Coinbase
good trust · scored on blocks worth 85 of 100 points
Affiliate link: we may be paid. It does not affect the score. 18+ only.
What people say
Ratings from our readers and fresh reviews from the exchange app's users.
Freekonomist readers' ratings
Give the exchange 1 to 5 stars and say briefly why. One rating per account, you can change it. Not part of the score.
App Store reviews
Latest 40 reviews: ★ 2.8 on average, complaints (1–2 stars) 55%. 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇦🇺
they hide usdc deposits
With CoinBase One, you get no fee deposits when transferring directly to USDC. use to be a simple easy to see switch you would turn on. Now the recent app update hides the deposit to USDC and makes it much easier to miss. just made a K deposit and they took almost $26 from me in fees so close to going to a different exchange. if it smells like bait looks like bait, yes, its a switch. over 100k in a year and they do this now
wolfman_4_ever · 🇺🇸 2026-10-19 · App Store ↗Terrible customer service
Fees are crazy. Customer service is absolutely useless. Bunch of bots. Restricted my account for a whole month to “protect” me from scammers even though I had previously sent coin to the same wallet multiple times. Customer service was useless and even after verifying my identity and answering their tedious questions they denied to lift the restriction.
xhitmanx3gx · 🇺🇸 2026-10-19 · App Store ↗Scam
Coinbase makes it easy to take money out of my account but doesn’t give my money back that they took. It’s a huge scam I never approved a 299.99 charge. They take money fast but act like they need to walk to a bank across the country to give me my money.
559jacob · 🇺🇸 2026-10-19 · App Store ↗Show all reviews (40)
Don’t invest in crypto
Your an idiot if you invest in crypto. Don’t do it
Andy19785463 · 🇺🇸 2026-10-18 · App Store ↗Portfolio graph issues
The graph on the home page of the app is days, sometimes up to a week, behind real time data. Why is it so hard to get this to work correctly?
Thunder0ne · 🇺🇸 2026-10-18 · App Store ↗Fast secure platform
Customer service is also secure and efficient.
Ava Itunes · 🇺🇸 2026-10-17 · App Store ↗Horrible Trading Experience
Coinbase is terrible if you want to actually trade or transfer. They have constant lies about funds being available instantly, yet when you try to transfer the supposedly “available instantly” coins you find that only a fraction of that is actually useable. Then when you realize you cannot even transfer due to their idiotic holds on YOUR coins, you cannot even withdraw them until you wait a sizable about of time. Not to mention the insane fees, do not download this app.
Jamuek · 🇺🇸 2026-10-17 · App Store ↗Reese Campbell
Been with Coinbase since 2012 when there was only bitcoin and eth available lol yea Reese a OG
MauriceCampbell · 🇺🇸 2026-10-17 · App Store ↗Buggy software
Home Screen not updating portfolio value, neither are rewards, shows zero.
Junk Review · 🇺🇸 2026-10-16 · App Store ↗Easy and safe
I love Coinbase. Making money now incredibly
S09796525s · 🇺🇸 2026-10-16 · App Store ↗Just lost 500 because it decided to tell me to update the app mid trade.
Well. Just lost 1k. Turned 500 into 1k but because Coinbase decided to pause my app while trading to make me update. I was not able To cash out and lost it. Thanks.
Breydonnn · 🇺🇸 2026-10-16 · App Store ↗Absolutely sucks
Waiting period is ridiculous. Absolutely hate this app!
RvBk209 · 🇺🇸 2026-10-16 · App Store ↗Simple and Reliable
Very easy to use and love the way it flows from one screen to the next.
innatedennis · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗New coin trading
There is so much lagging that I can’t sell a coin before I’ve lost over 2000 dollars
Coin base is going downhill · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Fake
Rip off they just took my money locked me out they are fraud
ripacunthole · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Bad updates
Why is XAN number one on the spot list when sorted by volume? This is the 3rd or 4th update since it caused this and still not resolved.
ReviewerTJ1111 · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Did me wrong too!
I sent Coinbase 4 months of bank statements then they wanted front and back of my drives license, supposedly to prove I was not a criminal after scammers stole 10s of thousand worth of my money from me. Then they had me send my SS # because government required it I still have165,000+ in my account witch they now are threatening to close my account and leave me high and dry. Well there are a number of class action suit against Coinbase so I may have to jump in.
foff foff foff · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Steals $ doesn’t allow you to withdraw
They steal your deposits and secretly removed the option to withdraw money from the app. Avoid at all costs!
Dexter2020ffvbbooi · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Transfers
Why does this app say instant transfers but is not instant transfers. It takes business days for money to clear. False advertising
Mr. Inquire · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Top notch
Excellent and easy to use app. AAA+++!!!
rare coin collector · 🇺🇸 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗Force
For people who have goofy names don’t download this as it forces you to use id for bank name which for people like us is different
Bootie snatcher · 🇨🇦 2026-10-15 · App Store ↗F’d up latest release
The new release on 10/14/26 is totally jacked. Balance on my derivatives account is NOT accurate and I’ve noticed several other errors for gain/loss figures since the update. Please fix ASAP or I will be forced to go back to Binance or maybe I’ll transfer everything to Robinhood and never look back.
ipadaddicts · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Easy to work with
Easy to buy and sell. Almost intuitive.
Dan in Anchorage · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Great app
Easy to use and fast cash outs best crypto app out.
tyrentp · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Impossible to login On New device
Procedure to try login after switching to new phone is impossible. I just want to login
oscarmiranda · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Good when it works
Awesome when everything goes smoothly. But things always seem to go wrong at the worst possible time and most of the time, customer service is useless. it will glitch and when your buying crypto switch from debit card to bank account. Then they lock your funds for 2+ weeks. with debit card, its instant. i wish i could refund every penny i have given these scum bags.
kingtedrick · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Best cryptocurrency recovery platform, thanks to these developers!!
I never thought I would find myself in a situation where I had lost money through an online crypto platform that claimed to be trustworthy. I was disappointed, and unsure of what to do next. After searching for possible solutions, I came across a website that claimed to specialize in crypto recovery. At first, I had already lost trust in online services. I decided to email him at Cybertech10007@ gmailcom, their process is the best! Thankfully, I was able to get help with my recovery process.
James lucaz · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Horrible
Just use phantom wallet, coin base take like 2 weeks to even use the money you put in, then another 2 weeks to take it out the money you make, then charges a bunch of fees on top
CoinbaseHeadquaters · 🇺🇸 2026-10-14 · App Store ↗Please
support answered my question in the in-app chat the same day
Dying hq · 🇺🇸 2026-10-13 · App Store ↗The app is not working
My Coinbase app didn’t open and it keep saying Check your internet connection
Jinadex · 🇺🇸 2026-10-13 · App Store ↗Coin base has stolen money from my account
Coinbase I am in the process of creating a fraudulent dispute case against your company you have stolen funds from me with unauthorized charges, I was being charged for coinbase 1 for over a year with no knowledge to my own I’m sure they are stealing from others as well. Check your accounts people, this company are thrives on stealing peoples funds and crypto
Shane22o · 🇺🇸 2026-10-13 · App Store ↗Most exceedingly remarkable and extremely exceptional cryptocurrency recovery technology expertise.
Please read carefully, I lost my money few weeks ago in bitcoin investment. | lost over £145,065 they denied my withdrawal request and also left it pending. I reached out to them and they never responded back to my emails and calls. They eventually locked me out of my account I had to reach out a recovery experts at ForensicRecovery01@ gMailcom to help me recover all my money back. They're the best when it comes to crypto recovery. Thankfully I have gotten my money back.
Luca Theo · 🇦🇺 2026-10-13 · App Store ↗SCAM Coinbase Wallet
I have money in the account and can not get it out
Grdapple · 🇺🇸 2026-10-12 · App Store ↗Fresh App Store reviews as they are: we neither edit nor pick them. They are not part of the score; the App Store average is.
Licences
25 / 25Where the exchange is legal: licences and registrations from regulators' registers, minus bans and fines.
Confirmed in regulators' registers
- 🇱🇺 LuxembourglicenceCommission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) · Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. (LEI 984500F14CA4571AAC11)source ↗
- 🇬🇧 United KingdomregistrationFinancial Conduct Authority (FCA) · CB Payments Ltd (trading as Coinbase) · № FRN 900635source ↗
- 🇬🇧 United KingdomlicenceFinancial Conduct Authority (FCA) · CB Payments, Ltd (trading as Coinbase) · № FRN 1045733source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United StateslicenceNew York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) · Coinbase, Inc. · № BitLicense 122466; NY MTL MT 103755source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United StateslicenceNew York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) · Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC · № NMLS 2455008source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United StateslicenceCommodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) · Coinbase Derivatives, LLC (formerly LMX Labs/FairX)source ↗
- 🇧🇲 BermudalicenceBermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) · Coinbase Bermuda Limited · № 202302164source ↗
- 🇧🇲 BermudalicenceBermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) · Coinbase Bermuda Services Limited · № 202302681source ↗
- 🇸🇬 SingaporelicenceMonetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) · Coinbase Singapore Pte. Ltd.source ↗
- 🇨🇦 CanadaregistrationCanadian Securities Administrators (OSC principal regulator) · Coinbase Canada Inc.source ↗
- 🇯🇵 JapanregistrationFinancial Services Agency (Kanto Local Finance Bureau) · Coinbase K.K. (Coinbase株式会社) · № Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00028source ↗
- 🇦🇪 United Arab EmirateslicenceVirtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) · Deribit FZE (Coinbase-owned Deribit)source ↗
Claimed, not confirmed in a register
- 🇺🇸 United StateslicenceState money transmission regulators (NMLS ID 1163082) · Coinbase, Inc. · № NMLS 1163082source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United StatesregistrationFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) · Coinbase, Inc.source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United Statesin-principle approvalOffice of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) · Coinbase National Trust Companysource ↗
- 🇨🇦 CanadaregistrationFinancial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) · Coinbase (entity not named in source)source ↗
- 🇦🇺 AustraliaregistrationAustralian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) · Coinbase Australia Pty Ltdsource ↗
- 🇦🇺 AustralialicenceAustralian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) · Coinbase Australia Pty Ltdsource ↗
- 🇮🇳 IndiaregistrationFinancial Intelligence Unit - India (FIU-IND) · Coinbase (entity not named in source)source ↗
- 🇦🇷 ArgentinaregistrationComisión Nacional de Valores (CNV) · Coinbase (entity not named in source)source ↗
- 🇮🇪 IrelandlicenceCentral Bank of Ireland (CBI) · Coinbase (entity not named in source)source ↗
- 🇹🇷 TürkiyependingCapital Markets Board (SPK/CMB) · Coinbasesource ↗
Regulator actions
- 🇺🇸 United Statesfine · 2023-01Jan 2023: NYDFS consent order - $50M penalty plus $50M compliance investment for AML/BSA and cybersecurity failuressource ↗
- 🇺🇸 United Statescase closed · 2023-06Jun 2023: SEC sued Coinbase (unregistered exchange, broker, staking); case dismissed with prejudice Feb 2025source ↗
- 🇺🇸 United Statesban · 2023-06Jun 2023: 10 state securities regulators (AL, CA, IL, KY, MD, NJ, SC, VT, WA, WI) took actions incl. cease-and-desist orders against Coinbase staking programsource ↗
- 🇺🇸 United Stateswarning · 2025-04Apr 2025: Oregon Attorney General sued Coinbase under Oregon securities law over sale of unregistered crypto assetssource ↗
- 🇺🇸 United Statesfine · 2021-03Mar 2021: CFTC ordered Coinbase to pay $6.5M for false/misleading reporting and wash trading (2015-2018)source ↗
- 🇳🇱 Netherlandsfine · 2023-03Jan 2023 (published Mar 2023): DNB fined Coinbase Europe EUR 3,325,000 for offering crypto services without registration until Sep 2022source ↗
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdomfine · 2024-07Jul 2024: FCA fined CB Payments Ltd GBP 3,503,546 for onboarding 13,416 high-risk customers in breach of a voluntary requirementsource ↗
- 🇮🇪 Irelandfine · 2026-01Nov 2025: Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe EUR 21,464,734 and reprimanded it for transaction-monitoring AML failures (2021-2025); confirmed by High Court Jan 2026source ↗
Reserves
8 / 20Proof of reserves: is there one, who checked it, how fresh it is and whether coins cover every client balance.
Security
7 / 15Past hacks and whether clients were made whole, the insurance fund.
Hacks
- 2025-05-15$311.2M · clients made wholeIn May 2025 bribed overseas support agents leaked customer data used for social-engineering thefts; no keys or passwords were compromised, and Coinbase voluntarily reimbursed affected customers, paying $311.2M in 2025 (8-K estimate $180-400M).source ↗
- 2021-10-01— · clients made wholeBetween March and May 2021 attackers abused Coinbase's SMS account-recovery flow to drain at least 6,000 customer accounts (disclosed Oct 2021); Coinbase committed to reimburse the full value, total amount not disclosed.source ↗
Insurance fund
The exchange does not disclose an insurance fund. source ↗
Liquidity
8.6 / 15Real BTC order-book depth within ±2% and futures open interest.
What people say
8.3 / 10App Store ratings across countries, weighted by the number of reviews.
🇺🇸 ★ 4.68 (1,797,927)🇬🇧 ★ 4.59 (185,492)🇫🇷 ★ 4.56 (47,972)🇩🇪 ★ 4.44 (43,957)🇪🇸 ★ 4.56 (34,839)🇦🇺 ★ 4.51 (32,005)🇮🇹 ★ 4.6 (30,590)🇳🇱 ★ 4.48 (24,077)
What the internet says
Over the last six months, user reviews show a mixed picture: reviewers praise Coinbase’s accessible, easy-to-use app, while complaints cluster around account restrictions, withdrawals, verification, support and fees. App-store ratings are generally strong, but individual reviews describe access and app problems; review platforms and media do not establish how representative those reports are. Recent allegations of concealed hacks are disputed by Coinbase, while regulatory matters remain active in the reporting.
- Some reviewers praise the platform as easy to use and suitable for straightforward crypto buying.
- Coinbase’s app listings show high ratings on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, although reported scores vary by source and product listing.
- Coinbase’s Reddit support thread advertises 24/7 phone and chat support for customers contacting the company through official channels.
- Trustpilot reviewers commonly report delayed or blocked withdrawals, account freezes or closure, repeated verification checks, and difficulty getting useful support. Individual reviews are allegations and do not establish that Coinbase mishandled those accounts.
- Reviewers and app-review summaries cite fees and spreads as costly or unclear; recent Google Play comments also describe sign-in and buying-flow glitches. App ratings are comparatively high, but ratings and review counts vary by store and source.
- In September–October 2026, BlockTower founder Ari Paul alleged Coinbase lost his firm’s $25 million and concealed more than $1 billion in hacks; Coinbase denied concealing hacks and denied losing $1 billion. The allegations remain disputed, and the sources do not establish them as confirmed incidents.
- On regulation, recent reports describe continuing litigation and disputes over Coinbase’s products and regulatory status; they also report earlier settlements or cases separately. These legal developments are distinct from customer-review complaints.
AI summary (Perplexity) of public sources as of 2026-10-21. Not part of the score. Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Reviews elsewhere: Trustpilot ↗ · Reddit ↗ · Google Play ↗
Opinion leaders
no dataWhat the opinion leaders from our Sentiment page write about it: the share of complaints among mentions over 90 days.
The opinion leaders have not mentioned this exchange yet. The block fills itself: we follow their posts every hour.
API reliability
no dataOur own check: does the exchange API answer, over 30 days.
Collecting checks: we need at least 10, now 1.
How we score
- Licences · 25 points. Where the exchange is legal: licences and registrations from regulators' registers, minus bans and fines.
- Reserves · 20 points. Proof of reserves: is there one, who checked it, how fresh it is and whether coins cover every client balance.
- Security · 15 points. Past hacks and whether clients were made whole, the insurance fund.
- Liquidity · 15 points. Real BTC order-book depth within ±2% and futures open interest.
- What people say · 10 points. App Store ratings across countries, weighted by the number of reviews.
- Opinion leaders · 10 points. What the opinion leaders from our Sentiment page write about it: the share of complaints among mentions over 90 days.
- API reliability · 5 points. Our own check: does the exchange API answer, over 30 days.
Licences: a full licence in the EU (MiCA), UK, US, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, Korea, Australia or Switzerland gives 5 points, a full licence elsewhere 3, a registration (such as FinCEN or AUSTRAC) 1.5, an application or in-principle approval 0.5. Each country counts its best entry, and only if confirmed in the regulator's register. Every regulator ban, fine or warning in the last 3 years costs 2 points, at most 8 in total.
Reserves: a published proof of reserves gives 4 points; zk proof 6, audited Merkle tree or audited filings of a listed company 4, unaudited tree 2; a snapshot under 45 days old 4, under 90 days 2; the lowest coverage among BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC at 100%+ gives 6, at 95%+ gives 3.
Security: 10 points minus 2 for each hack where clients were made whole and minus 6 where they were not; hacks older than 5 years count half. Plus 5 if the insurance fund can be checked via API or on-chain, 3 if the exchange only publishes the amount.
When a block has no data yet it is left out and the total is rescaled to 100 over the blocks we have. Our readers' ratings are shown separately and do not enter the score, so they cannot be gamed.
Sources: regulators' registers (ESMA, FinCEN, AUSTRAC, VARA, MAS and others), the exchanges' proof of reserves pages, Powered by CoinGecko (depth and open interest), Apple App Store, the exchanges' public APIs, mempool.space, opinion leaders' posts on X. Licences checked 2026-10-21, data updated .
Partnerships do not affect the scores. We have affiliate links with some of these exchanges and may be paid if you sign up. A script computes the scores from public data with the same rules for all; the method and sources are below. Not investment advice. Trading crypto, especially with leverage, is high risk. 18+ only.