Luno and Coinbase are both cryptocurrency wallet and exchange providers.

Coinbase and Luno are very similar exchanges, providing broker services to crypto investors.
I have reviewed Luno and Coinbase extensively in the past so today I am going to directly compare the two exchanges and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both.

In this post, I will highlight the main features that distinguish these platforms. You will have no trouble knowing which is more suitable for you.

Post Summary

I have broken down the post in the best way possible for all to understand, whether you are 8 or 88 years old. Here is a list of everything I will cover;

1. Luno Overview
2. Coinbase Overview
3. Compared Features- Luno Vs Coinbase
4. My Verdict- Which is Better?
5. Conclusion

Luno Overview

Luno is an exchange provider for crypto investors. It was first established in 2013 as Bitx in Singapore and was later rebranded to Luno meaning “MOON” in 2017. The rebranding was very pivotal and led to a rapid increase in the trading volume from 2017 to date.

It is the most popular exchange in South Africa as it records its highest trading volume there followed by Nigeria.

Luno Products/Services

Luno offers the following services and Products

1. Instant buy/sell
2. Exchange
3. Wallet
4. Luno Business
5. Luno API

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Coinbase Overview

Coinbase is an exchange/wallet provider similar to Luno. It was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Erhsam.

The Exchange started out as a Bitcoin brokerage service in San Francisco, California. The company has grown since its creation and has added other services.

Coinbase Products/Services

• Wallet
• Buy and Sell Cryptocurrencies
• Coinbase Pro
• Coinbase Prime
• Commerce
• Coinbase Earn
• Custody
• USD Coin (Stable Coin)
• Venture

Now let’s go to compare the two platforms.

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Compared Features- Luno Vs Coinbase

Luno

4.5 Star Rating

Supported Countries: 44

Supported Currencies:3

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Coinbase

4.7 Star Rating

Supported Countries: 102

Supported Currencies:17

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Supported Countries

Luno:

Luno currently supports 44 countries, they include;

• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Zambia, and
• Europe:
  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Coinbase:

Coinbase is currently available in 102 countries but not all of them are supported on the exchange platform. Nigeria is not even listed among the 13 African countries supported. However, you can only store, send/receive your crypto with Coinbase if you are in Nigeria but cannot buy/sell.

Below are the 32 countries supported on the exchange;

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Mario, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

If you are in Nigeria or any part of Africa, Luno is more suitable as you can access all its services.

Supported Currencies

Luno:

Luno currently supports only three cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• BitcoinCash (BCH)

Coinbase:

The following cryptocurrencies are supported on Coinbase:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• EOS (EOS)
• Stellar Lumens (XLM)
• Chainlink (LINK)
• Dash (DASH)
• Tezos (XTZ)
• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• USD Coin (USDC)
• Basic Attention Token (BAT)
• Zcash (ZEC)
• Ox (ZRX)
• Augur (REP)
• Dai (DAI)

Coinbase beats Luno in this category.

Accepted Payment Methods

Luno accepted payment methods depends on the country you are operating from. If you are in Nigeria you can fund your account via bank transfer or using your naira debit/credit card. Other payment methods accepted are;

• Cash Deposit
• Bank Transfer
• Interbank Funds Transfer (IBTF)
• Electronic Bank Transfer   (EBF)
• Single Euro Payment Area(SEPA)

Coinbase accepted payment methods;

• Credit/Debit Cards
• PayPal(withdrawal only)
• Wire Transfer(SEPA in Europe and ACH in the USA)

Verification Procedure

To open and own a Luno or Coinbase wallet, all you need to do is to enter your name, verify your email address and accept the user agreement. However, to buy and sell bitcoins on these platforms, you will need to provide additional information.

Luno:

You can only buy a few bitcoins directly from Luno unless you raise your level. To do so requires verifications of more information.  These include;

1. Confirmation of phone number
2. Submission of government-issued ID card
3. Submission of proof of residential address

Coinbase:

Residents of the United States can purchase bitcoins worth $1,000 a week on Coinbase with a credit card. In order to raise this limit to $50,000 a day, verification of the following is required

1. Identity
2. Credit card
3. Debit card

Transaction fees- Luno Vs Coinbase

Luno: 

To buy Bitcoin in Luno, you have to deposit money to your Luno fiat wallet platform in your local currency then purchase bitcoin with it. Depending on your country, there are 4 types of transaction fee you might incur

• Deposit: Luno does not charge you for the deposit but sometimes depending on the country they employ the service of a third party to process the deposit. The fees incurred are those charged by the 3rd party. Deposit in most countries is free but in Nigeria, PayU (the payment processor) charges 1.5% of the deposit amount up to a maximum of NGN2,000 for every deposit made.
• Withdrawal: Luno levies an administrative fee to process withdrawals. This fee depends on your currency of withdrawal, however; it is independent of the amount withdrawn. The fees for each currency are BCH (0.00), EUR (0.30), IDR (6,500.0), MYR (0.10), NGN (200.00), ZAR (8.50).
• Send/Receive Bitcoin: It is free to send Bitcoin on the Luno platform; it is also free to receive Bitcoin over email. However, when you receive Bitcoin at your public Bitcoin address, you are charged a fee of 0.0002btc, this is in line with the standard Bitcoin transaction fee.
• Buy/Sell: This depends on where you make this transaction. If you buy or Buy/Sell at the ‘Luno Instant Buy/Sell, you are charged 2% and above. If you Buy/Sell the ‘Luno Exchange’ it will depend on if you are a ‘Maker’ or a ‘Taker’. Makers pay no fee while Takers pay 0.2% to 1% depending on your country.
  Note: Makers are those that set the price at the exchange while Takers buy/sell at the set price.

Coinbase:

Transaction fees on Coinbase are also dependent on the country/currency and the medium used. Below is a tabular representation of the transaction fees;

Customer Support

Luno:

The customer support on Luno has improved quite a lot from what I witnessed back in 2016/2017. However, it still needs to do better in paying attention to its customers’ needs.

Customers have complained that Luno is not really support-oriented.  They don’t give customers special attention. You will need to contact them several times if you need your issue to be thoroughly treated.

Coinbase:

Coinbase customer support is very similar to that of Luno, it also has a support forum where you can find answers to your questions. In addition, they both have the same customer care dispensation.

My Verdict – Which is Best for You?

Since these companies are very similar, subscribing to the service of any of them is mostly dependent on your country of Residence.

If you have access to the complete service of both of them, then you can consider the transaction fees. Luno has an overall lower transaction fee, however, Coinbase has more reputation and extra cryptocurrency wallets and liquidity in Europe and America.

Thus, for those operating from Nigeria, South Africa, or Africa in general, Luno is the ideal platform for you. This is because Nigeria already ranks the second-highest in the trading volume of Luno, only preceded by South Africa. Plus, you get to access all the services provided.

Learn How To Trade

If you want to learn how to trade cryptocurrencies profitably, sign up for free on Afibie.

You can join our Telegram channel, where we hold live sessions and give trade signals.

Conclusion

The exchange of digital currencies has been identified as a major factor in growing the crypto economy.

However, care must be taken to avoid being scammed and finally end one’s crypto investment desires in tears. Luno and Coinbase are both reputable exchanges, they will give you what you want just like Binance, Quidax, etc.

Create a free account on any of them today, to have firsthand experience.

(Create a Luno account – Create Coinbase account)

This brings us to the end. I hope this review was comprehensive enough.

Now Tell me…

Which of these platforms do you find suitable according to your location or personal attraction?

Have you tried using any or both of them before now?

Well, do leave your replies or any questions you might have in the comments section.

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Thank you.

Also Read:

• Luno Vs Remitano- Find Out The Better Exchange
• Remitano Vs LocalBitcoins- Which Is Better?
• Paxful Vs Remitano- A Head To Head Comparison
• 10 Best Exchanges to Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria (2020)