A while back, a friend of mine was informing me about how he had been making good money using with Coinbase. At the time, I was only using PayPal and only had Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash currencies. At this time, it really wouldn’t have mattered where I had put my money in cryptocurrency. Everyone was making money. This was January 2021.
By the end of February, things were beginning to settle down a bit. Of course, the wild swings continue, but there is more stability overall, with many currencies well below their all-time highs. For this reason, many people see this as a good time to buy. This is when I decided to put some money in Coinbase. I started with a modest amount and spread it out among 5 currencies. I chose to put 50% in Bitcoin and spread the other 50% 4 ways in Uniswap, Chainlink, Algorand, and Synthetix. I wanted to diversify my crypto portfolio. Two weeks later, I added a 6th currency—Decentraland. I am so glad I did. It has increased about 30% in a very short time. The others are remaining fairly steady, although I have made at least a slim profit on each of them.
PayPal
The greatest pro for PayPal quite frankly is found in its simplicity. If you already have a PayPal account, simply click on the crypto tab and you will find four options: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. You can start with just a $1 purchase. You can let the PayPal wallet hold your goods as long as you wish. The fees will be charged when you sell your currencies. I have done this only once so far. As of the time of this article publication, there is a 1.5% fee on this transaction if you sell $1000.01 or more. The fees are higher in proportion to lower transactions, up to 2.3 %. Anything less than $25.00 will incur a $.50 flat fee. I can say from experience that withdrawing money from the PayPal crypto wallet is very easy and fast.
On the downside, PayPal has its issues. With only four currencies, it is not the experienced trader's best option. You cannot transfer your coins to other wallets. PayPal does not provide a security key for your currency. They have security measures in place, of which I am comfortable. Despite these negatives, crypto enthusiasts should see PayPal's involvement as a positive because it adds even more legitimacy to the world of cryptocurrency.
Coinbase
The biggest benefit of Coinbase is found in its options. As of now, there are more than 40 digital assets available. Their site is equipped with historical charts and information for those who like to do more research. However, like PayPal, Coinbase is a good option for novice traders.
The Coinbase wallet has security features that make sure each account holder has sole access to their private keys. It accepts both credit cards and bank transfers for purchases. Another benefit of Coinbase is the rewards system that is built in to some currencies. For example, you can earn up to 6% on Algorand in interest for just keeping your tokens in Coinbase. There are other currencies that offer rewards.
Really, for the newer trader both are good options that stand by their security measures. If you want to stick with the big guns and do not have time for research, PayPal is a solid option. I can also vouch for the ease of withdrawing your money. Both sites will have their fees. However, with Coinbase’s variety of options, I like it better. There is also the option for Coinbase Pro, of which I will write about soon.
As with all cryptocurrency or stock trading, buy, sell, and trade at your own risk. There are no guarantees. These are my opinions.
