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Coinbase charges fees and a spread on digital asset transactions, with the specific fee amounts disclosed on its Pricing and Fees Disclosures page and at the time of each transaction. Network fees are calculated at Coinbase's discretion. Coinbase reserves the right to adjust fees at any time, with 30 days prior notice required in some states.
This analysis describes what Coinbase's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The spread, which represents the difference between the market price and the transaction price, is separate from disclosed fees and represents an additional cost that may not be reflected in standard fee disclosures. State-specific disclosures cap the Coinbase Fee at $10 for transactions under $200 and 6% for all other transactions in certain jurisdictions, including California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Washington.
The updated terms establish procedures for handling protocol upgrades and define Coinbase's role in migrating customer assets to new versions. Under the revised language, by maintaining a Coinbase account, customers are deemed to have instructed Coinbase to conduct Coinbase Supported Migrations on their behalf at times and in manner Coinbase solely determines appropriate. The agreement further states that Coinbase shall not be liable or responsible for any loss resulting from inability to transfer Digital Assets during a migration or from the Asset Transformation itself. This expands Coinbase's authority to act without advance notice while eliminating liability for migration-related losses.
View change record →The updated terms now explicitly disclose Coinbase's fee structure for California residents, establishing a $10 maximum fee for transactions under $200 and a 6% maximum for larger transactions, though actual fees displayed at checkout may be lower based on payment method, order size, market conditions, and location. The revised agreement also clarifies that virtual currency transactions may be irreversible and provides links to procedures for reporting unauthorized transactions, updating contact information, and accessing transaction receipts. Coinbase commits to providing California residents at least 14 days' prior notice of material changes to fees or terms affecting their accounts.
View change record →The updated terms eliminate language that previously allowed Coinbase to restrict your withdrawals if you designated USDC as Secured USDC and to comply with third-party secured party instructions without your consent. Under the revised agreement, Coinbase will not transfer, loan, or otherwise handle your Supported Digital Assets except as required by law or as you instruct. This means the One Card Secured USDC mechanism is no longer integrated into the core asset protection clause, and users no longer face withdrawal restrictions or loss of instruction authority tied to that designation. If you currently hold Secured USDC under a separate One Card cardholder agreement, that agreement remains in effect but is no longer cross-referenced in the main User Agreement's asset protection section.
View change record →⚠ Users who do not review the Pricing and Fees Disclosures page will be bound by the fee structure applicable at the time of each transaction as stated in the agreement
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"In general, Coinbase makes money when you purchase or sell Supported Digital Assets on the Coinbase Site. A description of the way fees are calculated can be found on our Pricing and Fees Disclosures Page. By using Coinbase Services you agree to pay all fees and, if applicable based on the service, a spread. While Coinbase reserves the right to adjust its pricing and fees and any applicable waivers at any time, we may provide at least 30 days' prior notice of certain changes to our pricing schedule, or terms, conditions and policies to users in some states where required by applicable law. We will also notify you of the final price of each transaction, inclusive of pricing and fees, when you authorize the transaction and in each receipt we issue to you. We may charge network fees (miner fees) to process a Digital Asset Transaction on your behalf. We will calculate the network fee at our discretion, and notify you of the network fee at or before the time you authorize the Digital Asset Transaction.Excerpt from Coinbase's User Agreement
1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Fee disclosure requirements for money transmission services are governed by state money transmission laws, which impose varying pre-transaction disclosure obligations. California's Digital Financial Assets Law and Money Transmission Act impose disclosure requirements for virtual currency transactions. The FTC Act's prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices applies to fee disclosures that may be incomplete or misleading. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The spread is separately disclosed from fees but represents a material transaction cost that users may not separately identify in standard fee disclosures. The discretionary calculation of network fees creates variability that users cannot independently verify or control. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Washington state disclosures in Appendix 3 cap the Coinbase Fee at $10 for transactions under $200 and 6% for transactions above $200. These state-specific caps represent binding disclosure commitments for residents of those states. Louisiana's disclosure notes that the state money transmission license does not cover virtual currency exchange. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Institutional users executing high-volume or high-value transactions should assess the cumulative impact of the spread plus fee structure and evaluate whether the transaction account information disclosures in Section 3.7 adequately capture all costs, noting that Section 3.7 explicitly states that spread or margin is excluded from the fee disclosure in transaction history. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should verify that fee disclosure practices satisfy applicable state money transmission law requirements in all licensed jurisdictions, and evaluate whether the exclusion of spread from transaction history disclosures creates any compliance exposure under state disclosure obligation frameworks.
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The spread, which represents the difference between the market price and the transaction price, is separate from disclosed fees and represents an additional cost that may not be reflected in standard fee disclosures. State-specific disclosures cap the Coinbase Fee at $10 for transactions under $200 and 6% for all other transactions in certain jurisdictions, including California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode …
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