Blockchain is the most revolutionary aspect of the modern world. It has also affected the investing strategies by the introduction of cryptocurrencies. Various platforms allow users to invest in different cryptocurrencies with assurance and security. The two most common platforms for the exchange of cryptocurrency are Coinbase and WazirX.
Coinbase vs WazirX
The main difference between Coinbase and WazirX is that Coinbase is an international cryptocurrency exchange platform. On the other hand, WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase was founded in the year 2012 while WazirX was founded in the year 2018.
The mode of operation of Coinbase is remote-first. So the platform does not have any headquarters. The peak trading times of Coinbase are smooth and the users do not face any server issues or payment troubles. The fees charged by Coinbase are comparatively high.
While, the headquarters of WazirX is in Mumbai. The peak trading times of WazirX can be troublesome and many users have criticized about server issues on the payment problems faced during trading. The fees charged by WazirX are quite low and are considered beginner-friendly.
Comparison table between Coinbase and WazirX
| Parameters of Comparison | Coinbase | WazirX |
| Minimum trade | The minimum trade in the platform is 0.0001 XBT | The minimum trade in the platform is $14.50 |
| Additional features or bonus | The platform provides £5 or $5 in the BTC with the application of all the terms and conditions | None |
| P2P Trading | The platform does not support P2P trading | The platform supports P2P trading |
| Spot training | The platform supports spot training | The platform does not support spot training |
| Spread | The spread of the platform is in BTC 0.1% and ETH 0.1% | The spread is variable |
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is a public American company called Coinbase Global Inc. It is a platform for the exchange of cryptocurrency. The type of operation in the company is remote-first and hence there are no physical headquarters yet. The foundation of the company was in June in the year in 2012. The founder of Coinbase is Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong.
The trade name of Coinbase is Nasdaq: COIN. The company serves over 100 companies in the crypto exchange platform. The products which are offered under the platform are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and exchange of various other digital assets. The estimated revenue of the company as of 2020 was above 1.14 billion dollars.
Coinbase has over 1300 employees. The company went public on 14th April 2021 through a direct listing on the Nasdaq exchange. The naming of the company was after Coinbase transactions in cryptocurrency which serves as proof of work in the special transactions. The initial service provided by Coinbase was of buying and selling bitcoins through bank transfers.
The first investment in Coinbase was by Fred Wilson from Union Square ventures of about 5 million dollars. The first 1000,000 users of the company were hit in the year 2014. After which the company had acquired the web bookmarking company called “Kippt” and the blockchain explorer service is called “Blockr”. engineermpany offers products for retail traders as Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Wallet. For institutional traders, it has Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Custody.
What is WazirX?
WazirX is an Indian platform for cryptocurrency exchange. The acquisition of the company was by Binance in the year 2019. The platform was founded by Nishchal Shetty in the year 2018. The founder belongs from a computer science engineer background. There are over 7.3 million active users on the platform as per statistics of August 2021.
The platform WazirX had launched a token in February of 2020 which was known as WRX token and was based on the Ethereum chain and the Binance chain. Initially, WazirX did not have any NFT platform. However, it has now launched the NFT platform in March 2021. The Enforcement Directorate had sent a show-cause notice to WazirX in June 2021 as the company had a cryptocurrency transaction of 2790 crore rupees.
The company WazirX has a record of trading 38 billion dollars in a year. This record was set in November 2021. During the same month, the application had witnessed heavy user activity which lead to the crashing of the server numerous times. So the Indian government decided against introducing a new bill of cryptocurrency in the parliament which could lead to the banning of private crypto.
The headquarters of the cryptocurrency platform WazirX is in Mumbai. The platform supports the exchange of crypto in a diverse range of tokens. The availability for purchase can be done in USDT, INR, BTC, and other native tokens of WRX. The application is supported in various Operating Systems like iOS and Android. However, the platform does not provide Robo advisor, machine learning, or negative balance protection like other cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
Main Differences Between Coinbase and WazirX
- Coinbase was founded by Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong while WazirX was founded by Nishchal Shetty.
- Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange platform while WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange platform.
- Coinbase does not have any minimum deposit while WazirX has a minimum deposit of 100 rupees.
- The payment methods used in Coinbase are Western Union and Silvergate Bank Transfer while the payment methods used in WazirX are Wire Transfer.
- Coinbase has a CBol regulator while WazirX operates unregulated.
Conclusion
The world of cryptocurrency is dominated by various crypto exchange platforms which can convert everyday money into digital coins of blockchain effectively. The platforms help the investors to grow their wealth and diversify their portfolio of investments. These platforms can be considered as an entry point to the decentralized system.
There are various platforms available that allow not only cryptocurrency exchange but also author features like NFT, crypto borrowing, and various related exchanges. Coinbase and WazirX are the two most popular platforms which are used by users for transactions. Both the platforms provide different features and functionalities to the users. The users need to evaluate various points of distinction before making a final choice of decision with the platform.
References
- https://www.mdpi.com/1448972
- https://search.proquest.com/openview/04ba47ad569f56587f76dcc3f7e2128a/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=30282