Coinbase Wallet is a free non-custodial multi-chain wallet offered by Coinbase. It’s easy to use and supports every token offered on Coinbase and all ERC-20 tokens (tokens native to Ethereum). That includes most major chains anyone would want to access, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and XRP. It is available as either a mobile app or a Chrome extension. There are definite advantages to using Coinbase Wallet, though some aspects might drive users to other options. Overall though, it’s a solid wallet for self custody of your own crypto!
Coinbase vs. Coinbase Wallet
It’s important to distinguish here that Coinbase Wallet is not the Coinbase Exchange or even necessarily linked to a Coinbase Account. Since the wallet is non-custodial, Coinbase has no control over the funds in the wallet and couldn’t even recover them if they wanted to. It is up to the user to keep the funds safe by securely storing the seed phrase used to access it, generated when creating the wallet.
Features
One great thing about Coinbase Wallet is that it makes storing that key easy; if a user does not wish to make a hardware copy or store the phrase on their machine, they may securely store it on Google Drive or iCloud through the wallet. The key is stored as a hidden file to prevent potential hackers from accessing it. You wouldn’t see it just by opening your cloud account; You would have to know it’s there to access it.
There are other great features, such as its ease of integration with DeFi through its dApp browser. Here, a user can open popular dApps such as UniSwap, Compound, or PoolTogether. That means they can swap coins or stake for yield earnings right from inside the app without any pain. Another plus is that swaps between Coinbase Wallet accounts as well as to the Coinbase exchanges have no miner fees. So if you don’t want to keep all your funds in one place, as is good practice, you won’t eat any price for moving them around. And that ease of access to the Coinbase exchanges provides a more convenient fiat off-ramp.
One potential disadvantage is that though the wallet supports many coins, it does not have the widest variety of any wallet. The most noticeable absence is the BNB coin and BEP-20 tokens. Coinbase is a direct competitor to Binance, so it has not quickly adopted its coins into its systems. Users of Binance SmartChain, or other unsupported blockchains, would be better off looking elsewhere for self custody. Still, there, is more variety than many other wallets, especially those constrained to one chain.
In Summery
For most, Coinbase Wallet is a solid option. If you’re interested in checking it out, be sure to go to the official Coinbase website to download it on Google Play, the App Store, or as a Chrome extension. Be aware when searching directly for it, as many fake phishing sites are posing as the real thing in hopes of stealing some coin. The wallet is an excellent option for self custody, and most users will not be disappointed.
