Coinbase Wallet Review

Coinbase Wallet is a simple-to-use software wallet that brings the functionality of other wallets like MetaMask to a broader user base. Thanks to Coinbase’s popularity and funding, the Coinbase Wallet has a well-designed UI and the beginnings of a versatile software wallet.  

Pros & Cons

First, Coinbase Wallet has quite a few things going for it, thanks to its origins. As a major exchange, Coinbase had a lot of resources compared to other crypto projects to put out something folks would find useful. 

Coinbase has made big leaps as a cryptocurrency exchange, becoming the first American publicly-traded crypto exchange back in 2021.

With this success, Coinbase has set its sights on expanding its services for all of its new users. So, towards the end of 2021, Coinbase released the Coinbase Wallet app and browser extension. 

What does this new service add for both current and new Coinbase users? Let’s take a look at the good and the bad of this new app in this Coinbase Wallet review.

About Coinbase Wallet

Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody cryptocurrency wallet released by Coinbase as a separate service from their exchange in November 2021. This wallet is a software wallet, meaning that it works as an app on your mobile device or web browser.

Unlike a cold storage wallet, Coinbase Wallet is always online and connected to the blockchain. This fact means that Coinbase Wallet is great for transacting on the blockchain, but not as secure as a hardware Bitcoin wallet would be.

Features

As a software wallet, the main feature of Coinbase Wallet is crypto storage and accessibility. The wallet app allows you to connect your stored crypto with decentralized apps (dApps), which allow you to grow your crypto earnings by lending and staking your coins.

Coinbase Wallet supports these functions on popular blockchains, such as Ethereum and Ripple.  However, Coinbase Wallet stands out in its user interface. 

Compared to other software wallets, Coinbase Wallet looks sleek, fresh, and makes it clear where everything is. You won’t have to hunt down transfer options or token balances thanks to how easy it is to navigate the app. 

Additionally, as a Coinbase service, Coinbase Wallet has integrations with the exchange services of Coinbase. Once you have a Coinbase Wallet, you can pair it up with your Coinbase account to make buying and selling cryptocurrency from Coinbase Wallet easier since you’ll be using the Coinbase exchange instead of a decentralized one. 

Also, Coinbase Wallet has somewhat better security than a standard software wallet would. Other software wallets don’t have a large exchange backing them, meaning that they don’t have a larger entity that they can use to back up password data or insure funds on your account in case of hacks or scams. 

Finally, Coinbase Wallet comes with built-in NFT support and storage capabilities. Any NFTs you purchase from the Ethereum and related Layer 2 blockchains can be stored on the app, letting you keep your NFTs safer than if you had left them on the NFT marketplace.

Pricing & Fees

The Coinbase Wallet app and web browser are both free to use. As long as you use a supported browser or Android or iOS device, you can download Coinbase Wallet and get it set up for no charge. 

Remember, when you transact on the blockchain, you’ll have to pay the gas fee each time. This fee is the incentive for validators on the blockchain to accept your transaction and add it to the public ledger. 

You’ll pay this fee for every transaction, which changes depending on which blockchain you use and how heavy the blockchain traffic is.

Who Should Use Coinbase Wallet?

Current Coinbase users who want to make the transition to using more DeFi applications will find the switch over to Coinbase Wallet simple.

The app uses much of the same design elements and features that Coinbase users are familiar with already instead packaged into a crypto wallet management app. 

Otherwise, anyone looking to get into DeFi, but uncomfortable with the idea of setting up a software wallet themselves should use Coinbase Wallet.

The app and web browser come preloaded with support blockchains meaning that you won’t have to set up new blockchain addresses in Coinbase Wallet like you would with other apps. 

Should I Use Coinbase Wallet?

If you want to explore the world of DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and other emerging aspects of cryptocurrency, then Coinbase Wallet would be a good first step to take.

The simple UI makes accessing your stored funds easy and fast thanks to much of the setup work having been done by Coinbase Wallet. 

While the service doesn’t support all cryptocurrencies, Coinbase Wallet features many of the most popular blockchains, making it a great way to explore many of the established blockchain projects and what they offer. 

If this side of crypto interests you, check out the Coinbase Wallet app and see how it works! There’s a lot of exciting stuff to explore in cryptocurrency, meaning this app could be a great tool for your DeFi experiments. 

Coinbase Wallet FAQ's

With the relatively new nature of Coinbase Wallet, many Coinbase users have come to wonder what the service does and if it’s the best choice for them.

So, to complement this Coinbase Wallet review, here are some of the common questions out there about Coinbase Wallet and their answers:

Compare to Other Wallets