If you’re into crypto, you’ve probably heard of Coinbase.com.
Or do these two services differ?
What’s the difference between Coinbase.com and Coinbase Wallet?
What Is Coinbase.com?
Coinbase.com is an American centralized cryptocurrency exchange launched in October 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam.
Coinbase initially only dealt with Bitcoin, but much has changed since its early days.
Fiat currencies, such as the US dollar, can also be used on Coinbase.
Many major crypto exchanges, like Binance and Kraken, are centralized, though decentralized exchanges are also popular.
Coinbase offers another useful feature known as Coinbase Learn.
This allows you to learn about cryptocurrency, Coinbase’s services, NFTs, and more.
you could even earn rewards using Coinbase Learn by reading about and answering questions about certain topics.
For example, Coinbase offers NEAR tokens in return for learning about NEAR Protocol.
Coinbase can hold your funds in a custodial form, with the platform being the custodian.
This means that Coinbase is held responsible for the funds you hold in your exchange account.
But this means that you’reputting your trust in the custodianto responsibly and safely store your sensitive information.
If the platform fails to do this, your crypto assets could become vulnerable to malicious actors.
This puts you in the driving seat and gives you total custody of your assets.
This is why Coinbase Wallet could be useful for you.
So, what is it?
What Is Coinbase Wallet?
Coinbase Wallet is a freenon-custodial walletthat you might use to store your private keys.
However, because Coinbase Wallet is non-custodial, you are ultimately responsible for the safe storage of your assets.
We’ll discuss this further a little later.
Coinbase Wallet is entirely virtual, as it is a software wallet.
This means you’ll be able to access your Coinbase Wallet account via your desktop or mobile app.
The smartphone app is available for Android and iOS devices.
you could even store NFTs using Coinbase Wallet.Both ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokensare supported.
But is Coinbase Wallet really safe?
When you sign up for Coinbase Wallet, you’ll need to set up a four-digit security PIN.
This must then be used for all future logins.
So you don’t need to worry too much about navigating the platform when you get started.
Namely, the fact that it is a software wallet exposes it to certain attacks.
With a hardware cryptocurrency wallet, your private keys are kept in cold storage on an offline unit.
These devices can sometimes offer Bluetooth connectivity but never connect to the internet.
Software wallets, on the other hand, require an internet connection.
This makes them more vulnerable to remote attacks that rely on an online connection to be carried out.
Do You Need Coinbase.com to Use Coinbase Wallet?
But thankfully, this isn’t the case.
You do not need to be signed up for the Coinbase exchange to use Coinbase Wallet.
While both services are products of the same company, they are not reliant on each other for use.
But is it a good idea to use Coinbase.com if you use Coinbase Wallet?
Does it make the entire experience more streamlined?
Either platform can aid you in your crypto journey, regardless of whether you use them together.
