Buying cryptocurrency with a credit card costs 3.99% in Coinbase fees, and your credit card company may charge you an additional cash advance fee on top of that — meaning your actual total cost could be significantly higher than 3.99% plus the spread.
This addition introduces an entirely new fee structure (3.99% for credit cards) not mentioned in the previous version, with an additional warning about potential credit card company fees.
View full change record →Consumers who purchase cryptocurrency with a credit card face Coinbase's 3.99% fee plus their credit card issuer's cash advance fee (typically 3-5%), plus the 0.5% spread, meaning total costs on a $1,000 purchase could realistically exceed $90-$120 before any market movement.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Credit Card Fee Structure and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →Using a credit card to buy crypto can trigger two separate additional fees — Coinbase's 3.99% and your bank's cash advance fee (often 3-5% plus interest from day one) — making it one of the most expensive ways to purchase cryptocurrency.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Credit card-funded crypto purchases implicate the Truth in Lending Act (TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1601) and Regulation Z (12 CFR Part 1026) governing credit card disclosures, including cash advance fee and interest rate disclosures by card issuers; FTC Act Section 5; and CFPB authority under UDAAP. The disclosure that credit card companies 'may' charge a cash advance fee is a material risk warning but may be insufficiently prominent under Dodd-Frank Section 1032. Card network rules (Visa, Mastercard) independently classify crypto purchases as cash advances, triggering issuer-side fees that Coinbase cannot control but is obligated to warn about.
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