eToro and Coinbase are two leading players in the industry that fulfill all criteria to help you learn and then trade cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, they offer you some unique facilities such as the ability to copy top trading strategies. Let’s have an in-depth look and see how they compare.
eToro Overview
Established in 2007 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom, eToro is a globally leading social trading platform where you can connect with millions of other traders to discuss their trading strategies. You can choose to copy their trading portfolio performances by using eToro’s patented CopyTrader technology.
The eToro group comprises the eToro platform that works as a venue for multi-asset trading and investment and eToroX that manages eToro’s crypto wallet and exchange. Leveraging eToro’s services, you can invest in stocks and buy them in bulk or just a fraction.
You can buy, sell, and store Bitcoin and other cryptos or go for the contract for differences or the CFD trading route. You get the option to either go long or short on FX or trade commodities and indices with flexible leverage.
eToro
- Great for crypto beginners
- Solid crypto/general trading platform
- Reliable company with solid trust in the community
- Fully supports credit cards for deposits and withdrawals
Pros
- With eToro, you get to invest in the entire spectrum of investment instruments, including stocks and ETFs, cryptocurrencies, FX, commodities, and indices.
- eToro equips you with the provision of 0% commission stock trading on the US stock exchanges.
- With its patented CopyTrader technology, eToro allows you to copy the strategies of some of its most successful traders.
- eToro backs up its users with free insurance purchased from Lloyd’s of London, giving coverage of up to 1 million Euro, GBP, or AUD. Users do not even need to register to avail of the insurance. It comes automatically on becoming a user on the platform.
Cons
- Zero commission stock trading is only applicable to the US stock exchanges. All other stocks are offered as derivatives and bear commission. The Zero Commission trading also does not apply to short or leveraged positions.
- eToro charges an inactivity fee at a rate of $10 per month after 12 months of no login activity. It charges a fixed withdrawal fee of $5 as well.
Coinbase Overview
Founded in 2012, Coinbase is regarded as one of the most convenient digital currency exchanges where users can trade in 57 digital assets.
Coinbase also offers one of the most popular wallets in the crypto world. The quarterly volume traded through Coinbase has reached a whopping value of $335 billion. It is supported in over 100 countries and has more than 56 million verified users. Its Coinbase wallet is a secure application to store all your digital assets in one place. You can leverage the wallet to use decentralized apps and pay directly to friends and not cryptic addresses. The wallet not only helps you manage all your ERC-20 tokens but also supports the storage of all your ERC 721 collectibles.
The security of the wallet is ensured by the Secure Enclave and biometric authentication technology. Coinbase also runs a Visa Debit card, funded by your Coinbase balance. Using the card, you can spend your crypto at millions of locations globally with a contactless PIN or withdrawing cash from any ATM.
Coinbase
- User-friendly
- Great customer service
- Low services fees
- Diverse and consistently updated choice of coins
Pros
- Coinbase is a highly secured service that stores 98% of its customer funds offline. Further, it distributes the drives and paper backups in safe deposit boxes and vaults around the world.
- For added protection, Coinbase pools its US customers’ balances with the balances of the other customers and holds these funds in USD custodial accounts at the US banks, USD denominated market funds, or invests them in liquid US treasuries.
- Apart from its regular trading and storage services, Coinbase also offers portfolio management services so that you can conveniently keep track of all your buys and sells in one place.
- With the Coinbase application, available for both Android and iOS users, you can stay on the top of the market, even when you are on the go.
- For recurring buys, Coinbase helps you schedule your buys at daily, weekly, or monthly intervals.
Cons
- Coinbase Pro has a complicated and somewhat high fee structure where the taker and maker fees for transactions up to $10,000 can be 0.50%. The wire (USD) deposit and withdrawal fees are $10 and $25. It also charges a miner fee based on what it anticipates paying for each transaction as network transaction fees.
- Coinbase wallets are non-custodial, implying that the onus of remembering and safeguarding the private key is entirely on the user. Anyone getting access to your private key means getting full access to your assets.
Beginner Friendliness
eToro scores high on its beginner friendliness. If you have just started on crypto trading, the eToro trading academy helps you with a wide range of educational resources and helpful guidance about trading and the financial markets in general. It also offers a host of easy-to-use and intuitive features to make the new users feel comfortable. With a free $100,000 demo account, you can build a virtual portfolio to practice and experiment.
As we have already indicated, Coinbase is also a highly beginner-friendly platform where you can earn up to $36 worth of cryptocurrencies by learning about how specific currencies work. You also get to try out a bit of each crypto for yourself. For beginners, it also facilitates investment in slow and regular intervals by scheduling them for daily, monthly, or weekly trades.
Trust and Security
eToro is a highly trusted and secured platform, used by millions of traders since it was founded in 2007. To date, more than 335 million trades have been opened on eToro. In terms of its security and protection features, eToro follows FCA, CySEC, and ASIC regulations, keeps clients’ funds only in tier 1 banks, and protects all their data with SSL encryption. The platform ensures a vigorous verification process to include real users only. For any assistance, the eToro support team is available 24/7.
To ensure a high level of security for its customers’ funds, Coinbase deploys all its digital currency through a combination of online “hot storage” and offline “cold” storage where 98% or more of customers’ digital currency remains in the cold storage, with the remainder in secure hot servers as necessary to serve the liquidity needs. The trust of its users in Coinbase’s service reflects in its user base of more than 56 million spread across more than 100 countries.
Fees
Opening an account on eToro is free. It charges no management or ticketing fees. Withdrawals incur a fee of $5 and FX rates apply to non-USD deposits and withdrawals.
Coinbase offers its USD Wallet and Hosted Cryptocurrency Wallet Service free of charge. For buy or sell transactions, it charges a spread of about one-half of one percent (0.50%). It also charges a Coinbase Fee (in addition to the spread), which is the greater of (a) a flat fee or (b) a variable percentage fee determined by region. For transactions worth between less than or equal to $10 to less than or equal to $200, the fee falls anywhere between $0.99 and $2.99.
Sign-Up Process
Like other platforms, you need to fill up an electronic form where you will be able to enter all the personal data. eToro offers the additional options of logging in via Facebook or Gmail. For faster verification, you can upload a colored copy of your passport or both sides of your ID card.
Coinbase sign-up follows the standard industry protocols as well. You need to be at least 18 years old and hold a government-issued photo ID. Apart from these, you need a computer or smartphone connected to the internet and a phone number connected to your smartphone.
Available Cryptocurrencies
A total of 16 crypto coins are available on eToro. These sixteen cryptocurrencies include BTC, ETH, BCH, XRP, DASH, LTC, ETC, ADA, MIOTA, XLM, EOS, NEO, TRX, ZEC, BNB, XTZ, etc.
Including all the regions of US, EU, UK, and CA/SG and the services of both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro, the total number of currencies available on the platform is 57 for now.
Stand Out Features
The most enticing feature of eToro is CopyTrader that not only allows you to view what real traders are doing in real-time but copy their trading as well. Its zero commission trading feature means that no broker fee will be charged when opening or closing the position. There are also no limits on commission-free trades. You can buy fractional shares with eToro as well.
Coinbase offers crypto trade, crypto wallet, and crypto card services together. You can earn while using Coinbase to learn about the market. You can do portfolio management as well as schedule your investments in the currency for daily, weekly, or monthly intervals.
Verdict: Coinbase is the Better Option for Cryptocurrency
Both eToro and Coinbase are world-class services for crypto trading. But, if you are interested in investing in other instruments, such as stocks, ETFs, and CFD from the same platform, you can leverage the services of eToro. On the other hand, if you are looking for a vast range of crypto assets to trade, you can opt for Coinbase. Moreover, with Coinbase, you get a wallet and Coinbase Visa debit card as well.
If you are new to crypto trading and want to start earning from it from your very early days in the industry, eToro should be your choice. Its patented copy trader can replicate the trading strategies of top-performing traders for you. Coinbase also offers you the opportunity to earn from day zero while you learn about different assets and practice your trading strategies on them. However, in Coinbase, the scope of this ‘earning while learning’ facility is limited in terms of the maximum amount you can earn.
