Coinbase is one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges on the market if you’re looking for a trustworthy platform that has a strong reputation for security and a wide selection of cryptocurrencies available for trading.
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Although it has a lot going for it, it’s no secret that Coinbase is one of the most expensive exchanges in the industry when it comes to the subject of trading fees. The good news is that you can save a substantial amount on Coinbase fees if you avoid the exchange’s most expensive features and use its more cost-effective alternatives.
In this article, we will show you how you can avoid Coinbase fees and pay less while still enjoying the main benefits offered by this leading exchange.
Here's how to save on Coinbase fees:
The easiest way to reduce fees on Coinbase is to use the exchange's Advanced Trade feature instead of its primary crypto buying and selling feature.
When it comes to fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, the best way to save on fees is to avoid using wire transfers.
Accounts that generate higher trading volume on Coinbase benefit from lower fees.
If you are a power user that trades crypto very frequently, you can save on fees by purchasing a Coinbase one subscription.
How to minimize fees on Coinbase
Let’s take a look at the exact steps you can take if you’re looking to reduce the fees you pay while using Coinbase.
Use Advanced Trade instead of the default buying and selling feature
When you log in to the Coinbase website or app, you will immediately be presented with an option to buy, sell or convert cryptocurrency. While this feature is very convenient, it’s quite expensive in terms of trading fees.
Instead, we recommend that you switch over to the Advanced Trade mode. You can do this by clicking on your profile image and selecting “Advanced”.
This feature, which was previously known as Coinbase Pro, offers a classic cryptocurrency exchange interface which will immediately feel familiar if you’ve ever used other crypto exchanges, such as Binance.
Find the trading pair that you want to use (for example BTC/USD if you want to buy Bitcoin with dollars) and submit either a market or limit order to complete your purchase.
Of course, this tip doesn’t just apply to buying cryptocurrency – if you want to avoid Coinbase fees when selling, using a spot market on Advanced Trade will allow you to save a nice chunk of change compared to using Coinbase’s primary crypto buying and selling feature.
Trading fees on Advanced Trade start at 0.60% for taker orders, and 0.40% for maker orders, although you can lower them if your account reaches certain trading volume thresholds.
To be frank, the fees on Coinbase’s Advanced Trade mode are higher than what you’ll find on most other leading crypto exchanges, but they are still much lower than if you used Coinbase’s default crypto buying and selling feature to complete an equivalent transaction. If you think that fees on Coinbase are too high even on the exchange’s Advanced Trade feature, we recommend you take a look at our list of the best Coinbase alternatives.
Use ACH, SEPA or Swift instead of wire transfers for fiat deposits and withdrawals
When it comes to fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, try to avoid using wire transfers if your goal is to reduce fees. Coinbase charges a $10 fee for wire transfer deposits, and a $25 fee for wire transfer withdrawals.
Thankfully, there are other payment methods you can use to significantly reduce the costs of depositing money to Coinbase or withdrawing money from it:
If you are in the United States, we recommend you use ACH (no fees for both deposits and withdrawals)
If you are in the European Union, we recommend you use SEPA (€0.15 fee on deposits, no fee on withdrawals)
If you are in the United Kingdom, we recommend you use Swift (no fee on deposits, £1 fee on withdrawals)
Generate more trading volume
If you’re wondering how to get lower fees on Coinbase, one way of doing so is to generate more trading volume so you get a more favorable fee tier.
Like most other cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase has a tiered fee structure in which traders who generate larger amounts of volume benefit from lower trading fees. The exchange calculates how much volume you have generated over the trailing 30-day period, which determines the fee tier that applies to your account.
Here is the Coinbase fee structure as of August 2024:
Trading volume Taker fee Maker fee $0 - $10,000 0.60% 0.40% $10,000 - $50,000 0.40% 0.25% $50,000 - $100,000 0.25% 0.15% $100,000 - $1 million 0.20% 0.10% $1 million - $15 million 0.18% 0.08% $15 million - $75 million 0.16% 0.06% $75 million - $250 million 0.12% 0.03% $250 million - $400 million 0.08% 0% $400 million+ 0.05% 0%
If you are a power user, consider subscribing to Coinbase One
If you are a very active cryptocurrency trader, you might benefit from subscribing to Coinbase One, a $29.99 per month membership that offers several perks for Coinbase users.
With a Coinbase One membership, you’ll pay zero trading fees on many assets listed on Coinbase. In addition, members benefit from increased staking rewards on their cryptocurrency holdings, priority access to customer support, and receive a 90-day trial of crypto research platform Messari Pro. The exchange also gradually offers additional perks to Coinbase One members.
If you’re mostly a passive cryptocurrency investor, the Coinbase One subscription likely isn’t worth $29.99 per month. However, if you trade cryptocurrency on a regular basis, it could very well be a good purchase (the lack of trading fees and better staking rewards might cover the cost of the subscription by themselves).
The bottom line
Hopefully, our article has provided you with some helpful tips if you’re wondering how to reduce Coinbase fees.
Even if you implement this advice, it’s still likely that you will be paying more in fees on Coinbase when compared to some of the more competitive options in the crypto industry (for example Binance on Kraken).
Despite this, it’s important to understand that fees should not be the only consideration when choosing a cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase is an excellent choice in terms of security, robust support for fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, user experience and selection of cryptocurrencies.
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If you want to explore cryptocurrency exchanges that have very low trading fees, we recommend that you check out our shortlist of the best crypto exchanges for day trading. Meanwhile, if you want to reduce costs when sending and receiving cryptocurrencies, we provide a list of the cheapest cryptos to transfer.
