The easiest US on-ramp for beginners, publicly listed, and legally in the clear since the SEC dropped its case.
The NYDFS-chartered trust company the Winklevoss twins founded, serving all 50 states including New York, listed on Nasdaq since 2025.
Coinbase rates higher on our rubric: 4.5 against 4.4 for Gemini.
Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.
| Fact | Coinbase | Gemini |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial rating | 4.5 (favoured on this row) | 4.4 |
| Published fees | Maker-taker on Advanced Trade | 0.5% + flat fee on easy buys |
| Maker fee | Advanced Trade maker fees fall with 30-day volume and sit well below simple-buy pricing | Volume-tiered on ActiveTrader, falling with 30-day volume |
| Taker fee | Advanced Trade taker fees fall with 30-day volume and sit well below simple-buy pricing | Volume-tiered on ActiveTrader, falling with 30-day volume |
| Identity verification | Required | Required |
| Bitcoin-only | No | No |
| Payment rails supported | 13 | 6 |
| Countries ranked in | 62 | 1 |
| Ranks first in | 7 | 0 |
| Countries shared | 1 | 1 |
| Security record | 10 dated events, 3 incidents, latest 2026-05-07 | 10 dated events, 2 incidents, latest 2026-04-21 |
| Founded | 2012 | 2014 |
| Headquarters | United States (remote-first) | New York, United States |
| Last reviewed | 2026-08-12 | 2026-08-23 |
Each country guide ranks its own roster on published fees, security record and local payment support, so the two can sit in a different order from one country to the next.
| Country | Status | Coinbase ranks | Gemini ranks | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Legal | #1 | #3 |
Dated events from each review, newest first: breaches, enforcement actions, licences, audits and proof-of-reserves publications. Every exchange ranked here carries one.
An AWS cooling failure halted Coinbase trading for eight hours
Central Bank of Ireland fines Coinbase Europe 21.5 million euro
Coinbase authorised under MiCA by Luxembourg's CSSF
New York AG sues Gemini over unlicensed prediction markets
Gemini closes its UK, EU and Australia businesses
SEC drops its Gemini Earn lawsuit
Coinbase rates higher on our rubric: 4.5 against 4.4 for Gemini. The rating weighs published fees, security record and local payment support; the table above sets each beside the other so you can check the score against the facts.
Coinbase: Maker-taker on Advanced Trade. Gemini: 0.5% + flat fee on easy buys. Those are each platform's published headline rates; card purchases and instant-buy widgets cost more than the order book on both, and each review carries the full schedule.
Both are ranked in our guides for United States. Coinbase is ranked in 62 countries in all and Gemini in 1; each country guide ranks its own roster, so the two can sit in a different order from one country to the next.
Coinbase carries 3 incidents among 10 dated events, the latest on 2026-05-07: An AWS cooling failure halted Coinbase trading for eight hours. Gemini carries 2 incidents among 10 dated events, the latest on 2022-12-16: Third party vendor breach exposed 5.3 million customer email addresses. Both reviews list every event with its source.
Coinbase: required; identity verification is required before buying or depositing.. Gemini: required; identity verification is required to deposit fiat and trade..
The full reviews: Coinbase and Gemini, each with its sources, and every exchange we review.
Every other head-to-head Coinbase or Gemini appears in.
United States