What is Coinbase?

Coinbase is a platform for buying, selling and holding cryptocurrency in a centrally managed account. Available markets, payment methods and services depend on the customer’s country and account. Products sharing the Coinbase name do not necessarily use the same custody model.

The exchange account, Advanced and self-custody

In a centralized exchange account, the platform manages the private-key infrastructure. Coinbase Advanced supplies order-book trading tools within the account; changing to Advanced does not give the customer personal control of those keys. Self-custody and DEX features associated with the brand have to be evaluated separately.

Example

Imagine an eligible US customer buying 0.01 BTC and leaving it in their Coinbase balance. Seeing the balance does not mean they hold the private key for that BTC. Sending the assets to a wallet whose keys they control changes custody responsibility; Coinbase’s supported-network, fee and available-to-send conditions still apply to the outgoing transfer.

The distinction between custodial and non-custodial wallets explains the change. The hypothetical purchase is not a current price quote, account approval or claim that all Coinbase services are available in every US state.

For a product decision, our Coinbase review examines trading controls, costs and account restrictions with a public screen and a worked example.