KuCoin is a major crypto exchange with more than 8 million active users. On the other hand, Coinbase holds the status of being the biggest crypto exchange. Both KuCoin and Coinbase are top-range exchanges suitable for different crypto trading functions. Therefore, here’s a brief KuCoin vs Coinbase comparison:
| Characteristics | KuCoin | Coinbase |
| Founded in | 2017 | 2012 |
| Founded by | Johnny Lyu | Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong |
| Mobile application | Available for iOS and Android users | Available for iOS and Android users |
| Fees | 0.1% withdrawal fees and up to 0.05% trading fees | Up to 3% withdrawal fees and 3.99% trading fees |
| Taker Fees | 0.10% | 0.04% to 0.50% |
| Maker Fees | 0.10% | 0.00% to 0.50% |
| Customer Support | Available | Available |
Table of Contents
What is KuCoin Exchange?
KuCoin is one of the most reliable crypto exchange platforms. With its inception in 2017, the exchange is relatively new and has high popularity among its users. It is one of the most popular crypto exchanges available, with more than 320 assets, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, Bitcoin Cash, and Dash.
What is Coinbase Exchange?
Coinbase is one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchange platforms. The company came into being in 2012 and has acquired a large customer pool over the years. There are more than 70 digital currencies accessible via Coinbase, like XRP, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. In addition, Coinbase Wallet is available for users who do not own an account on the platform.
Read our Coinbase review to know more.
Also read: KuCoin vs Binance: Read this before choosing? [Important]
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Features
KuCoin Features
KuCoin is a well-established platform for cryptocurrency exchange with a wide range of benefits and specifications. Here are some of the main ones.
- Kucoin Margin Trading: KuCoin launched margin trading in 2019, and now it offers up to 10x leverage. With KuCoin margin trading, users can trade on around 30 USDT, BTC, and ETH pairs.
- KuCoin Futures Trading: KuCoin futures (formerly known as KuMEX) were introduced in 2019. With this, users can trade coins margined contracts with around 100x leverage. Moreover, KuCoin offers two versions of Futures Trading: one for beginners and one for advanced traders.
- KuCoin Trading Bot: Another notable feature is KuCoin bot trading. Users can create KuCoin bots to automate their trade. It currently offers three bots: Spot Grid, Futures Grid, and Smart Rebalance on the web platform; two more bots for mobile applications: DCA and Infinity Grid.
- KuCoin Staking: This platform offers an Earn feature, under which users can subscribe on different coins or tokens for a specific period to earn APY up to 52.3%. Further, it also has two other options as Savings and Promotions.
- KuCoin Lending: With this feature of KuCoin, users can lend their cryptos to other users to earn interest. The loan period varies from seven to twenty-eight days (7, 14, 28). Further users can earn up to 2% as daily interest.
- KuCoin API: Further, KuCoin also offers API services with benefits including Interest-Free loans, Referral bonuses, Trading Strategy, and others. They also have Spot and Futures API Documents.
- KuCoin Cryptocurrencies: There are more than 370 variants of cryptocurrencies that users of the KuCoin platform can trade-in.
- KuCoin Anonymity: Further, users do not have to complete their whole KYC verification process to begin using KuCoin for the crypto exchange. This platform lets you keep your anonymity.
- KuCoin Coin: KuCoin has its own token KCS, which users can use to reduce fees. Moreover, one can earn KCS coins every day. On holding around 6 KCS coins, users start earning daily interest at a 22% APR approximately.
- KuCoin Trading: Users can trade their cryptocurrencies in the P2P marketplace with no additional fees. Also, one can purchase crypto using fiat currencies as well. It also offers FastBuy the option to buy and sell cryptos using payment methods like bank cards, WeChat, AliPay, and others.
Coinbase Features
Many crypto users focus on KuCoin rather than Coinbase to transfer funds, due to the various high-quality benefits they can expect from the latter. Here are some of the main features available for Coinbase users which includes:
- User Friendly Platform: The process of signing up and verification process is straightforward in Coinbase with a user-friendly interface.
- Coinbase Security: Coinbase offers a high level security platform, with multi-signature wallets, cold storage, anti-money laundering/KYC protection, and two-factor authentication access.
- Coinbase Earn: Users can earn through other mediums on the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange platform besides trading cryptocurrencies. They can earn rewards through the Coinbase Earn program. Users have to view short educational videos of 3 minutes duration to earn crypto rewards.
- Coinbase cryptocurrency: More than 70 cryptocurrency types are available on Coinbase for users to trade, sell, or invest.
- Coinbase Wallet: A personalized storage section is available for Coinbase users to keep a set amount of funds safely. Moreover, users are not required to have a Coinbase account to use Coinbase Wallet.
- Coinbase Pro: The Coinbase Pro version is also available for users. Here, traders can expect more high-quality trading functions, more advanced charting options and low fees.
- Coinbase Card: Another feature of Coinbase is a Visa debit card that lets users spend any asset in their portfolio and earn rewards with every purchase.
Also read, Coinbase Card Review: Best Crypto Debit Card
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Fees
KuCoin Fees
- KuCoin Trading Fee: The fee structure of this platform is relatively simple and has low fees compared to Coinbase. It has a fixed price for spot trading that is 0.1%. This fee is reducible based on users’ 30-day trading volume or KCS holdings.
- KuCoin Deposit Fees: There is no deposit fee applicable for users of KuCoin.
- KuCoin Withdrawal Fees: It charges around 0.0004 BTC for withdrawal, which is the lowest in the crypto industry.
- KuCoin Futures Fees: The taker and maker fees of this exchange is 0.1%, which is reducible based on the users KCS holdings.
Also read, KuCoin Trading Fees, Deposit, & Withdrawal Fees
Coinbase Fees
- Coinbase Trading Fee: The Coinbase fee structure is not clear; users can pay different amounts as per their transaction amount and payment mode. Additionally, there is an unspecified price spread of approximately 0.5% for each transaction on Coinbase. Users have to pay this amount, visible in their initial rate quote.
- Coinbase Deposit Fees: The deposit ranges from 1.49% to 3.99% which depends on the mode of payment the user selected.
- Coinbase Conversion Fees: The crypto conversion fee of Coinbase exchange includes a 0.50% spread.
- Coinbase Withdrawal Fees: Coinbase does not charge any fee for withdrawing cryptos from the wallet.
- Coinbase Pro fee: The maker and taker fee at Coinbase pro ranges from 0.50% – 0.00% and 0.50% – 0.04% respectively.
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Mobile Application
KuCoin App
KuCoin users can carry out their crypto exchange practices through the Android and iOS apps. The app is highly user-friendly. Two trading bots: DCA and Infinity Grid, are exclusively available in the platform’s mobile app version. Users can customize the functions of their bots for automatic trading configuration. Moreover, all the functionalities are also available on their mobile application.
Also read, OKEx vs KuCoin: Which is the Best Exchange?
Coinbase App
Coinbase is accessible via both Android and iOS mobile applications. Coinbase offers all its features on their mobile application as they do not offer any web platform. In addition to this, users can trade, store, transfer, and manage their cryptos on their applications with full security.
Also read, How to Delete a Coinbase Account?
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Security
Is KuCoin Safe?
Kucoin was hacked in 2019 and lost a significant amount; however, they definitely learned lessons from their failure to secure users’ funds. Besides this, KuCoin funds in custody are backed by Lockton. Moreover, in 2020, they mentioned that they made a strategic cooperation with Onchain Custodian. Also, KuCoin offers features like Two-factor authentication, trading password, phone and email verification, and others for users to keep their accounts secure.
Also read, Kucoin Trading Bot – Automate Your Trades
Is Coinbase Safe?
Yes, Coinbase can be regarded as a secure platform. According to Coinbase, most of their digital assets are stored in offline storage. Further, the cryptocurrencies that are stored on the servers are covered by the Coinbase policy. Other security measures include two-factor authentication, biometric login, data encryption, and others.
Also read, Uphold vs Coinbase: Lowest Fee Exchange in the USA
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Customer Support
KuCoin Support
You can get in contact with the KuCoin platform for any query through Help Center, Onsite chat, and Mobile app support. In addition, You can also get in touch with them through their social media channels including Facebook, Telegram, Reddit, and others. Moreover, there’s a detailed FAQ section to guide you about all the general queries.
Coinbase Support
Coinbase customer services are available 24*7. The platform has an extensive FAQ section that solves almost every query. If there’s still any doubt left, you can contact the Coinbase support team by clicking on the ‘Contact Us’ option.
KuCoin vs Coinbase: Conclusion
Overall, both Coinbase and KuCoin have a wide range of benefits. Coinbase is usable for most traders, while KuCoin includes unique specifications suitable for more experienced trading experts. Make your final choice based on your level of skill with crypto exchange practices, your needs, and the functionality you are comfortable with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which features should I consider more clearly while comparing KuCoin and Coinbase?
You need to review features like security, trading fees, payment methods, supported cryptocurrencies, and accepted countries while making a choice. Also, consider the unique features each platform provides and take note of the target user base of both KuCoin and Coinbase.
How to choose the best crypto exchange platform?
Take note of your goal from the cryptocurrency exchange and your level of knowledge. For example, traders with high experience can access and use complex exchange platforms while beginners cannot. Also, take note of your requirements for trading and the amount of trading fee you can trade. Then, decide between KuCoin and Coinbase.
Which fee structure is better- KuCoin or Coinbase?
Coinbase has a complex fee structure; the fees vary constantly. On the other hand, KuCoin has a more straightforward fee structure with low trading fee levels. So, KuCoin is a better alternative for fee structure and limit.
Which exchange is better for beginners?
The functions and features on Coinbase are simpler to understand and use. The sign-up process is simple, the platform offers smoother transactions, and the interface is user-friendly. Thus, for novice traders, Coinbase is the better choice.
Also read,
