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Uphold vs. Coinbase: Which crypto exchange is better?

Coinbase and Uphold are popular crypto trading platforms, but which is better for beginners?

Uphold - Digital Asset Platform

Uphold - Digital Asset Platform logo
  • Buy, sell and trade 273 cryptos.
  • Trade directly across crypto and traditional currencies.
  • Instant deposits and withdrawals.
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Disclaimer: This page is not financial advice or an endorsement of digital assets, providers or services. Digital assets are volatile and risky, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Potential regulations or policies can affect their availability and services provided. Talk with a financial professional before making a decision. Finder or the author may own cryptocurrency discussed on this page.

Uphold and Coinbase are both solid choices for beginners, but choosing which is best for you can be hard. Uphold offers users more than just crypto, with commodities and stocks available. On the other hand, Coinbase offers users a simple crypto experience and has been in the industry for over a decade.

Find out which exchange comes out on top in our Uphold vs. Coinbase comparison.

Round 1: Uphold vs. Coinbase on vital statistics

Both Uphold and Coinbase are US-based exchanges accessible to US residents. Both platforms also offer users a debit card.

Uphold offers users precious metals and stocks among other alternative assets. Coinbase offers users a streamlined crypto experience, which may be more appealing to beginners.

Uphold - Digital Asset PlatformCoinbase Digital Currency Exchange
Overall rating★★★★★★★★★★
Costs rating★★★★★★★★★★
Registered
Exchange locationUSAUSA
Offers a debit card
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Winner: Draw


Round 2: Supported coins

Coinbase offers quite a few more crypto coins and tokens for buying, selling and trading than Uphold does. Uphold offers a wider range of assets because there are stocks and commodities available, but we’re evaluating this based on cryptocurrency support. That said, Uphold has a good selection of cryptocurrencies including Ripple (XRP), which Coinbase doesn’t support.

Uphold - Digital Asset PlatformCoinbase Digital Currency Exchange
Number of tradeable crypto assets252248
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Winner: Coinbase


Round 3: Supported fiat currencies

Coinbase and Uphold support a comparable number of fiat currencies through credit and debit card channels.

Coinbase supports more direct fiat deposits, with USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, and SGD available, compared to Uphold only supporting USD, EUR, and GBP. Coinbase has more direct trading pairs with fiat than Uphold, but Uphold lets you swap any asset for anything on the platform, essentially meaning there are more pairs overall there.

Coinbase also supports channels like PayPal while Uphold does not.

Uphold - Digital Asset PlatformCoinbase Digital Currency Exchange
Number of supported fiat currencies2723
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Winner: Coinbase


Round 4: Fees and costs

Both Coinbase and Uphold have a variety of fee structures in place.

When comparing the base platforms, Uphold may have slightly lower fees for crypto compared to Coinbase’s flat rates based on transaction amount, but Coinbase Pro has much lower fees than Uphold does. Coinbase Pro also has ways to further reduce trading fees while Uphold doesn’t. Crypto withdrawals are cheaper on Coinbase, while fiat withdrawal fees are comparable.

Uphold - Digital Asset PlatformCoinbase Digital Currency Exchange
Minimum depositsUS$10
Deposit FeesDebit/Credit Card Transactions: 2.49%
Bank transfer: None
Google Pay: None
Wire transfer: $10
Trading FeeTrading: $.99 for trades under $500
Spread: Up to 1.5%
Maker: 0.00 - 0.4%
Taker: 0.05 - 0.6%
Withdrawal FeesDebit/Credit Card Transactions: 2.49%
Cryptocurrency: Subject to network fees
Bank transfer: None
Google Pay: None
Wire transfer: $25
Deposit methodsBank transfer, Credit card, Debit card, Bank transfer (SEPA), Apple Pay, Google PayBank transfer (ACH), Debit card, PayPal, Wire transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay
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More Info
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Winner: Coinbase


Round 5: Wallets

Uphold only has the exchange-based wallet, but Coinbase has its proprietary Coinbase Wallet.

The Coinbase Wallet is fully noncustodial and compatible with multiple blockchain networks. This means you can interact with decentralized apps (dApps) like decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The Coinbase Wallet also supports NFTs and can be used to buy and sell them.

Winner: Coinbase


Round 6: Security

Uphold has never been hacked. It’s compliant with multiple national regulators, has FDIC insurance, a fully transparent insurance and reserves funds for crypto and a bug bounty program.

Coinbase has FDIC insurance too, along with crypto insurance, but it was hacked in 2021 when 6,000 individual accounts were affected in the phishing scam, but Coinbase reimbursed affected users.

Winner: Uphold


Round 7: Ease of Use

Coinbase has been designed for beginners, it has a smooth user experience and straightforward process for buying and selling crypto assets.

Uphold also has a smooth user interface and allows you to swap between any of their supported assets on one trading page with only a couple of clicks. This is even more straightforward than Coinbase’s system which has different tabs for buying, selling, and trading.

Winner: Uphold


Coinbase vs. Uphold winner: Coinbase

By taking four out of seven categories, Coinbase is our winner when comparing it to Uphold. Coinbase offers its own proprietary wallet, more crypto support, fiat support, and a more crypto-focused experience.

That said, Uphold has a lot of great things to offer users, and those interested in more than crypto could do worse than using Uphold. Coinbase is simply one of the easiest crypto platforms for beginner traders.

Disclaimer: This page is not financial advice or an endorsement of digital assets, providers or services. Digital assets are volatile and risky, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Potential regulations or policies can affect their availability and services provided. Talk with a financial professional before making a decision. Finder or the author may own cryptocurrency discussed on this page.

Whether products shown are available to you is subject to individual provider sole approval and discretion in accordance with the eligibility criteria and T&Cs on the provider website.

Name Product GXFCY Deposit methods Fiat currencies Cryptocurrencies Offer Disclaimer Go to site
eToro Cryptocurrency Trading
eToro Cryptocurrency Trading
Bank transfer, Credit card, Debit card, Neteller, Skrill

18

78

Disclaimer: Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in the UK and some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
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Capital at risk

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Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange (Not available to US users)
Bank transfer, Cryptocurrency

1

369

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Capital at risk

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KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange
KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, PayPal, P2P

50

743

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Capital at risk

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Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, P2P

73

279

Disclaimer: Highly volatile investment product. Your capital is at risk.
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Capital at risk

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Gate.io Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card

8

1607

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Capital at risk

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Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SWIFT

8

222

Go to site

Capital at risk

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OKX Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Cryptocurrency, iDEAL, PayPal, POLi, SEPA, Faster Payments (FPS)

35

338

Go to site

Capital at risk

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Uphold
Uphold
Bank transfer (ACH), Credit card, Debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay

27

237

Capital at risk

View details
EXCLUSIVE
Paybis Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Debit card, Neteller

42

357

Finder Exclusive: Get 25% discount on all commission for 1 transaction when using promocode Finder25. There is no time limit on the validity of the promo code.
US residents: Restricted in the following states - NY, CT, NM, WA, HI, AL, VT, FL, AK, NV.
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Capital at risk

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Finder Award
Bitstamp Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, SEPA, Faster Payments (FPS)

3

96

Capital at risk

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Coinmama Cryptocurrency Marketplace
Credit card, Fedwire, SEPA, Google Pay, SWIFT, Bank card

6

15

Capital at risk

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OFFER
Gemini Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bank transfer (ACH), Cryptocurrency, Debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SWIFT

7

151

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Capital at risk

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Finder Award
Crypto.com App
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, PayPal, Wire transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SWIFT

31

378

Capital at risk

View details
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Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange

Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange logo
  • Offers leverage and derivative trading
  • Supports EUR, GBP and CHF
  • Licensed to operate in all European countries
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Disclaimer: Highly volatile investment product. Your capital is at risk.

KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange

KuCoin Cryptocurrency Exchange logo
  • Buy, sell and trade over 700 crypto assets
  • Supports 10 Asian fiat currencies
  • Offers crypto futures trading
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Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange

Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange logo
  • Buy, sell and trade over 200 crypto assets
  • Licensed to operate in 17 jurisdictions in Oceania
  • Supports AUD
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Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange (Not available to US users)

Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange (Not available to US users) logo
  • Supports over 300 crypto assets
  • Binance Pay enables users spend their crypto
  • Binance P2P supports multiple African fiat currencies
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Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange (Not available to US users)

Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange (Not available to US users) logo
  • Supports over 300 crypto assets
  • Binance Pay works with Credencial Payments to support crypto payments
  • Binance P2P supports five Latin American fiat currencies
Go to site

Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange

Bybit Cryptocurrency Exchange logo
  • Supports leverage and derivative trading
  • Supports 300 spot trading pairs
  • Low-to-non-existent trading fees
Go to site
Disclaimer: Highly volatile investment product. Your capital is at risk.
Keegan Francis's headshot
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Writer

Keegan Francis was a cryptocurrency writer for Finder. He has been invested in cryptocurrencies since 2013 and writing about them since 2018. He has written and edited for CryptoVantage. In 2020 he and his wife Mrugakshee Palwe opted entirely out of the world of traditional finance and went "full crypto", covering their experience in the Go Full Crypto podcast and via a Substack newsletter. Keegan holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from Acadia University, and has attained graduate certificates from Ivan On Tech's lightning network course and the Consensys Academy Ethereum bootcamp. When Keegan is not working on cryptocurrency, he enjoys travelling, rock climbing and playing piano. See full bio

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