Coinbase is a digital currency exchange that stands apart from its competition to the intense credibility the company has built over the years. Coinbase facilitates exchanges between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies in as many as 32 countries.
Furthermore, transactions in Bitcoin are facilitated by the company is 190 countries. It came into being in 2012 and has ever since developed into a cryptocurrency exchange that people trust and vouch for. The company offers a professional variant of their services with additional features not offered in the basic service. The fees charged by Coinbase Pro vary with pricing tiers, but the maker fees are 0% in all cases. The basic taker fees are 0.30%, but it undergoes some variations with changing price tiers.
Coinbase Pro located in San Francisco (USA)
The headquarters of the pro service offered by Coinbase is same as that of the basic service. The company follows all the necessary guidelines stipulated by the government of the USA. Ever since its emergence, the headquarters have remained the same. Even after the disintegration of co-founder, Ben Reeves, from the project, Coinbase has been operating successfully from its headquarters in the state of California. Brian Armstrong is still at the helm of the organization.
History on Coinbase Pro
Coinbase Pro was a service that came well after the launch of the basic service. But, before diving into the history of the trading platform, let’s cement the difference between Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime. Furthermore, the basic service is quite obviously different from both the services mentioned above. Coinbase Prime is a service targeted at financial institutions that make all their trades using business funds. On the other hand, Coinbase Pro is a service that has been designed for individual traders. Setting up an account for the prime service requires filling up an interest form whereas signing up for the pro service requires filling up basic information, and standard identity checks.
Now, let’s talk about the history of Coinbase Pro. When the product was launched, the manager of Coinbase Pro, David Farmer, called it an evolution of GDAX. The Global Digital Asset Exchange came into being 3 years before the advent of Coinbase Pro. Coinbase was rebranded as GDAX in 2015, and the Pro service was announced on 23 May 2018. The completely redesigned platform promises to make the user experience even more convenient than it was before. All the relevant information from GDAX like the balances and transactions also appear in Coinbase Pro. The informational charts inculcated in Coinbase Pro offer a deeper insight into the trades being made. Accessing the historical data is an easier task with the pro service when compared to the experience offered by GDAX.
Coinbase Pro’s team
The man at the helm of Coinbase has a heavy influence in the functioning of Coinbase. Brian Armstrong. David Farmer acts as the general manager of Coinbase Pro. The original team behind the basic version of Coinbase looks after the development of the new service as well.
How to trade on Coinbase Pro
Bitcoin is no longer the only cryptocurrency out there that has the potential of making huge profits for those who invest in them. Given the rise in the price of Bitcoin, and the converse saturation in the given cryptocurrency’s trade. Now, people are exploring new currencies like Ethereum, Litecoin, and more. Coinbase is an interesting platform for beginners because it allows its users to invest using fiat currencies as well. The first and foremost step to beginning your trading journey with Coinbase Pro is to set up an account. Existing GDAX accounts can also be used to access the pro version of Coinbase. It is advised for absolute beginners to first get the hang of Coinbase itself, and then move on to the Pro service.
After setting up a Coinbase Pro account, you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the interface of the service. The left side of the exchange contains buttons that facilitate depositions and withdrawals. You can even transfer funds from Coinbase to Coinbase Pro using this section of the website. Furthermore, the order book gives you certain insights on the number of order present for a selected price point. This is the same as the basic version of Coinbase. The red orders indicate sell orders, and the green ones mark buy orders for various price points. Deductions can also be made further by studying the USD spread displayed in the order book. You can use the USD spread to figure out what is the difference between the highest sell order and the lowest sell order. By analyzing all the information discussed above, you can make out the demand for a certain currency. Customers also need to familiarise themselves with the price chart section, and the depth chart section in order to make well-informed trades.
Apps
Even though a number of third-party apps allow access to Coinbase, there are no official apps available for the pro service. However, customers can use the mobile website to use the platform.
Official Coinbase Pro apps exist for neither Android nor iOS devices. However, it is being speculated that the crypto exchange giant is developing some applications that may be released in the near future. Until then, customers can either access the Pro service on their computers or visit the mobile website.
Create an account on Conbase Pro
The process of creating a Coinbase Pro account begins by visit the domain, pro.coinbase.com. From thereon, you need to tap on the create an account button and carry on with the process. You’ll need to verify your registered to move on to filling out your personal information. A phone number will also be required to verify your account. Subsequently, you’ll need to choose whether you want to make an ‘institutional’ account or an ‘individual’ account. You’ll also need to add some funds to your account in order to begin the trading process. The same can be done with fiat currencies as well. The supported options are GBP, EUR, and USD. However, it is not compulsory to use flat currencies to add funds. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin can also facilitate the addition of funds to your Coinbase Pro account. Furthermore, you can also use your existing Coinbase account to use the Pro service. All you need to do is sign in with your existing email address and password.
KYC
The Know-Your-Customer norms are appropriately followed by Coinbase. The company requires customers to verify their identity for availing the Pro service as well. The benefit of KYC is that it adds an extra layer of security to the crypto exchange.
The selections of documentation or ID proof being used for KYC purposes needs to follow certain guidelines. The details are of paramount importance. Emailed copies don’t suffice as credible documents.
Security
The security protocols followed by the basic service provided by Coinbase are rigid enough for customers to blindly trust the crypto exchange platform. The same guidelines and fail-safes are implemented in the professional service as well. Other than being a more intuitive, and detailed way to make trades, Coinbase Pro provides the same level of security as expected out of GDAX. The deposit process as well as the withdrawal process in simpler with Coinbase Pro. However, the above-mentioned does not come at the cost of compromising security.
As with the basic service provided by Coinbase where only about 2% of the funds are stored online, the same security measure in implemented for the pro service. The information surfacing on the company servers is not connected to the internet by any means. The backups present in drives as well on paper are spread across different geographical locations around the globe. The data vaults make sure that the sensitive data stored by Coinbase does not fall prey to hackers. Furthermore, the rigorous 2-step identify verification makes sure that unidentified personnel does no indulge in trading on the platform. The same security checks mentioned above are present in the basic version of Coinbase as well.
Conclusion on Coinbase Pro’s review
Coinbase Pro continues to deliver the intuitive and easy-to-follow interface that the company is known for. Most of the service is quite similar to GDAX minus a few minor design changes. The fees options provided with Coinbase Pro are quite lucrative as well.
In fact, the Pro service can prove to be a great way to get rid of standard Coinbase fees. Zero fees for market makers is yet another plus point for Coinbase Pro. The same credibility that the brand is known for is present in the Pro service as well. In a nutshell, Coinbase Pro is a great tool for advanced traders.
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