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*Note: In response to the FTX crisis, Gemini's lending partner, Genesis Global Trading, recently announced it is suspending redemptions and new loan originations. As a result, Gemini had previously paused withdrawals on its Gemini Earn account, and the program has now been terminated.
**Coinbase is currently facing charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which claims Coinbase broke securities rules. Coinbase denies these allegations and has filed a motion to dismiss the charges.
Gemini vs. Coinbase: The Biggest Differences
Coinbase earns up to 6% APY on cryptocurrencies. The Gemini Earn program, on the other hand, has been terminated.
Is Gemini Right for You?
Who Gemini is Best For
Gemini is best for individuals and institutions looking to trade and store a decent selection of cryptocurrencies for no account minimum. The easy-to-navigate platform is great for beginners who can benefit from Gemini's various educational resources, staking rewards, and investing tools.
Ways to Invest With Gemini
Gemini offers staking rewards, credit card rewards, online crypto trade, and programs such as:
- Gemini Active Trader: Is specifically designed for advanced traders looking to utilize things like multiple order types, faster trade execution, advanced charting tools, and trading pair selectors.
- Gemini Staking: Lets you earn up to 3.5% APR on your crypto without any minimums or fees.
- Gemini Dollar (GUSD): A US dollar-backed stablecoin that is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token.
- Gemini Custody: An institutional-grade crypto-regulated cold storage to securely hold digital assets. It offers tailored pricing for institutional investors and benefits for private wealth managemnt.
- Gemini Clearing: Gemini acts as a third party so that two parties can settle a trade off the books.
- Gemini Wallet: An insured hot wallet or institutional-grade cold storage system to securely store assets. It provides industry-leading security, protection, and insurance coverage.
- Gemini Mobile: The mobile app provides users access to trading and wallet storage on the go, as well as crypto tools. Mobile tools include market trends and crypto portfolio building.
The Gemini Credit Card earns up to 3% in crypto rewards (earn rewards as bitcoin, ether, and 40+ other cryptocurrencies). With the exchange's credit card, and you can use the Gemini Dollar (GUSD) stablecoin for decentralized exchanges and more.
Institutional clients will prefer its custody services. These offer several competitive features, including no minimums or setup fees, $200 million in insurance coverage, account representatives and 24/7 customer support, instant liquidity on trades, and multi-layered security.
Gemini now also offers an NFT marketplace called Nifty Gateway, which is designed for all kinds of investors. Nifty Gateway offers multiple payment options, no gas fees, and access to Gemini's Collector Advisory and Collector Support teams.
The exchange's fee schedule is fairly complex. It currently offers five different types. These include mobile fees, web fees, Gemini Active Trader fees, custody fees, and transfer fees. See more on its fee schedules here.
As with many crypto exchanges, there are also two ways to fund your account: fiat money or existing cryptocurrencies. Plus, you can only purchase up to $1,000 per day with debit cards. And when it comes to withdrawals, you must take out a minimum of $50.
Can You Trust Gemini?
Gemini currently has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau due to a failure to respond to multiple complaints, failure to resolve underlying causes for complaints, and the length of time the business takes to respond to a complaint.
The BBB also notes that most complaints filed against Gemini after January 2021 were due to customers being unable to access bitcoin in their Gemini account. Many users also believe that Gemini's verification process for withdrawals and transfers slows transactions.
In November 2022, Genesis stopped Gemini Earn investors from withdrawing crypto from their accounts due to Genesis' lack of sufficient liquid assets to meet withdrawal requests. The Gemini Earn program was then terminated.
In February 2022, a Gemini crypto hack led to the loss of roughly $37 million in assets of clients with crypto IRAs held through IRA Financial Trust. IRA Financial Trust sued Gemini, and both Gemini and IRA Financial Trusts became the targets of client lawsuits.
On January 12, 2023, the SEC charged a complaint against Genesis and Gemini, claiming unregistered offer and sale of securities to retail investors through the Earn program. As of September 2023, Gemini is pushing for a federal judge to dismiss SEC's claims for insufficient evidence. The charges are still pending.
Is Coinbase Right for You?
Who Coinbase is Best For
Coinbase is best for active individual investors and institutions looking to benefit from account flexibility. Both experienced and beginner investors can benefit from Coinbase's platform. It's also great for businesses interested in crypto trading. It's not ideal for folks looking for generous staking rewards.
Ways to Invest With Coinbase
If you're a retail trader, you'll be able to buy or sell through both its web, mobile, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Advanced Trade platforms. The Coinbase Pro account differs from the standard account in that it caters to more advanced traders. It also offers separate mobile platforms and allows for additional order types (e.g., limit and stop orders), trading APIs, charting tools, and more.
Its Advanced Trade account option was launched recently, and it gives you more trading perks than Coinbase Pro. It has its own platform, but it charges the same fees as Coinbase Pro. You'll therefore incur a 0.60% taker fee or a 0.40% maker fee if you fall within the $0 to $10,000 price tier range.
As for its benefits, it lets you earn up to 6% in interest rewards on Algorand (ALGO), Ethereum (ETH2), US dollar coin (USDC), dai (DAI), cosmos (ATOM), and tezos (XTZ). Plus, you'll get access to the same market trading pairs on Coinbase Pro, and you can take advantage of market order, limit order, and stop-limit orders. This account option also offers more security features and charting tools than Coinbase Pro.
Some of the other products individuals can take advantage of include Coinbase One (this subscription gives you access to $1 million account protection, zero trading fees, 24/7 priority support, and analytics and market research), NFT trading, learning rewards, staking, bitcoin-backed loans, futures trading, and more.
Coinbase also offers a separate collection of services for institutions. These include Coinbase Institutional, its Coinbase Prime trading exchange, ventures services, commerce services, compliance services, and more. In addition, it supports developers looking to build Web3 apps, as well as those looking to add crypto payment options to their platform (you can see a full list of its offerings for individuals, institutions, and developers here).
Can You Trust Coinbase?
Coinbase has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau due to the business' failure to respond to over 2,000 complaints. There are also multiple lawsuits currently filed against Coinbase.
Coinbase agreed to a settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services in 2022 after the New York DFS claimed Coinbase didn't want to comply with the NY banking law and DFS regulations. Coinbase paid a $50 million penalty.
In 2023, the SEC started investigating Coinbase after against Coinbase on June 6, 2023. The lawsuit claims that Coinbase offered crypto trading on its unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency — and that Coinbase allowed sales on its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. Coinbase's CEO denies these allegations and is attempting to dismiss the charges.
Gemini vs. Coinbase — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Gemini better than Coinbase?
Gemini and Coinbase are both good crypto exchange options for active investors. Gemini may be the better choice for beginners looking to use Gemini's educational resources, wallet storage, and beginner-friendly NFT platform. However, Coinbase has a significantly larger crypto selection and more account flexibility.
Is Gemini crypto in trouble?
Gemini crypto fell into trouble after FTX went bankrupt. Gemini is currently in the process of recovering and distributing $900 million in customer funds from Genesis Trading.
How do you withdraw your money from Coinbase?
Make withdrawals by either using Coinbase's web platform or mobile apps. You can cash out funds through the web platform by selecting your account balance under "Assets." You'll then select the amount you'd like to withdraw by navigating to the "Cash Out" tab. After you've chosen a transfer destination, you'll need to hit "Cash out now" to complete the transaction.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Gemini and Coinbase
We compared
Crypto exchanges are investing platforms that generally offer multiple coins and tokens, staking rewards, trading tools, and other educational resources. Some investing platforms are better for more advanced investors or active investors, while others may better suit beginner investors and passive investors. Gemini and Coinbase were evaluated with a focus on how they performed in each category.