cryptopotato.com
TL;DR
- Coinbase’s new holiday program called “The 12 Days of Coinbase” brought interesting new features, including crypto-to-crypto trading.
- While the exchange made it seem like the trading is fee-free, this might not be the case according to their Fees section.
- The actual fee is only 1%, and it is cheaper than making two separate transactions, but it is also several times larger than the fee for ETH/BTC trading pair on Coinbase Pro (GDAX).
One of the most significant events in the crypto space right now is Coinbase’s introduction of a new crypto-to-crypto trading program, which allows users to convert one cryptocurrency to another within Coinbase’s exchange. The new feature came as part of the exchange’s “12 Days of Coinbase” program, which coincidentally came just before the holiday season of 2018.
It is currently day 8 of the program, and Coinbase has allowed conversions between Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 0x (ZRX).
As part of their announcement, Coinbase also stated that conversions are instant and that they can be performed at a much lower cost than if done in two separate transactions. While this is all true, there is a catch to the process, something that Coinbase seemingly forgot to mention.
What’s the catch?
Coinbase also posted a video as part of their blog post, demonstrating how transactions can be performed. In the video, transactions appear to have no fees attached to them, which is a praiseworthy move. However, it is not entirely true.
Deep within Coinbase’s Fees section, there is a mention of a hidden fee in the 1% spread that users charge. While this is a very small fee, and it is even cheaper than the fee for selling Bitcoin (1.5%) or the fee attached to buying Ethereum (also 1.5%) via Coinbase’s broker service, it is still there, and it still counts.
It should also be noted that the fee is as much as four times more expensive as a market order for the ETH/BTC trading pair on GDAX or Coinbase Pro.
The community reaction
The hidden fee is hardly talked about at this moment, which is an indicator that not many within Coinbase’s customers are aware of it. However, it also appears that the exchange’s efforts to make trading more interesting for its users may have had less effect on some of them.
Some Coinbase customers took the changes as no big deal, stating that every other exchange out there already provides similar features as part of their everyday operations. Some have even gone as far as to criticize Coinbase for acting like they are giving groundbreaking features.
Another burning question is whether or not the second largest coin by market cap, XRP, will end up being listed on the exchange. While Coinbase has always been rather picky when it comes to listing coins, they did promise additional assets shortly, with XRP being one of the potential candidates for the listing.
For now, there are no signs that XRP will be adopted, as Coinbase tends to avoid controversial coins, especially when they are involved in multiple lawsuits. However, considering that many other exchanges already added XRP without any negative consequences, it is entirely possible that Coinbase might decide to make such a move.