Coinspot vs. Coinbase Australia: Which Is Better?

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In this article, we compare two popular cryptocurrency exchanges that enable Australians to get started with crypto-assets. Coinspot and Coinbase are well-respected exchanges in their own rights. The latter has millions of users worldwide and is the second-largest exchange based on trading volume and liquidity - but is Coinbase a better option for Australians?

The comparison will evaluate the similarities and differences between Coinspot and Coinbase Australia. The assessment will take a look at their features, supported coins, fees, ease of use, mobile app, customer support and security measures so you can make an informed decision.

Coinspot vs Coinbase: At A Glance

	CoinSpot	Coinbase Australia
Website	https://www.coinspot.com.au/	https://www.coinbase.com/
Promotion	$20 Bitcoin for creating a verified account and depositing	None available at this time
Fiat Currency	AUD	AUD
Supported Cryptocurrency	380	250+
Deposit Method	POLi, PayID, BPAY, cash deposit, cryptocurrency	Debit card
Max. Trading Fee	1%	0.5% + 3.99%
Recurring Orders	Yes	N/A
Instant fiat withdrawals	Yes	N/A
Live Chat Support	Yes	N/A
Staking	No	Yes
Savings Account Interest	N/A	Yes
Mobile App	Yes	Yes
Overall Rating	HedgewithCrypto Score 4.7/5 Visit CoinSpot	HedgewithCrypto Score 3.7/5 Visit Coinbase A...
Review	Read our full CoinSpot review	Read our full Coinbase A... review

Coinspot Overview

Coinspot is an Australian-made exchange that was established in 2013 with its head office located in Melbourne. Since its inception in the market, Coinspot has created a solid name for itself as one of the best exchanges in Australia for crypto. Licensed and registered with ASIC and AUSTRAC respectively, Coinspot is a trusted and safe option for more than 2.5 million customers nationwide. As the biggest crypto exchange in Australia, there is an abundance of products and services offered that suit a wide variety of users from the basic beginner, and experienced trader to the SMSF investor.

Coinbase Overview

Coinbase is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world that provides a suite of financial products and services within the digital currency space. Originally founded in 2012, Coinbase is the first exchange to become a public company listed on the Nasdaq. An extremely popular crypto exchange around the world, Coinbase is a top-rated exchange to buy and sell a wide range of crypto assets. Geared towards beginners, the exchange is available worldwide and features an easy-to-use and modern platform and mobile app for seamlessly purchasing and tracking a crypto portfolio 24/7.

Comparison of the Features, Products & Services

There are several differences between Coinspot and Coinbase that will determine which exchange is better to use. Coinspot is focused on providing a reliable, convenient and secure environment for individuals, traders and SMSF investors. There are several options for users to onboard and decide how to buy crypto through a variety of features and products. The easiest method is the instant buy and sell platform which supports over 370 cryptocurrencies.

There is the option to make a purchase of a single coin, bundle of coins or recurring orders to dollar cost average into a selected cryptocurrency. For experienced users, CoinSpot Exchange has its own order books between buyers and sellers on the platform which supports advanced orders to time an entry or exit. Other useful features that are ideal for beginners include:

• Beginner-friendly mobile application to create an account, buy/sell crypto and monitor a portfolio at any time or place
• Good selection of coins to buy that includes the major assets, popular DeFi coins and meme coins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu
• OTC desk for placing large orders to reduce slippage on the exchange
• Instant-coin swaps to exchange between cryptocurrencies with locked rates
• Support for Self-Managed-Super-Fund (SMSF) investors
• Digital marketplace for Australians to buy NFTs and even mint their own NFTs to sell

In comparison, Coinbase benefits from its global reach and offers a broad range of features to suit a wide audience. The best aspect is the sophisticated but simple-to-use exchange to create an account, verify identity, add a payment method and purchase 46 different cryptos. Other useful features that will suit beginners are recurring buys, portfolio viewer to track assets, debit card payments, earn to learn crypto, and the ability to create, buy, trade and sell NFTs.

Stake coins on Coinbase to earn rewards.

There is also the option to stake the most popular coins on Coinbase to earn passive rewards. Users are eligible to earn staking rewards by holding their assets within the Coinbase wallet. It should be noted there are limitations to using Coinbase Australia as opposed to the other regions that will be mentioned in the next sections. On the other hand, Coinspot does not offer crypto staking but has introduced its Earn feature. This allows investors to deposit crypto into a savings account to earn interest, however, it is quite difficult to use compared to the best places in Australia to earn interest.

Winner: Coinspot.

While Coinbase offers a good range of features, they are not all available to crypto investors in Australia. Coinspot has similar features such as recurring buys, a mobile app and an NFT marketplace. Although, support for SMSF investors and an OTC desk make Coinspot a superior crypto exchange with more useful features for Australians.

Supported Coins

CoinSpot is a leader in offering a wide selection of coins to instantly buy and sell on its platform. There are currently over 370 coins that can be bought which include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and many others. The exchange is regularly adding support for new and trending coins which are announced on its social profiles. For serious crypto traders, the number of trading pairs on the exchange is 15 which is quite limited.

Selection of coins on Coinspot including popular DeFi tokens.

In contrast, the number of cryptocurrencies on Coinbase stands at 250 at the time of writing which is far less than the selection offered on Coinspot. While the exchange does list the most popular crypto assets in terms of market capitalization and popularity, there are fewer coins to invest in and diversify a portfolio. However, when it comes to its professional trading platform Coinbase Pro, there are over 500 trading pairs to choose from.

Winner: Coinspot.

While Coinbase has a much larger selection of trading pairs on its trading platform, the number of crypto assets that can be purchased with AUD is limited to 46. In contrast, there are over 370 cryptocurrencies that can be instantly bought and sold on CoinSpot which will suit more individuals.

Deposit Methods

A Coinspot account can be funded directly with Australian dollars using a variety of payment options. These include POLI, PayID, BPAY, Cash Deposit using Flexipin vouchers and cryptocurrency. Using a bank transfer through POLi and PayID does not incur any fees and is processed near-immediately which is a major benefit. Additional payment options such as BPAY and using a cash deposit to buy Bitcoin have small fees.

AUD deposit methods on Coinspot.

On the other hand, Coinbase is very restricted when it comes to payment methods. The only option available for crypto investors in Australia is to use a debit card which has a 3.99% surcharge that is in addition to trading fees. Moreover, several banks in Australia do not allow debit or credit cards to be used for crypto purchases.

Winner: Coinspot.

Coinspot has a wide selection of methods to fund a wallet with AUD which include POLI, PayID, BPAY, Cash Deposit using Flexipin vouchers and cryptocurrency. Coinbase is limited to debit card payments only which is also not supported by certain banks in Australia. Therefore, Coinspot's methods of deposit are more available, cheaper and faster compared to Coinbase.

Ease of Use

Coinspot and Coinbase are geared towards the same group of users which are newer crypto investors. This is reflected in the design of the website and the markets offered. Coinspot has a beginner-friendly interface for instantly buying and selling crypto with AUD. The overall experience using the website and mobile app is straightforward and simple to use. The exchange for trading crypto is very basic with limited functionality, although is not difficult to use for beginners.

Buying crypto with AUD using the Coinbase app.

Similarly, Coinbase is tailor-made for beginners with its easy-to-use and modern website and mobile app. The entire process of buying, trading and selling cryptocurrency has been streamlined to make it as fast and easy as possible. This includes creating an account, ID verification, adding a payment method, selecting crypto, making a purchase and monitoring the portfolio. This is a strength of Coinbase. In short, Coinbase is undoubtedly one of the easiest places to buy and sell crypto. Moreover, the Coinbase app is second to none for its ease of use and managing a crypto portfolio 24/7.

Winner: Coinbase.

Coinspot is a beginner-friendly exchange that is easy and fast for buying and selling crypto. Although, Coinbase is one of the best exchanges in the world and has put significant development into its platform and mobile app. Best-suited for beginners, Coinbase is a great alternative to CoinSpot that has excellent features and does not compromise on its ease of use.

Trading Fees

The fees on Coinbase for buying, trading and selling crypto vary based on the individual's location, payment method, order size and volatility at the time of the transaction. The trading fee is based on a maker and taker model which starts at 0.5% per transaction and decreases with increased volume which is reasonable. However, there is an additional 3.99% charge to fund an account with a debit card. The trading fees are quite competitive in the market but overall, the Coinbase fees are expensive when the debit card fees are taken into account.

The fees on Coinspot are fairly straightforward, however, care should be taken on how crypto assets are purchased. Using the instant buy and sell product, the fees are 1% which is also expensive in the Australian market. In contrast, using the dedicated exchange users will pay a 0.1% fee which is significantly cheaper than Coinbase Pro. Although, the majority of customers on Coinspot would be instantly buying and selling and paying the higher fee of 1%, which is still cheaper than Coinbase.

Winner: Coinspot.

While the fees of 1% to buy and sell crypto on Coinspot are not the cheapest in Australia, it offers better value-for-money when compared to Coinbase. The 3.99% surcharge to pay for crypto with a debit card is very expensive and should be avoided.

Security

CoinSpot is a leading cryptocurrency provider within Australia that achieved the internationally recognized ISO 27001 certification for information security. This means there are security measures in place that meet the industry benchmark for protecting personal information. Moreover, the exchange includes Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), custom withdrawal restrictions and session timeouts. Essentially, CoinSpot is well-regarded as having one of the safest crypto wallets in Australia that has never been hacked or compromised to date.

Similarly, Coinbase has world-class security features to ensure 100% protection of customer assets and personal information. All accounts must enable 2FA, 98% of funds are held offline in secure storage facilities and include an insurance policy against theft and exchange hacks up to $250,000 per person.

Winner: Draw.

Coinspot and Coinbase are very secure exchanges that have not been hacked or compromised since they were established. Both platforms include industry-leading security measures such as 2FA, cold storage and custom withdrawal restrictions.

Customer Support

Timely and helpful customer support is an important consideration for beginners when using a crypto exchange for the first time. Coinspot has a live chat feature to directly communicate to the customer support team. The support team is locally based which is important when it comes to understanding issues such as problems depositing funds from Australian banks. The chat is available 24 hours a day on weekdays and from 9 am to 5 pm on weekends. The response time based on our experience was between 5 and 7 minutes which is reasonable.

Coinbase customer support reviews on Trustpilot.

In contrast, Coinbase is a global exchange so there is no support staff within the country. There is a comprehensive help center with an expansive suite of guides, troubleshooting and FAQs which covers all topics related to using Coinbase and its associated products. Coinbase does not provide live chat support which is a negative. To get in touch, there is an email-based system, however, it is very poorly rated by existing customers.

Winner: Coinspot.

Coinspot has a local team of customer support staff that respond to queries within 24 hours. In contrast, Coinbase does not provide a live chat system and feedback on its support service by existing users is poorly-rated.

Coinspot vs. Coinbase: Comparison Scores

To conclude our comparison of which exchange is better between Coinspot and Coinbase, each exchange has been scored using simple evaluation criteria as shown below. In short, Coinspot has scored higher in most of the categories such as AUD deposit methods, supported coins and customer support. Overall, this makes CoinSpot a top alternative to Coinbase for investors in Australia.

Final Verdict

Coinbase and Coinspot are large cryptocurrency exchanges with millions of users. While Coinbase is the most popular in terms of global presence, trading volume and liquidity, it does not provide good value-for-money and customer support for investors in Australia. The limited selection of coins to buy and sell and the inability to sell crypto back to AUD are major disadvantages with Coinbase. In contrast, Coinspot provides an excellent alternative with an easy-to-use platform with over 370 coins and a wide range of deposit options that are near-instant and have zero fees.

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