10 Things to Know About Coinbase Pro

Since its founding in 2012, Coinbase has become one of the world’s most trusted cryptocurrency exchanges. Billions in crypto changes hands every day through the site. 

Recently, Coinbase had its IPO.

According to CNBC, shares in Coinbase opened at $381, well above the $250 reference price.  It shot up to $429.54 on that first day, then closed at $328.28. That puts Coinbase at a valuation of $85.8 billion on a fully diluted basis. 

Coinbase is a monster in the crypto world. 

Investors and Coinbase users are concerned that its fee structure is not inviting to professional traders. At 0.50%, it can very quickly get very expensive for anyone who trades regularly or in high volumes. That’s why Coinbase created Coinbase Pro. 

As noted in this Coinbase vs Coinbase Pro guide, a few key differences exist between the platforms. Coinbase Pro offers more to investors than Coinbase’s regular site. 

Coinbase is ideal for beginners and occasional traders.  The reports are easy to read, the number of trading options is limited, and conducting a trade is a simple affair. 

With Coinbase Pro, Coinbase made changes that professional traders need to keep their trades profitable and moving quickly. For the high-volume trader, it’s the perfect option. 

Let’s look at why Coinbase Pro is ideal for traders who are conducting large volumes of trades.

1 – It’s more than just basic trades.  Where Coinbase has a few options like buy, sell, send, etc. Coinbase Pro has many more options.  According to Investopedia, Coinbase Pro lets you buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, trade, stop order, time in force order, and limit order.  This allows professional traders much more flexibility in their trades, opening a world of ways to execute trades over time or based on specific criteria.

2 – Coinbase Pro has a progressive fee schedule. The more you trade, the less you pay. 

Pricing Tier Taker Fee Maker Fee

<$10K 0.50% 0.50%

$10K – 50K 0.35% 0.35%

$50K – 100K 0.25% 0.15%

$100K – 1M 0.20% 0.10%

$1M – 20M 0.18% 0.08%

$20M – 100M 0.15% 0.05%

$100M – 500M 0.10% 0.02%

$500M – 1B 0.06% 0.00%

$1B – 2B 0.05% 0.00%

$2B + 0.04% 0.00%

Coinbase (Accessed June 9, 2021)

This is in contrast to Coinbase’s fees of 0.50% at every level. This kicks open the door to Coinbase for institutional investors and pros. For many large investors, this enormous difference in fees can mean a saving of tens of thousands of dollars each week. 

3 – Over 50 coins and 152 pairings are included in Coinbase Pro. Pro offers support to coins that Coinbase doesn’t, e.g., 1INCH, ENJ, GNT, LOOM, and NKN.  This allows experienced investors and professional traders to trade in more coins, opening the possibility of profits that aren’t available on the basic Coinbase structure. 

4 – Lower demand on the system.  With fewer Pro subscribers, there is less demand on the systems and the support team.  Coinbase Pro will have a team of customer service staff that will take care of Pro needs and concerns.  This will allow for a faster response and resolution. 

5- Easy transfer from Coinbase to Pro. Coinbase has set up the system so that it’s easy to upgrade to Pro.  This transfer also means “beginners” who are no longer beginners can start trading on the more professional-friendly platform at Coinbase Pro without having to pay withdrawal fees and waiting for money to be deposited.  The transfer happens instantly and traders can start with Pro immediately.

6- Separate digital wallets allow you to have two different accounts.  Keeping the wallets separate maintains a higher level of security. This also allows you to keep trades in the accounts separate.

7- Investopedia points out that retail brokers, like Coinbase Pro, have created APIs that traders can use to link directly to their screening software.  This allows professional and institutional investors to see prices and make trades in real time.  By speeding up the process and avoiding the main servers at Coinbase, high-volume traders will capture momentary changes in prices.

8- Coinbase Pro offers margin trading of up to three times the USD of a trader’s cash value in Coinbase’s value.  You can long or short Dogecoin, bitcoin, and any other coins.  By borrowing money from the platform, you can leverage your account and increase profits rapidly.  This service isn’t offered on Coinbase or even most other crypto trading platforms. 

9- With advanced charts, Coinbase Pro provides high-volume traders with the data they need to make trading decisions.  Where Coinbase was created to keep the trading process as simple as possible for the beginner, Coinbase Pro takes a deep dive into the data for every coin, every pair, and every possible trade. 

10- One of the greatest advantages of Coinbase Pro is the absence of size limit on trades. There are lower limits on trades: “The smallest order you can place for a buy or sell trade on Coinbase Pro is 0.001 BTC, 0.01 BCH, 0.01 ETH, or 0.1 LTC.  Your order will be automatically rejected if it does not meet this limit,” states the Coinbase Pro help page. As with other benefits listed here, this is ideal for large, high-volume investors. Coinbase has limits based on the traders region and payment method.

In reality, Coinbase Pro is exactly what its name says: a powerful trading platform for professional traders, even if those pros are part-time traders who still have day jobs.  It’s all about volume in trades, either in individual trades or over time. 

Since the fees change based on the amount of the trades, the more you trade, the more money you can save. 

Coinbase Pro is Coinbase’s answer to a growing client base that’s made up of savvy crypto investors.  These investors are looking for some way to keep trading on the platform they trust without having to pay as much and to get the benefits of a professional account. 

Coinbase Pro is a welcome addition to the crypto trading world.