Bitcoin Forum

Hi I'm sort of new to the whole Bitcoin world and I was just wondering if I could get opinions on these two platforms: Coinbase and Paxful? After asking a bunch of my friends, these are the two I'd hear the most. So I figured I'd search the web for the pros and cons of both? Any suggestions?

On paxful, you're trading with other individuals and not the company itself so there is always a possibility of being scammed even with an escrow system. Don't take trust ratings too seriously.

While on Coinbase, you're dealing with the company and usually, nothing would go wrong. It's also worth mentioning that Coinbase is older and more reputable then Paxful.

So, If whatever payment method you're planning to use is available on both sites, I'd suggest going with Coinbase.

If Coinbase was open to me then I wouldn't give Paxful a second glance. Coinbase may be evil but they get the job done in a timely manner. The less you have to do with other crypto users out in the wild the better as far as I'm concerned.

With Coinbase you're buying and selling directly with them. There are no potential scams or problems that dealing with other users brings.

P2P is great for privacy reasons. after the IRS/coinbase case, i'm sure anyone being less than honest on their taxes in past years was happy to have used localbitcoins instead of coinbase. they definitely have a target on their back regarding tax compliance, given how big they are.


the big trouble with P2P platforms is you can't really trust the reputation systems; they can be gamed for relatively low cost. i've only ever used them for setting up in-person cash deals. i'm too wary of chargebacks with other payment methods.

Thank you! Will take all of these notes into consideration!

Coinbase and paxful are completely different things.

Coinbase is an exchange that will facilitate your transactions with the spread in their favor, and paxful is just a platform that facilitates transactions between people who use paxful as a escrow.

I would recommend coinbase for a quick purchase of coins if you are able to follow through with their KYC procedure. If you have payment methods such as AGCs then you might want to look at paxful, but generally the rates you get are terrible and their withdrawal fee is quite high as well.

This is what I summarized:

Pros of paxful: Convenient, no identification for buying bitcoin from most offers, variety of payment methods, low chance of getting scammed
Cons of paxful: High rates for buying, high risk of chargeback when selling.

Pros of coinbase: Better per dollar rate than Paxful, no risk of chargebacks
Cons of coinbase: Needs identification, some countries are restricted

It honestly depends on what you want. If you have gift cards and want BTC, then use Paxful. If you've got paypal, use coinbase.

I prefer Coinbase. in Paxful high fee, once I calculate it is more then 20% as compare to market price.

It depends on what you want but I definitely prefer Paxful! It has great customer service, although I've rarely gotten scammed.