Is Coinbase Wallet Different From Coinbase

If you’re into crypto, you’ve probably heard of Coinbase.com. It’s one of the globe’due south most popular cryptocurrency exchanges only isn’t the simply product that Coinbase has released. Coinbase Wallet is another useful platform offered by this visitor, but is it more than or less the same equally Coinbase.com? Or do these two services differ?

What’s the difference between Coinbase.com and Coinbase Wallet?

What Is Coinbase.com?

Coinbase.com is an American centralized cryptocurrency exchange launched in October 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Coinbase initially merely dealt with Bitcoin, but much has changed since its early days. As the cryptocurrency market has grown, the Coinbase exchange has expanded and diversified massively and at present supports the trade of over 170 coins and tokens. Fiat currencies, such every bit the US dollar, can also exist used on Coinbase.

Coinbase is a centralized exchange and forms part of the CeFi landscape. CeFi, or centralized finance, allows individuals to merchandise on solely centralized platforms, which dedicate ability and control to small groups of decision-makers. Many major crypto exchanges, like Binance and Kraken, are centralized, though decentralized exchanges are also pop.

On Coinbase.com, you can buy, sell, stake, trade in an advanced setting, and even sign up for the Coinbase debit card. The platform’s interface is piece of cake to utilize but offers a more complex setup for professional traders in the form of Coinbase Pro. You tin can also view many relevant market statistics on the Coinbase exchange, such every bit asset prices, by fluctuations, and marketplace caps.

Coinbase offers another useful feature known every bit Coinbase Larn. This allows you to learn about cryptocurrency, Coinbase’s services, NFTs, and more. Y’all can fifty-fifty earn rewards using Coinbase Learn by reading almost and answering questions about certain topics. For example, Coinbase offers Near tokens in return for learning well-nigh Nearly Protocol.

Coinbase can hold your funds in a custodial form, with the platform being the custodian. This means that Coinbase is held responsible for the funds you hold in your exchange account. Coinbase uses the KYC (Know Your Customer) process in its custodial model, wherein you must verify your identity to use the exchange and its custodial storage.

Coinbase’s custodial storage option keeps your individual keys for you, and so yous don’t have to worry nearly keeping them safe. But this means that you’re putting your trust in the custodian to responsibly and safely store your sensitive information. If the platform fails to do this, your crypto assets could become vulnerable to malicious actors. Furthermore, information technology’s all the same on y’all to continue your password safe, protect your account with 2FA, and take security precautions.

If you desire to shop funds on a long-term ground, information technology might be better to use a separate non-custodial wallet that you have command over. This puts y’all in the driving seat and gives you total custody of your avails.

This is why Coinbase Wallet could be useful for you. So, what is it?

What Is Coinbase Wallet?

Coinbase Wallet is a free non-custodial wallet that you lot can utilise to store your individual keys. However, because Coinbase Wallet is not-custodial, yous are ultimately responsible for the condom storage of your assets. We’ll discuss this further a lilliputian later.

Coinbase Wallet is entirely virtual, equally it is a software wallet. This means y’all’ll exist able to access your Coinbase Wallet account via your desktop or mobile app. In improver, Coinbase Wallet offers a desktop browser extension for quick and like shooting fish in a barrel access, which is available for Chrome users. The smartphone app is available for Android and iOS devices.

While Coinbase merely supports 170 or so assets, Coinbase Wallet supports thousands of cryptocurrencies, including ERC-20 tokens, such as Shiba Inu and Tether. All the industry’due south big names are as well supported, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Solana, and Litecoin. You lot can even store NFTs using Coinbase Wallet. Both ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens are supported.

But is Coinbase Wallet really safe? Well, its non-custodial feature would certainly be considered a wise security move past many, but this isn’t all that Coinbase Wallet offers in terms of protection. When you sign up for Coinbase Wallet, you’ll need to set a four-digit security PIN. This must then be used for all futurity logins. Coinbase Wallet too offers two-cistron authentication, which provides an additional layer of security to each sign-in via verification from a split device or account (such as email or text).

The Coinbase Wallet interface is very easy to use, so it’southward well-suited to all levels of crypto and technological feel. Then you don’t need to worry too much virtually navigating the platform when yous go started.

While Coinbase Wallet is a solid choice for private key storage, it’s important to note that security vulnerabilities are present. Namely, the fact that it is a software wallet exposes it to sure attacks. With a hardware cryptocurrency wallet, your individual keys are kept in cold storage on an offline device. These devices can sometimes offer Bluetooth connectivity but never connect to the cyberspace.

Software wallets, on the other manus, crave an internet connexion. This makes them more than vulnerable to remote attacks that rely on an online connection to be carried out. This doesn’t mean that software wallets are dangerous, but it is a gene worth noting if yous want to utilize the most secure wallet possible.

You tin can sign upwards for Coinbase Wallet without even providing your email accost, which is great for anonymity if that’s a priority for y’all.

If you’re non a fan of the Coinbase exchange but would like to give Coinbase Wallet a endeavor, y’all may be wondering if yous need the former to use the latter. But thankfully, this isn’t the example. You exercise not need to be signed up for the Coinbase exchange to use Coinbase Wallet. While both services are products of the aforementioned company, they are not reliant on each other for employ.

But is information technology a proficient idea to employ Coinbase.com if you lot use Coinbase Wallet? Does it brand the unabridged experience more streamlined?

While Coinbase does connect to Coinbase Wallet for fund transfers, the platform also allows transfers to diverse other hardware and software wallets, including MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Exodus, and Ledger. So using Coinbase Wallet won’t actually make your Coinbase.com experience any smoother, though it is a sensible option for storing your private keys.

Coinbase.com and Coinbase Wallet are by no means ane and the same, but you can use both platforms when dealing with your crypto. Coinbase.com is a peachy option for trading, staking, and earning, while Coinbase Wallet is a trustworthy software wallet provider that gives you lot total control of your assets. Either platform can assist you in your crypto journeying, regardless of whether you use them together.