Coinbase scores 22 points above Gemini, led by trading cost, withdrawal track record, and licence coverage. Coinbase ranks #5 and Gemini #14 of 17 published exchanges. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
Coinbase69
vs
Gemini47
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #5 and #14 of 17
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+21.6
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6947+22.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
CoinbaseScore 69US-listed anchor venue with two cost structures on one account: a preview-only-priced simple-buy default and a published 0.60%/0.40% entry-tier order book — wrapped in the deepest register-verifiable licence map in the pool.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.GeminiScore 47NYDFS-chartered trust-company exchange with best-in-pool custody law and the pool's highest published base fees — now retrenched to the US (plus Singapore) after self-disclosed exits from the UK, EEA and Australia in early 2026.Strength: Insolvency and account terms — 8/10Watch-out: The account can be closed out from under you by geography: Gemini gave every UK, EEA and Australian customer roughly a month from announcement (2026-02-02) to forced withdrawal-only (2026-03-05), and Gemini says it 'ceased operations in the UK and Europe' from 6 April 2026 — and for those who stay, the default interface never publishes what a trade costs until the review screen, while the pro book starts at the pool's highest base rate (0.60%/1.20%) until you clear $10K of 30-day volume or hold a $1M asset balance.
Quick facts
At a glance
1 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactCoinbaseGemini
Pro taker feeSnapshotCoinbase Exchange fee page, read 29 September 2026 at https://help.coinbase.com/en/exchange/trading-and-funding/exchange-fees (plain curl gets HTTP 403; the text was read through a rendering fetch). Taker / maker by trailing-30-day USD volume: "$0K-$10K" "60bps" / "40bps"; "$10K-$50K" "40bps" / "25bps"; "$50K-$100K" "25bps" / "15bps"; "$100K-$1M" "20bps" / "10bps"; "$1M-$15M" "18bps" / "8bps"; "$15M-$75M" "16bps" / "6bps"; "$75M-$250M" "10bps" / "3bps"; "$250M-$400M" "6bps" / "0bps"; "$400M+" "4bps" / "0bps"; in the page's words a taker "will pay a fee between 0.04% and 0.60%" and a maker "will pay a fee between 0.00% and 0.40%". Fiat withdrawal column on the same page: ACH "Free"; Wire (USD) "$25 USD"; SEPA (EUR) "Free"; Swift (USD) "$25 USD"; Swift (GBP) "£1 GBP". Crypto withdrawals: "Coinbase Exchange will charge a fee based on our estimate of the network transaction fees that we anticipate paying for each transaction." Default retail surface (https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/pricing-and-fees/fees): no number for the spread, "When you place simple buy and sell orders, Coinbase includes a spread in the quoted price." and "Please note that the spread may vary for similar transactions."; the published retail cells are "a separate limit order execution fee equal to 1% of the amount you trade" and "a 1.875% Coinbase fee (varies by payment method)"; USDT withdrawals carry "a processing fee equal to 0.01% of the amount transferred, with a maximum of 20 USDT" and Lightning sends "a processing fee equal to 0.2% of the amount of bitcoin transferred". State-disclosure ceiling (https://www.coinbase.com/legal/licenses): "For all other transactions, the Coinbase Fee will not exceed 6% of the USD value of the cryptocurrency."Gemini ActiveTrader Fee Schedule, read 29 September 2026 at https://www.gemini.com/fees/activetrader-fee-schedule (dated "September 1, 2026"; "The following terms apply to all orders placed via the ActiveTrader and exchange API interfaces."). Spot maker / taker by 30-day volume or asset balance: "≥ $0" "0.600%" / "1.200%"; "$10K" (or "$1M" balance) "0.400%" / "0.800%"; "$25K" (or "$5M") "0.250%" / "0.500%"; "$75K" (or "$15M") "0.125%" / "0.250%"; "$250K" (or "$25M") "0.075%" / "0.150%"; "$500K" "0.060%" / "0.125%"; "$1M" "0.050%" / "0.100%"; down to "$250M" "0.000%" / "0.020%". Tier rule: "Your fee tier is based on either your total trailing 30-day trading volume across all order books (excluding volume traded on stablecoin pairs) or your total asset balance (in USD)." Stablecoins: "RLUSD/USD, USDC/GUSD, and GUSD/USD pairs" "0.00%" / "0.00%"; "All other stablecoin pairs" "0.00%" / "0.01%". Default Gemini interface (https://www.gemini.com/fees/gemini-fee-schedule, dated "February 15, 2026") publishes no number: "You can view the fees in the trade review screen prior to confirming your transaction." and "When you place an Instant order or a Recurring order, Gemini includes a spread in the quoted price." Transfers (https://www.gemini.com/fees/transfer-fee-schedule, dated "January 20, 2026"): ACH deposit and withdrawal "Free"; USD wire withdrawal "$25"; debit card "3.49% of total purchase amount"; PayPal "2.50% of total deposit amount"; crypto withdrawal fees are dynamic and "will be displayed to you prior to the initiation of your withdrawal."
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, caus, asia
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
Coinbase
69#5 of 17
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Coinbase if trading cost matters most — it scores 7/10 to Gemini's 5/10 there (weight 30).
Strength
Withdrawal incident record — 8/10
Tradeoff
The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.
Gemini
47#14 of 17
Pick it when
Pick Gemini if asset protection matters most — it scores 8/10 to Coinbase's 7/10 there (weight 18).
Strength
Insolvency and account terms — 8/10
Tradeoff
The account can be closed out from under you by geography: Gemini gave every UK, EEA and Australian customer roughly a month from announcement (2026-02-02) to forced withdrawal-only (2026-03-05), and Gemini says it 'ceased operations in the UK and Europe' from 6 April 2026 — and for those who stay, the default interface never publishes what a trade costs until the review screen, while the pro book starts at the pool's highest base rate (0.60%/1.20%) until you clear $10K of 30-day volume or hold a $1M asset balance.
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
CoinbaseLeads
Choose Coinbase if trading cost matters most
Trading cost: 7/10 against 5/10 for Gemini (weight 30)
Withdrawal track record: 8/10 against 6/10 for Gemini (weight 28)
Licence coverage: 8/10 against 7/10 for Gemini (weight 24)
CoinbaseScore 69US-listed anchor venue with two cost structures on one account: a preview-only-priced simple-buy default and a published 0.60%/0.40% entry-tier order book — wrapped in the deepest register-verifiable licence map in the pool.Strength: Withdrawal incident record — 8/10Watch-out: The interface a new account actually lands in prices by spread that Coinbase declines to publish — the number exists only on your order-preview screen and 'may vary for similar transactions' — and the retail Advanced fee page that would show your real tier sits behind a login wall; you have to know to switch interfaces to get the published 0.60%/0.40% book pricing.
Gemini
Choose Gemini if asset protection matters most
Asset protection: 8/10 against 7/10 for Coinbase (weight 18)
GeminiScore 47NYDFS-chartered trust-company exchange with best-in-pool custody law and the pool's highest published base fees — now retrenched to the US (plus Singapore) after self-disclosed exits from the UK, EEA and Australia in early 2026.Strength: Insolvency and account terms — 8/10Watch-out: The account can be closed out from under you by geography: Gemini gave every UK, EEA and Australian customer roughly a month from announcement (2026-02-02) to forced withdrawal-only (2026-03-05), and Gemini says it 'ceased operations in the UK and Europe' from 6 April 2026 — and for those who stay, the default interface never publishes what a trade costs until the review screen, while the pro book starts at the pool's highest base rate (0.60%/1.20%) until you clear $10K of 30-day volume or hold a $1M asset balance.
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
Trading cost
by 2 of 10weight 7.2 of 86Coinbase leads
Coinbase7/10 out of 10
Gemini5/10 out of 10
Withdrawal track record
by 2 of 10weight 6.7 of 86Coinbase leads
Coinbase8/10 out of 10
Gemini6/10 out of 10
Licence coverage
by 1 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Coinbase leads
Coinbase8/10 out of 10
Gemini7/10 out of 10
Asset protection
by 1 of 10weight 4.3 of 86Gemini leads
Coinbase7/10 out of 10
Gemini8/10 out of 10
Score dimensions
weights sum to 86
The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.
Availabilityweight 20 of 86
Coinbase12/20Gemini11/20
Coinbase leads
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Coinbase18/30Gemini15.1/30
Coinbase leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Coinbase2.7/10Gemini2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Coinbase3.2/8Gemini3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86
Coinbase7.2/18Gemini2.8/18
Coinbase leads
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Coinbase unless the term Gemini leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Gemini if asset protection matters most — it scores 8/10 to Coinbase's 7/10 there (weight 18).
The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .
From the published order
Next best action
If this isn't your case
Other matchups worth comparing
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Custody failure: whoever holds the assets loses or withholds them.
Scored by When this venue broke, did people get their money out — and how would I know? · 28% (Coinbase 8/10, Gemini 6/10)
Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
Scored by If this exchange fails — or freezes me — are the coins legally mine, and on whose terms? · 18% (Coinbase 7/10, Gemini 8/10)
Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
Scored by Whose licence actually covers me in my country — and can I find it on the register? · 24% (Coinbase 8/10, Gemini 7/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Control failure, Liveness failure, Execution failure, Exit failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: What will I actually pay here at my volume — including the spread they don't print? (30%).
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Coinbase scores 22 points above Gemini, led by trading cost, withdrawal track record, and licence coverage. Published scores, out of 100: Coinbase 69 (rank 5 of 17 exchanges), Gemini 47 (rank 14 of 17).
ReviewedRe-read in progressOverdue; re-read by 10 November 2026.Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
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