Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have become the hot new commodity to buy and sell. Everyone likes to talk about what Bitcoin is doing.
With the rise in popularity, investing in crypto has become easy and user-friendly. Platforms like eToro and Coinbase have established themselves as some of the leading crypto exchanges, providing access to a wide variety of cryptocurrencies.
Below, we’ll compare eToro and Coinbase to help you decide which platform is best for you. We’ll look at the pros and cons of each, what makes them special, and the costs. In the end, we hope it fits your investment strategy.
what are they
eToro is a company based in Tel-Aviv, Israel and was founded in 2007. Its current CEO is Yoni Assia.
eToro is a social trading platform that allows you to buy cryptocurrency, stocks and ETFs. It also allows you to keep up with the investment strategies of other eToro users.
The company started as just a crypto exchange, but has grown into a multi-asset broker. eToro was actually an early adopter of cryptocurrency exchange.
Social investing allows investors to share ideas and with eToro, you can copy other portfolios and strategies.
eToro is supported in over 150 countries and 45 states. Unfortunately, investors in Tennessee, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada or New York do not have access to eToro. It currently has over 25 million registered users.
eToro offers many features, but it mainly includes trading different stocks, following the portfolios of top traders, and trading virtual currency for practice.
Coinbase is a US-based crypto-only exchange founded in 2012. It went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2021.
Coinbase is a very easy to use platform for buying and selling cryptos. Its aim is to simplify trading. Besides buying and selling crypto, reading related news, or checking charts, Coinbase doesn’t offer much else.
Coinbase is the largest crypto exchange by trading volume in the United States. It is accessible in more than 100 countries and 49 US states; Coinbase is not supported in Hawaii.
eToro vs Coinbase: Features
One of the most prominent differences between eToro and Coinbase is how many cryptocurrencies are available for trading.
Coinbase offers over 120 tradable coins including most of the top 30 by market capitalization.
Unique to Coinbase is the ability to borrow cash using crypto and earn interest by lending your cryptos.
eToro alone offers over 60 cryptocurrencies. For international users, stocks, ETFs and other securities are also available for trading.
Both exchanges update their cryptocurrency list with new coins.
One feature they both share is that they offer a digital wallet. A portfolio is for investors to have a safe place to store their assets. Both wallets are the same concept, but they are different in some aspects.
You do not need to be a Coinbase user to open a Coinbase wallet. eToro is the opposite, you have to be a user to access the wallet.
Coinbase allows the transfer of money between the wallet and the crypto exchange. In eToro, it’s a one-way street, once the cryptocurrencies are transferred to the wallet, they cannot be moved back.
eToro charges 0.5% to transfer to wallet and Coinbase does not.
Only a handful of coins are supported in the eToro wallet, while Coinbase supports more.
The features that distinguish eToro over Coinbase are its social community, copy trading, and demo accounts.
There is a forum that allows users to follow each other and start posts. This is a great opportunity to share investment strategies and maybe learn something new.
eToro also shares what percentage of its users buy or sell a specific crypto.
Their CopyTrading encourages users to duplicate the experience and successful traders they have made. Real-time trades are made public for others to follow.
Copying the entire wallet is an option on eToro as well.
Demo accounts are a great way to learn and gain experience in crypto trading with zero consequences. eToro starts you off with $100,000 to practice and make some trades to make funds. Coinbase does not offer any of these features.
Coinbase’s main features are an active watchlist, real-time industry news, and the ability to earn cryptocurrency by watching videos.
Rates
In this world, to make money, you have to spend money. Fees can easily add up and can be difficult to keep track of. Fortunately, eToro is one of the most affordable crypto exchanges in the United States.
There is no commission, investors pay a 1% commission to buy or sell crypto. 1% is calculated for both opening and closing the position. This fee is calculated at the time of opening the position and is added to the market price.
eToro does not charge based on the payment method used to fund your account.
eToro has one minimum deposit of $10. For bank transfers, the minimum is $500.
If you use eToro Money Wallet for your crypto, you will also pay a 0.1% conversion fee to convert one currency to another.
There is also a 0.5% transfer fee (minimum $1, maximum $50) when you transfer funds from your eToro brokerage account to the money wallet.
eToro also charges various fees for certain optional services.
You will also pay different fees for paper services, bank transfers and other services.
If you are an inactive eToro user for more than 12 months, you will be charged a monthly fee of $10. International users pay $5 to withdraw funds.
Coinbase fees are more expensive and more complicated. When you make a change
Coinbase, there are 2 fees.
The first fee you are charged depends on the value of the transaction and ranges from $0.99 to $2.99.
The fee below is a percentage that ranges from 1.49% to 3.99%, depending on the payment method used.
On Coinbase, fees decrease as trade size increases. Coinbase does not charge any withdrawal fees. Adding funds to your wallet also costs nothing, but most deposits have fees.
To buy and sell crypto on Coinbase, all you need is $2 in your account. This makes Coinbase quite attractive to investors.
User experience
The reason both eToro and Coinbase are so popular is how easy it is to operate these platforms.
Coinbase is known for being a beginner crypto exchange. It offers educational tools for new investors and an online support portal. Users can watch short videos to earn crypto stake.
Coinbase’s interface makes it simple to buy or sell crypto. The only downside is that it offers limited transaction types.
When you open Coin base online or with the app, the dashboard will show the winners, losers and most volatile crypto for that day. There are color-coded charts that show how this crypto has performed in real time or in the past.
All cryptocurrencies added to your watchlist will also be tracked. Coinbase also offers news from the crypto world to keep you up to date.
eToro is more for investors who are knowledgeable about crypto trading. They offer more types of transactions than Coinbase.
eToro is limited in the educational opportunities it offers, but they do have a basic help center.
A key difference is that eToro has a community chat where you can ask questions and share ideas.
At eToro, you have a custom dashboard. It shows the biggest moves of the day and which cryptocurrencies are the most popular among other investors.
It also has a watchlist that displays a color-coded chart for easy tracking of your cryptos.
For most cryptocurrencies, eToro offers a buy, sell or hold rating based on technical indicators.
Both options make the crypto trading process very manageable. Just select the crypto you want to trade, enter the amount you want to buy, select the trade type and submit.
Both apps are clean and run smoothly. They get pretty decent reviews from users.
Security and reputation
eToro and Coinbase are of good reputation i for sure services. Both have been in the investment world for years and have millions of users who trust both platforms with their hard-earned money. But everyone wonders if they are legit and can be trusted?
eToro is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is also a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
This means that eToro is regulated by the government, like many other trusted financial services.
All user funds are held in Tier 1 banks and cash deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000.
eToro also complies with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Coinbase is also regulated in the United States by the UK FCA. All customer funds are held in US banks and cash deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000.
Cryptocurrencies stored online on the Coinbase exchange are secured. Coinbase stores over 98% of deposits offline in cold storage facilities that are monitored 24 hours a day.
Both eToro and Coinbase have multi-factor authentication to protect your account. They also run bug bounty programs so that ethical hackers can find any holes in the system.
Millions of people have safely traded trillions of dollars in cryptocurrency on these two services. So the answer to the question is yes! eToro and Coinbase can be trusted with your money.
Final verdict
Coinbase and eToro are both quality options for trading cryptocurrencies. They have their advantages; it just depends on your preference.
Coinbase
- Simple
- Everything you need in one place,
- It offers a wide variety of coins
- High commissions
eToro
- more advanced
- Lower fees, social trading
- Demo accounts
- Limited currencies to trade
Explore both options and do your research. To learn more about eToro, click here.
If you’re just getting started with cryptocurrency and want to learn more, check out our in-depth article on cryptocurrency.
