Bitcoin Forum

I'm planning on moving all my bitcoin (which is not really that much) to my coinbase which seems easier to use than having to access my PC all the time I want to send or receive bitcoins.
I can access it via my Android Phone with the app or through the web.
With a good password and a 2step verification set, is it relatively safe? I'm more worried about Coinbase being slow with transactions or failing at some transactions than actually someone extern stealing the bitcoins.

The only safe way to store your coins is locally at a device that doesnt has an internet connection.

lol.  You just don't get it do you?  If you don't have the private key, you don't have any bitcoin.  You must have the private key, and not only that, you must be the only one who has it.  If you put 'your bitcoin' at coinbase, THEY have bitcoin and you have a promise from them to give it back one day.  Is that safe?  Not as safe as having exclusive control over a private key.  But coinbase is cool.  So it is relatively safe.  But always keep in mind, you don't have any bitcoin.  You just have a promise from some nice guys who intent to give you some bitcoin one day in the future.  Big difference.

Then the topic arises of compromising security for usability.
Because storing my bitcoins in my PC wallet is not really practical.
I even have set up a private remote access to my desktop so that I can access it securely over the internet and handle my bitcoins, but it is still way to impractical.
I'm going to the states for a week and I would really like to spend my bitcoins at a place that accepts them. I'm all in for spending and using bitcoin even if the price is low. It is healthy for the economy.

About they holding my money, well it is the same as a bank right? I don't distrust banks with good reputation. I would hate having to carry all my money instead of having a bank account.
If Coinbase is like a bitcoin bank then I think that's good. I know it has been going for a long time, but is it a legitimate business?
(mostly I want to know if they pay taxes of their bitcoin profits converted to their local currency and operate within the law)
That's the one thing that would lead me to not trust a bitcoin bank. As some people think that because they are profiting with bitcoin, they don't need to pay taxes on profits.

Yeah

I think coinbase is good choice. Its a really a nice site, with mobile verification. you can use it.
Secondly i may recommend you to use btc-e with more simple design, secure and every transaction need your permission.

Hi, have an account there (1yo) and still not had any issue, you can pay easily and recieve money, however paper wallet is the most comfortable for safety...and u got no fees...

what kind of fees? D:
are we talking mBTC fees or substantial fees?

OP, you should learn from the pass:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=252308.msg3675013#msg3675013

BIPS claimed to have "state of the art" security.
Nevertheless they lost all the coins, more than 1200 (exchange rate was $1100 at time of failure), even those coins which was supposed to be in super safe "cold storage".
They had 2FA, nice friendly user interface, located in Denmark, 24/7 hotline.
They where relative reputable at that time and people used them for the exact same reason as you want to use coinbase.

It is not a good idea.
You need to be in full control of your private keys, it is the only way.

Exploring Coinbase, they have a separate wallet service where they let you be the owner of your keys.
Its called a Vault in their service.
https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/1743782-what-is-the-multisig-vault-

is this better?

Multisig technology is super cool, much potential.

I don't know enough about coin base to be able to comment on their solution.
I just like to control my own keys, I sleep better that way :)

Just don't use it as your everyday wallet. They could suspend your account for sending bitcoins to basically anything that is considered illegal in the US. And if you're using the API for an application things are even more unclear.

Holliday is correct, coinbase can go belly up at any point. Their aren't any assurances that your bitcoin are safe in a third parties hand. Generate your private keys on an offline machine you destroy, back up the keys, and you just generated some peace of mind.

https://www.coinbase.com/docs/merchant_tools/pricing

maybe you should use a hardware-wallet for longterm storage:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=899253.0

Just use a smartphone-wallet like Mycelium:
https://mycelium.com/bitcoinwallet

Agreed, one of my favorite apps.
When I go travel I just make sure to transfer some funds to my Mycelium, then will I have insta access to spend bitcoins.
Never leave more than 1 BTC in my Mycelium though, I see it as an equivalent a normal wallet for cash. 
Normally you don't bring a bunch of dollars bills unless you know you will need em.

Exactly, if you don't know the private key you "don't own" the bitcoin. I suggest to the OP : use greenAddress.it ( it uses multiSign+2Fa) or electrum ( strong and fast, you don't have to download all the blockchain).

Coinbase also has very deep pockets to fix a broken situation such as coins getting hacked. When your coins get hacked from you personal wallet you have ZERO recourse. With Coinbase, you can sue their ass! But rather than it go there, they have the means to deal with it and keep you all in business. That is today's Coinbase, could this change as the supply of bitcoin becomes almost nonexistent,. absolutely. A hack of all the coins at coin base by someone on the inside could put them under, and you might only be able to collect dollars and perhaps never actually get the same quantity of BTC you had. Not for the same price.

When buy or lease a car, or take a mortgage on a home, you do not technically own it, but you get to USE it.

Likewise, bitcoin could almost be considered a public utility. Store of value, and money transmission. You do not technically OWN the Federal Reserve notes in your pocket. In some sense no one owns it, and everyone owns it… Granted the ones you have belong in your possession but the utilitarian nature of it is such that you can transfer those notes off to someone else and they will be accepted, so not necessarily owned by you or other person….. OWNing something is a play on words.

read my signature ;)

Fun fact: it's more secure to store your bitcoins in a website with 2fa rather than an unsecured computer. So if someone is not tech savvy enough to know how to secure a computer in order to put his bitcoin wallet in it a trusted and established third party exchange/website (or whatever) that uses 2fa would be just fine for them. Certainly not the best option but secure enough to not lose their bitcoins if their computer is hacked.

if you OWN your private key.  you OWN your btc

Of course. You can find it here: https://www.coinbase.com/multisig

But I think GreenAddress is still a better option, because of their transparence.


This defeats the purpose of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is supposed to give to the people the control of the eletronic money.

Also, exchange are hacked too, so storing the bitcoins on an exchange doesn't solve the problem. Currently the best answer to this concern is multi-signature.

I know, I was trying to point out that a secure website can be safer in specific cases. You can't deny that a website with HTTPS and 2fa (maybe multisig as well since we're talking about bitcoin) is more secure than a windows computer in the hands of someone that's not tech savvy.

Online wallet with 2 factor authorization is typically safer than an active wallet. The safest of course is an offline wallet. Now that we are done with wallet safety the more important thing is to make sure the company itself is reputable. You do not want a repeat of GOX where they close with your money. As for coinbase its probably one of the safest you can go with online. The company is very reputable, has been in business for quite some time, is in US and is as transparent as can be, and has 2FA. I keep the bulk of my money there only because I dont have to pay transaction fees to receiving dust from miners at times doesnt affect profits.

Problem with coinbase is that they're monitoring transactions. They have the right to suspend your account at any time if you send coins to any address that could be related to anything illegal within the US. That includes all unregistered gambling websites as well. Of course, they give you an option to withdraw your funds before shutting down your account. However, As said above: this defeats the purpose of Bitcoin. They're not a neutral service provider, and that's why I don't consider them a reliable wallet. Aside from the fact that you don't have access to your private addresses and it's not disclosed if deposited coins are used by the company or not. They also update their User Agreement silently applying important updates without any warning or notification.

Short version:

Coinbase as a way to buy and sell BTC: 1% fee(there's lower than that but ok), company seems trusted, overall considered safe

Coinbase as a wallet: Technically not a (full) wallet. Better go for https://greenaddress.it if all you want is an online wallet.

Transaction fess are necessary because:

1. At some point in the future, block rewards won't be profitable. Including a transaction fee since already is necessary to avoid surprises (like people saying: I never had to pay a transaction fee, why do I have to pay now? This is an abuse!!!).

2. Without transaction fees, it would impossible to use Bitcoin because of the spammers.

If Coinbase doesn't include transaction fees, it's their issue But it's not an advantage, also the miners can refuse to include this type of transaction in the blocks, or it gets a very low priority.

They do include transaction fees, coinbase just doesn't charge the user. They supposedly pay the costs from their part. That surely something they can cover since they have a 1% fee for all trades and they've never disclosed if they practice fractional reserve with user funds... Not to mention that their buy price is always different from the sell price.

They do this in any case or just in case of you're sending the bitcoins from a Coinbase wallet to another Coinbase wallet?

Yes, with bitcoin is different and in this case only if you "know" the private key of your address you are really owning your bitcoin. For example if coinbase close now, how do you get in possession of your bitcoin (without the private key)?

I always suggest greenAddress as webWallet ( it uses multiSign + 2FA , the best choice). Here the forum thread : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=521988.0  and remember the istant confirmation, if the other "person" is using also GA.

For all transactions sent using their wallet as far as I know.

All it would take is a one on one confrontation for someone to steal you coins at gunpoint. Having a 3rd party gives you a bit of recourse. The answer is some happy middle.

You must know what you are doing on a very technical level to understand the process of cold storage. I understand the merits of cold storage but that doesnt mean I know that I should trust it with my millions..

Coinbase isn't the best i agree, but it is much better than forgetting your private key, losing it, house burns down, bad head trauma….. Bitcoin needs insurance and I don't think there will ever be a product that can properly insure bitcoin so there is always risk, but this is true with gold, dollars, owning an expensive car without insurance..

Maybe yes , maybe not. Bitcoin is created for get back in possession of our money, I will not allow to a third part to hide "my private" key. I'd prefer to know/secure it in a better place.

If your purpose is to trade you can use a decentralized exchange like http://bitshares.org/ It doesn't have the counterparty risk any centralized exchange has.

It is relatively safe and if you have a small number of bitcoins (less than 10 times your monthly salary) it is fine)

It's very dangerous to store your bitcoin without able to take control your wallet
It's like you keep your money at strangers

You better move to another wallet