How to Set Up Coinbase Exchange
Are you interested in investing in cryptocurrencies or possibly just learning about them? Learning how to set up Coinbase, one of the larger cryptocurrency exchanges, is a step toward buying your first digital currency. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be acquired through a process called mining, by working as a network node, by receiving a payment in Bitcoin, or by purchasing coins through an exchange. If you are going to buy Ethereum, and Litecoin, then Coinbase is an exchange to consider.
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is a United States based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California and operates in 32 countries. The current CEO is Brian Armstrong. Coinbase only deals with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin and has 13,300,000 users as of November 2017.
How Do I Get Started Setting Up Coinbase?
Go to Coinbase.com and follow the instructions. To begin setting up your account, you will only need an email address, a name -first and last- and a password. After entering your name and choosing a password, the system will send a link to your email address. This verifies that the email address is active and that it belongs to you. Unlike other exchanges, the email address does not have to be encrypted.
After tapping the link, your email address is verified! Congratulations. The next step to setting up Coinbase is to set up two-factor authentication (2FA).
Coinbase provides several options for generating 2-factor authentication (2FA) codes. These other, and more secure options can be enabled in the settings section of an account.
- Authenticator (more secure)
- Authy App
- SMS/Text codes (less secure)
To set up 2FA by verifying a cellphone number, enter your phone number and the system again sends a verification link, this time as an SMS text message. It is not possible to send 2FA codes to landlines or as a voice call.
Every time a user logs into their Coinbase account, the system will authenticate the login attempt by prompting for a password and by sending an SMS text message to the phone number listed in the account. Other verification text messages are sent for large transactions.
After this step in complete, then the next thing to do is set up a form of payment. This is necessary to fund the account so that you may make an investment in cryptocurrencies. Users can connect a bank account, a credit card (Visa or Mastercard only), a debit card, or wire money to their account.
You may also wish to use a cryptocurrency wallet along with an exchange. In order to do this with Coinbase, you will need to verify your identity. This is the point where many users turn to smaller exchanges to maintain their privacy.
