each other.

Comparing Gemini vs Coinbase

In this comparison of Gemini and Coinbase I will score them from four separate categories:

1. Ease of use 1-5*
2. Payment methods 1-5*
3. Cryptocurrencies available 1-5*
4. Fees 1-5*

And based on these four areas we will have a winner.

The rating is based on my own experiences using both Coinbase and Gemini. So you might disagree slightly, but I hope it feels overall like a fair score for each area. I will give you my reasoning for rating them with a particular score.

Here the total score is. To find out more how I made these ratings read on.

About Gemini

Gemini was founded by the Winklevoss twins, famous for their previous Facebook involvement. After settling with Mark Zuckerberg the twins received a settlement sum that they invested straight into Bitcoin.

Fast forward a few years they are now a lot richer, and founders of the popular cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

Crypto is not just a technology, it’s a movement

And from here on the brothers interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are clear to see. And they have since the launch of Gemini focused on usability and creating a user-friendly place where people can easily buy Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Much similar to the approach setup of Coinbase.

Gemini was voted 2019 Markets Choice Awards as the “Best Crypto Exchange” by Markets Media.

Gemini similar to Coinbase focuses not only on retail investors but also the institutions that wants to invest in Bitcoin and cryptos.

About Coinbase

Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam back in 2012 and has since grown to become one of the true powerhouses of the crypto world, together with Binance.

Coinbase like Gemini delivers a nice-looking experience for any type of user that wants to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies.

Both for retail investors and institutions alike.

So here Gemini and Coinbase share many similar traits and approach to the crypto market.

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies at Coinbase is probably one of the easiest experiences of all exchanges and brokers. Hence the big interest and starting point for crypto-beginners.

Coinbase have two separate exchanges for retail investors, Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. Learn about the differences here.

Earn up to $158 worth of crypto when signing up and using Coinbase Earn

How user-friendly are they?

Based on an overall experience of registering a new account, making a deposit and withdrawal, buying and selling cryptocurrencies I will find an overall rating for Gemini and Coinbase in the UX / ease of use area.

This is how easy it is to use. How beginner- and user-friendly they are.

Registration – Gemini vs Coinbase

Ok, how does it work for new users to register at both Coinbase and Gemini, we have tried both out and detailed the process for you here below.

Registering at Gemini

Get $10 for free at Gemini when you buy for $100+ when signing up with this link

First head over to www.gemini.com and click on Get Started. Then type in your email and password and the next step is to add your phone number and type in the code you get.

After that you will need to complete some KYC checks and verify your identity.

Overall the registration process at Gemini is straightforward but a few too many steps if you need to complete both ID card + passport verification. Combined with phone and email.

Registering at Coinbase

Go to www.coinbase.com and click on Get Started. Next you can choose if you are creating a personal account or a business account.

Get $10 for free when buying for at least $100 when signing up with this link

Proceed through the registration steps, add name, email and password.

Then read the information about GBPR and the Privacy Policy, then you can choose to get personalised notifications or not.

Proceed through the next steps and verify your email and identity. And then you’re in.

Overall a similar registration process like at Gemini, but it feels a bit easier with the verification parts.

• We strongly encourage you to use 2FA with any cryptocurrency exchange account

Deposit & Withdrawals – how does it work?

For both Gemini and Coinbase you have bank transfers to deposit fiat currencies. Then you can of course also deposit cryptocurrencies to your accounts.

For Gemini you can deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies like at any other wallet. Simply copy the wallet address and use it to send cryptos to.

And withdrawals works the same way but you paste in the address that you want to send to.

Sending cryptocurrencies to and from your Coinbase account includes the need to add a tag/memo for certain cryptocurrencies that use this technology.

This is basically a note that helps to direct the transaction to the correct wallet account. As Coinbase uses the same account for several cryptocurrencies this is necessary.

Overall both exchanges are user-friendly. They put a lot of effort in creating an experience that is easy for beginners and with nice-looking sites/apps. Here they are two of the best examples in the business.

But registering at Gemini was too many steps of ID checks for my liking and a bit overwhelming in the process.

Ratings ease of use

Gemini ease of use = 45*

Coinbase ease of use = 5/5*

Payment methods – What is available?

Here we will explore what current payment methods are available at each exchange/broker.

Payment methods available at Gemini

At Gemini you can buy cryptocurrencies using either a Bank Transfer deposit (U.S only) or can be made or a wire transfer for non-US users.

To fund your Gemini account via a bank/wire transfer you will first need to add your bank account to initiate the transfer.

To buy cryptocurrencies from Gemini

Simply add your bank account and then proceed to buy Bitcoin, Ether or the other cryptos from their site

Payment methods available at Coinbase

Coinbase has different payment methods available depending on where you live.

For U.S customers you can use your bank account (ACH) to fund your account, or via a Wire Transfer. And then you can buy cryptocurrencies directly with your debit card.

For European users, you have similar methods available, with SEPA transfer, Ideal/Sofort but also a credit card + a debit card purchase option.

You need to link/add your bank account or credit/debit card to Coinbase before you can start buying or depositing funds to your account.

For withdrawals you can sell BTC, ETH, XRP, etc to your EUR/USD/GBP wallet and then withdraw the funds to your bank account.

Rating payment methods

Gemini payment methods = 4/5*

Coinbase payment methods = 5/5*

To buy cryptocurrencies from Coinbase

Add your bank account and make a deposit, when it has arrived (1-2 days usually) you can buy cryptos from your USD/EUR/GBP wallet.

But you can also buy cryptos isntantly at Coinbase using a credit or debit card, add your card and then proceed to buy cryptos from your account at Coinbase

Cryptos available – which is better?

Neither of them has the widest selection of cryptocurrencies available, compared to Binance. But Coinbase definitely have more cryptos available compared to Gemini.

Gemini has both USD trading pairs and cryptocurrency trading pairs (see pictures below). And about 9 cryptocurrencies available at the moment.

And Coinbase has about 25+ cryptocurrencies available across both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro.

Rating cryptocurrencies available

Gemini – cryptos available = 3/5*

Coinbase – cryptos available = 2/5*

Fees – Gemini and Coinbase

At Gemini you have these fees:

1. Convenience fee – Gemini has something called a convenience fee, which is a flat fee calculated at 0.50% above the current market price for the trading pair
2. Trading fee – Adding to this they also take a flat fee of $0.99 to 1.49% of the web/mobile order value for transactions ranging from less than $10 up to more than $200k.
3. Withdrawal fee – Ranging from free to a few cents
4. API fees (order book) – Taker fee from 0.35% to 0.030% and Maker fee from 0.10% to 0% depending on per 30-day trading volume

At Coinbase you have these fees:

1. Coinbase Fee – a Flat fee from $0.99 to $2.99 depending on the transaction amount
2. Spread – This is a margin added on top of the market exchange rate
3. Standard Buy/Sell fee – 1.49%
4. Credit/Debit card fee – From 3.99%
5. Deposits in – From free to $10
6. Withdrawals out – From free to $25

Looking at the fee structures of both Coinbase and Gemini, I would say Coinbase fees are higher.

What you can do with Coinbase is to make a bank transfer deposit to Coinbase and then market buy the cryptocurrencies with your EUR/USD/GBP wallet with Coinbase Pro to save on fees.

Rating fees

Gemini fees = 3/5*

Coinbase fees = 1/5*

Conclusion – Who is the winner?

Well here are the results based on my rating of both of these exchanges.

Do you agree with me? If you do or don’t leave a comment below let us know what you think?

Now after comparing Gemini to Coinbase I personally feel they are very similar, and it would be a close call deciding on a winner.

But to me, Coinbase takes it home. Only as a slight winner when comparing them.

To me, Coinbase has a greater option of cryptocurrencies, payment options + the option to use Coinbase Pro makes them the better choice.

Both Gemini and Coinbase are very similar. They are user-friendly, reliable, secure and well-trusted by millions of users. But overall Coinbase is a bit more popular amongst crypto investors today.

I would say that Gemini is close to Coinbase on most things and perhaps even better when it comes to fees. So if you valued that and you didn’t mind waiting 1-2 days for a bank transfer then go for Gemini.

They are a good choice for any investor looking for ease of use and security.

Other guides we recommend

1. The best way to investing in cryptocurrency
2. How to buy XRP with a credit/debit card
3. How to buy IOTA
4. Best Ethereum wallets
5. Bittrex vs Binance

Written by:

Per Englund – Founder of Go CryptoWise a cryptocurrency and tech fan that wants to see better and smarter products and services that makes our lives better and easier

Source: https://gocryptowise.com/blog/gemini-vs-coinbase-which-is-the-best-choice/