Hi folks,

I just created an Coinbase account to receive (small amounts of) Bitcoin from another service. I would have looked into it more before doing so, but it was actually the only option, so I just dove in. However, from what I can tell, I don’t necessarily need to keep anything in my Coinbase account, and if I ever plan on doing anything else (buying, selling, making payments) with crypto, I’m curious if Coinbase is the right place to do it.

I’ve only done the most basic of research. I know more about blockchain and ledgers than I do about wallets and exchanges, and that still isn’t a lot.

So:

• I need a Coinbase account to receive BTC, but I don’t need to keep it there
• I don’t need to do anything with that BTC immediately - let’s call it small amounts of play money, for now
• Since BTC is down right now (in my view) I might consider buying a bit, or potentially other cryptocurrency(ies)
• I like the diversification of holding a bit of crypto even though I don’t totally trust the whole system nor its value
• I travel and I can foresee potentially using crypto to make payments or withdraw cash as that pops up sometimes

Does it cost anything to move my BTC out of Coinbase? Are there better places to keep it that would make it worth it? Is Coinbase safe? Is it a terrible company? Would other places be safer, easier, harder? What am I not thinking of?