Coinbase Pro is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) and part of the Coinbase ecosystem. Established in 2012, it provides a range of crypto-based financial services. Based on the Coinbase trade volume, it’s considered one of the biggest CEX platforms in the USA.
Markets
The main service offered is Coinbase spot trading. Margin trading is unavailable. The Coinbase exchange fees use the maker-taker model, as well as a tiered structure based on volume during the trailing 30-day period. The tier is based on the trading volume at the time of placing the order rather than upon its completion.
Transactions using Coinbase trading pairs that include fiat currencies are counted by taking the total amount of USD on all completed orders. The fees do not account for the stable pair trading volume. If makers and takers trade using stable Coinbase trading pairs, they must pay 0.00% and 0.01%, respectively.
Overall, there are nine tiers to the Coinbase crypto fees. The lowest tier covers traders’ Coinbase volume of up to $10,000 per 30 days with a taker fee of 0.60% and a maker fee of 0.40%.
The fees are reduced as the trading volume increases. In tiers 8 and 9, which cover a Coinbase trade volume of $300-500 million and over $500 million, respectively, makers are not required to pay any fees, while takers pay 0.08% and 0.05%.
Other Services
The Coinbase crypto exchange has a rewards system that enables users to earn crypto rewards. It uses the staking and DeFi yield mechanisms. The Coinbase crypto price value earned depends on the amount staked or yielded and its duration. Users must comply with KYC requirements, and their earnings are subject to US tax reporting.
Coinbase digital services include a cryptocurrency wallet that can be used to store assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), APIs that provide market data in real-time, and Cloud tools for blockchain development.
The Coinbase ecosystem includes Coinbase Prime, a platform for brokerage, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and asset custody. However, the Coinbase Pro platform does not provide direct support for Coinbase Prime.
In October 2020, Coinbase launched its Visa debit card known as the Coinbase Card. It can be used for international payments, as well as cash withdrawals. The card facilitates both contactless and payments with a PIN. It can manage several different cryptocurrencies, and the Coinbase crypto price is automatically converted to the required amount.
About the Company
Coinbase was co-founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in San Francisco, CA. However, as of 2022, it does not have a physical headquarters, and the entire team works fully remotely. Two years after its launch, the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange exceeded 1 million users.
Throughout the first few years, the company received various investments from venture capitals and partnered with financial organizations like PayPal and Stripe. In September 2015, the Coinbase spot market and other services became available in Canada and Singapore.
The Coinbase crypto exchange experienced notable growth around 2017-2018. In 2017, it became the first crypto unicorn in the US after raising $100 million during Series D funding and gaining a valuation of $1.6 billion. In 2018, it was alleged that 50,000 new users were signing up to Coinbase daily.
In 2020, the total Coinbase crypto fee revenue exceeded $1 billion. In Q1 2021, the Coinbase crypto exchange revenue reached $1.8 billion, nearly ten times more than the $190 million Q1 revenue the year prior. That same year, Coinbase was listed as a public company on the Nasdaq exchange.
Over the years, some traders have alleged that the crypto market may experience a phenomenon known as the “Coinbase Effect”. It refers to the Coinbase crypto price trends that follow after new cryptocurrencies are listed on the exchange.
Brian Armstrong is an American entrepreneur and the CEO of Coinbase. He studied economics and computer science at Rice University. He first entered the crypto space in 2010 after learning about Bitcoin. Prior to founding Coinbase, Armstrong worked as a developer for IBM and was a software engineer at Airbnb.
Fred Ehrsam is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Paradigm. He studied computer science with economics at Duke University. Ehrsam was a foreign exchange trader at Goldman Sachs before establishing Coinbase with Armstrong. In 2017, he stepped away from Coinbase and founded the cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm a year later.
