Uphold Vs Coinbase

About Uphold

Uphold is an online cryptocurrency exchange service that facilitates exchanging national currencies and cryptos. The service supports 38 cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, and three national currencies, making the exchange easy through an integrated digital wallet system.

This service is supported in the U.K, U.S, and Spain, but Uphold also has a U.S-only service. Within this separate platform, users have access to 27 national currencies, 72 cryptocurrencies and utility tokens, 50 U.S. Stocks, and 4 Commodities.

About Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the most well-known and popular cryptocurrency exchange markets, supporting the buying and selling of thousands of different coins. The site has long since specialized in crypto and does not offer alternative services such as stock or commodity trading, resulting in a simplistic and specialized design that many people claim makes it the most accessible crypto market available. The service currently has over 73 million verified users from over 100 countries.

Uphold vs Coinbase: Fees

The process of cryptocurrency trading allows users to make money from their trades, and for this reason, exchange markets such as Uphold and Coinbase charge different types of fees.

For example, Coinbase charges fees when you buy or sell cryptocurrencies. They are not fixed and depend greatly on the specific crypto you are purchasing, the quantity, and the state of the market.

Fortunately, Coinbase shows you all the fees before any transaction. Uphold does not charge such fees but instead charges fixed spread fees depending on the crypto you are trading.

In terms of deposit and withdrawal fees, Uphold comes up on top as they charge 0% at all times. However, there may be a network fee when withdrawing crypto to an external wallet. Coinbase, on the other hand, charges fees for any deposits that are not made with a Coinbase card, in addition to network fees.

Uphold vs Coinbase: Available Coins

Coinbase currently supports around 9,000 different cryptocurrency coins. On the other hand, Uphold only supports 38 cryptocurrencies. However, Uphold the U.S. adds an additional 34 coins to its portfolio, reaching a total of 72, in addition to supporting various stocks and commodities.

Crypto Wallet

Both Uphold and Coinbase provide excellent wallet services for storing, receiving, and sending cryptocurrencies. Both wallets are fast and secure, but Coinbase generally has a faster service due to the larger scale of the website and better digital infrastructure.

Security

Both Uphold and Coinbase have excellent reputations for being safe and secure platforms when it comes to investing. Both platforms have licenses to facilitate trading, with Coinbase licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Uphold licensed by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions. Furthermore, both services are audited, with Coinbase using Deloitte for auditing and accounting, while Uphold uses FinCEN.

Ease of Use

Both Coinbase and Uphold present their platforms with clean and concise user interfaces that make them easy to use for beginners. Setting up an account is simple, but getting to grips with crypto transactions may have a tough learning curve, although both sites provide support for this. However, Coinbase is generally considered to be more accessible to beginners as it focuses purely on cryptocurrencies, whereas Uphold U.S deals with stocks and commodities too.

Other Features

In addition to standard cryptocurrency transactions, both Uphold and Coinbase provide other crypto-related services.

Firstly, both platforms facilitate staking, meaning that users can actively stake cash into a cryptocurrency to validate transactions. This works within PoS (Proof Of Stake) blockchains instead of the traditional PoW (Proof of Work) blockchain found in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Next, both platforms provide loan services, where users can borrow money and use cryptocurrency assets such as Bitcoin as collateral. Coinbase facilitates the borrowing of up to $1 million, charging 8% APR and requiring no credit check. On the other hand, Uphold has partnered with SALT to provide crypto-backed loans, allowing users to use Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin, and other cryptos as collateral for up to 12 months. These also do not require credit checks, but the APR depends on the loan details.

Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to purchase NFTs on either Uphold or Coinbase. However, Coinbase has officially confirmed that it will be providing an NFT platform in the near future. Uphold has not made such an announcement as of yet.

The final feature worth mentioning is pro plans, something that Uphold does not currently have. However, Coinbase has a ‘Coinbase Pro’ membership tier, which provides a complex and detailed user interface for advanced crypto investors. This includes access to highly detailed charts and analytics, improving the amount of information one has to base their investments on.

Conclusion

Overall, both Uphold and Coinbase present themselves as excellent platforms for investing in digital assets. Which one you will prefer all depends on what you want to do - if you are a long-term cryptocurrency enthusiast, then Coinbase and its Pro tier will probably be more suitable.

However, if you are a beginner looking to diversify your portfolio, the commodities and stocks provided by Uphold may be a better option for you.

If you’re interested in either of these platforms and would like to get some more details, don’t forget to check out our Coinbase and Uphold review pages.

If neither platform is for you, go to our crypto exchange comparison tool. By answering a few questions, our tool will show you the best crypto exchange for you.

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