San-Francisco based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase is arguably one of the first entry points for many new crypto investors. The reason for this is not far-fetched. The platform was one of the first to offer a secure and reliable crypto exchange service in the United States back. The exchange has subsequently expanded its services across borders.
Since it launched in 2012, Coinbase has no doubt helped many new traders to safely buy their first cryptocurrencies with ease. However, in recent times, there have been several complaints about the exchange, including high fees, a small number of supported cryptocurrencies, slow support, and unnecessary delay in deposit and withdrawal.
Fortunately, the passage of time also means that many Coinbase alternatives have joined the exchange business, offering unique and advanced features to both new and seasoned crypto investors.
Three Best Coinbase Alternatives
In this article, we take a look at the three best alternatives to Coinbase that traders can use to purchase multiple cryptocurrencies with fiat.
- Kraken
- CoinMama
- LocalBitcoins
Some of the discussed platforms are as old as Coinbase and have already attracted a combined user base of over 5.6 million people. Let’s consider their unique features, and why they’re good alternatives to Coinbase exchange.
Kraken
Kraken was founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell after the entrepreneur watched closely as the infamous and now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, Mt Gox experienced its initial security breaches before a subsequent collapse in 2014.
Thus, Kraken was built with security as one of its core features and has lived up to this by being one of the few crypto exchanges that have never lost funds to a security breach during its nine-year history.
Fiat Pairings
On Kraken, users can trade cryptocurrencies against a range of fiat pairs, meaning that users can directly swap their local currencies for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly on the platform.
At the time of writing this article, Kraken offers the fiat-to-crypto pairs for:
- US Dollars (USD)
- Canadian Dollars (CAD)
- Euros (EUR)
- Japanese Yen (JPY)
- British Pounds (GBP)
- Swiss Franc (CHF)
Noteworthily, Kraken allows for a direct conversion of USD or GBP to many altcoins with the most popular including Tezos (XTZ), Litecoin (LTC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Monero (XMR), Tron (TRX), Stellar Lumens (XLM) and ICON (ICX).
Additionally, Kraken’s BTC, USDT, ETH, and XRP markets all feature currency pairs for the six fiat currencies listed above.
While regulatory uncertainty means that US-based cryptocurrency exchanges cannot list as many altcoins as offshore platforms like Binance, Kraken still offers a rich list of cryptocurrencies for altcoin investors.
At the time of writing, Kraken offered 32 altcoins for its crypto-to-crypto pairs, as well as an offering, including the most popular stablecoins, Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), and Pax Gold (PAXG), and USD Coin (USDC).
Coinmama
Coinmama is another Coinbase alternative that was established to enable people to buy and sell crypto assets quickly. Launched in 2013, the Slovakia-registered cryptocurrency broker exchange is owned by New Bit Ventures Limited.
Ultimately, the exchange was founded on the purpose of enabling easy access for people to purchase cryptocurrency, and to gain control of their economy. In this course, Coinmama supports several fiat currencies. Also, it allows users to buy cryptocurrencies using Credit/Debit cards, including direct bank transfer.
Coinmama allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies with any fiat currency, including:
- US Dollar (USD)
- Euro (EUR)
- British Pound (GBP)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Japanese Yen (JPY)
Coinmama supports the use of credit and debit cards, SWIFT transfer, and SEPA bank transfer (EU Banks only).
Supported Cryptocurrencies
Coinmama supports a few, but notable cryptocurrencies. Traders can only buy ten major digital currencies on the exchange, which includes:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Qtum (QTUM)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- EOS (EOS)
How Coinmama Differs From Coinbase
Coinmama operates more like a cryptocurrency vendor even though it is usually listed among digital currency exchanges. This means that you can only buy the supported cryptocurrencies from the platform and send them directly to your wallet.
So, Coinmama is not a custodian that stores any fiat or cryptocurrency of customers. The good side is that you will have full control of your cryptos, and will be safe even if Coinmama gets hacked.
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins was established in 2012 by Jeremias Kangas to allow Bitcoin buyers to transact directly with sellers in their local area. Unlike Coinbase, which operates as an intermediary between buyers, LocalBitcoins is a crypto peer-to-peer (p2p) marketplace that connects buyers with sellers. The platform uses escrow service to ensure that participants are protected from losing their funds.
Unlike Coinbase that restricts some countries, LocalBitcoins operates worldwide, which means users can join the platform regardless of their nationality.
LocalBitcoins Supported Payment Options
LocalBitcoins does not hold any fiat currency deposit since it is only a p2p Bitcoin exchange and not a regular crypto exchanges that process trades. Thus, the payment currency/method used in a transaction can only be decided by the buyer and seller.
Some of the widely used payment method on LocalBitcoin includes:
- Paypal
- Payoneer
- Wire Transfer
- MoneyGram
- Payza
- Neteller
- Skrill
How Secure Is LocalBitcoins?
Although LocalBitcoins is only a marketplace, the platform has many security measures enabled to safeguard users’ accounts and curtail fraud. Some of these measures include
Escrow Service: LocalBitcoins uses escrow to secured users from possible loss of funds in case of disputes. When a buyer places an order, the seller sends the BTC to LocalBitcoins’ escrow account. The coins will then be released to the buyer once the transaction is confirmed at both ends.
Reputation system: Every trader on LocalBitcoins has a reputation rank, which is aimed at informing new customers about their past transaction history.
Two-factor Authentication (2FA): Users can enable 2FA on their accounts to prevent unauthorized access.
Conclusion
So there you have it. The three best Coinbase alternatives where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies fast and safe with no stress.
See Also: Nine (9) Most Compelling Reasons To Buy Bitcoin in 2020
