Coinbase is the world's largest Bitcoin exchange. The opinion we have presented here in the article is only our assessment of Coinbase as a whole. So... Is Coinbase Safe?

We here at CryptoDetails always love getting questions from our loyal readers. Most times, we like to give you definite, upbeat answers that make you smile when you read them over and over. Unfortunately, when we are asked, "Is Coinbase safe?" we are not going to get to be positive and upbeat.

Firstly, Coinbase is a third party site

And, what is Crypto Rule # 1? You don't know or don't remember? Repeat after us --- We never, ever, for any reason, leave our money under someone else's control for any longer than necessary to make a trade and withdraw to our secure wallet.

Well, firstly, it is such a pain in the rear to deposit or withdraw from Coinbase that it is practically begging you not even to try. The problem is; that it leaves your money under their control, breaking Crypto Rule # 1. So, for this reason, Coinbase is not safe.

Let's talk about the red tape you have to deal with on this site. Some users sign up for Coinbase, who wait months even to get started (do not say it does not happen; the cryptosphere is littered with these nightmare stories). Then, once they do, it can take up to a week to get a deposit into your on-site wallet. The simple fact that it takes so much of your personal information while holding you hostage the whole time is more than a concern; as far as we are concerned, that entire system is a security breach.

We won't argue that Coinbase's wallet system is flawed. After all, we here at CryptoDetail have not tested that site for them. However, your personal information is not stored in a crypto wallet; it is stored in a traditional database somewhere in their website code. Servers can be hacked; personal data can be lost.

Do not take our word for it. Ask Target, the IRS, and Equifax how tricky hackers can be. That is another reason Coinbase is not safe.

And, the final reason we are going to give you is that we simply do not trust anyone with our cryptos; especially a centralized platform like Coinbase.

Cryptos was born from an idea of freedom from the "trust me so I can rob you blind" history of traditional banking. The blockchain freed us from that by allowing us NOT to trust anyone. The facts are laid out right there in front of you, of us, of the entire world. So, we simply do not have to trust anyone again.

The fact is that the "hacks" occurring in the cryptosphere are few and far between. Many, if not all, of those, were inside jobs or social engineering. Neither of those is actual hacking, just gutless thieves stealing dines, nickles, and even million dollar bills. For that reason, we simply can not trust Coinbase and their little traditional banking attitude. So, no, Coinbase is not safe.

If Not Coinbase, Who Can I Trust?

Like we said, trust no one with your money. The reason we here at CryptoDetail love the smaller quick exchanges is that there is minimal risk compared to the sites like Coinbase. Changelly and ShapeShift allow you to buy, sell, and trade various cryptocurrencies and tokens within minutes.



Yes, those cost a couple more dollars per trade than Coinbase. But, really, how much is 7-21 days (the amount of time it takes to withdraw from their site) worth to you?

Plus, we may have made a couple of predictions that never came to pass; after all, if we could accurately predict the future, we would be sipping something with an umbrella in it on an island beach somewhere in the Caribbean (not far from our Florida offices).

But, with the growth and sheer enormity of what Coinbase has become, we would not be surprised to wake up one morning to read about Mt Gox redux in regards to Coinbase. It only would not be very shocking.

The third party

So, if you are using that platform (we are not), you are going to need to be very careful. And, you must always keep Crypto Rule # 1 first in your mind if you are going to prevent any possibility of such a robbery from affecting you. Don't, just do not use ANY centralized platform. Crypto allows us the freedom to choose when, where, and how often we trade. A third party middleman is not only unnecessary; it is against the entire concept of cryptos. You might as well be investing at Wells Fargo or keeping your hard-earned money on PayPal. It is just a bad idea.

We wish all those Coinbase questions could have a more definite answer. But, as we said, there is simply nothing positive to say about that site; or any similar crypto platform. It is run like a government office or traditional fiat bank with all of that red tape and all of those delays and "frozen asset" stories we hear floating around the cryptosphere. The problem is that we do not trust governments or banks, which is one of the biggest reasons we were drawn to cryptos at the beginning of our crypto journeys.

To recap

But, as we said at the opening of this article, the opinion we have presented here is only our assessment of Coinbase as a whole. None of this is (thankfully) from first-hand information as we simply do not use this platform. But, we know people who do, and we have spoken with those people extensively to fully understand the true nature of Coinbase as it functions and how it is seen around the cryptosphere.

To recap, NO, Coinbase is not safe. If you want to start trading cryptos, there are far too many better platforms to use to make those trades much more safely, much more quickly and with nearly no red tape, if any at all. Security is of the utmost importance. Do not throw away Satoshi's gift of freedom and control over your money by letting Coinbase, or anyone else, keep that control away from you for weeks on end. At the same time, the rest of the cryptosphere makes money trading at the speed of business, instead of slow as molasses (a /k/speed of government).

Thanks for joining us on this exploration. Good luck on your crypto journey. Happy HODLing!!!

Danny Donahue