How to send and receive cryptocurrency

When sending or receiving cryptocurrency (crypto), be sure to select the correct network or your funds will be lost.

In addition, all sends to crypto addresses are irreversible. Coinbase cannot retrieve funds sent to an incorrect address.

Use your Coinbase account to send and receive supported cryptocurrencies. Sends and receives are available on both mobile and web. Note that Coinbase cannot be used to receive ETH or ETC mining rewards.

Send

There are two ways to send crypto on Coinbase: on-chain or off-chain. 

On-chain sends are used to send funds from the Coinbase platform to an external address on the blockchain. On-chain sends are irreversible; Coinbase can’t retrieve funds that were sent to the incorrect address or using the incorrect network. On-chain sends incur network fees and take time to process. 

Off-chain sends allow you to send funds to another Coinbase user using their phone number, email address, or username. Off-chain sends are instant and incur no transaction fees.

  1. Tap Transfer on the Home tab.

  2. Tap Send crypto.

  3. Select the asset.

  4. You can select a contact, scan the recipient's QR code, or enter their email, phone number, crypto address, or ENS name.

  5. Select Continue.

  6. Enter the amount of crypto you'd like to send.

    • You can toggle between the cash or crypto amounts.

    • If the asset is supported on multiple networks and you're not sending to a user's email or phone number, select the network that you’d like to send on (always confirm that your recipient’s wallet supports this network).

  7. Leave a note (optional), then select Preview and review the transaction details.

  8. Select Send now.

    • If prompted, enter the security code sent to one of your trusted devices.

  1. From your Dashboard, select Send and Receive in the toolbar.

  2. On the Send tab, enter the amount of crypto you'd like to send.

    • You can toggle between the cash value or crypto amount.

  3. Choose the asset to use for the send.

  4. Enter the crypto address, phone number, or email address of the person you would like to send the crypto to.

  5. Leave a note (optional).

  6. Select Continue to review the details.

  7. If the asset is supported on multiple networks and you're not sending to a user's email or phone number, select the network that you’d like to send on (always confirm that your recipient’s wallet supports this network).

  8. Select Send now.

    • If prompted, enter the security code sent to one of your trusted devices.

If you're trying to send more crypto than you have in your crypto balance, you'll be prompted to top up when doing the send. 

Receive

You can share your unique cryptocurrency address to receive funds through your web browser or mobile device after signing in. By opting into Instant sends in your privacy settings, you can control whether you want your crypto address to be verifiable as a Coinbase user. If you opt in, other users can send you money instantly and for free. If you opt out, then any sends to your crypto address will remain on-chain.

Many assets, like USDC, exist on multiple networks. When receiving crypto into your Coinbase account, confirm that the sender is sending the funds on a network that Coinbase supports. Funds sent from the incorrect network will not appear in your account and will be lost. Coinbase is unable to retrieve funds that are sent from an incorrect network.

  1. Tap Transfer on the Home tab.

  2. Tap Receive crypto.

  3. Select the asset you'd like to receive (if the screen defaults to a specific asset, tap on the asset name to be given the option to select a different asset). 

  4. Select the network that you’d like to receive on, if applicable (only available for assets that are supported on multiple networks).

  5. Once the asset is selected, the QR code and address will populate. 

  1. From the Dashboard, select Send/Receive in the toolbar. 

  2. Select Receive. If this is your first time, you may be prompted to turn on Instant Transfers.

  3. Select Asset and choose the asset you'd like to receive. 

  4. Select the network that you’d like to receive on, if applicable (learn more about receiving on other networks).

  5. Once the asset is selected, the QR code and address will populate.

Note: To receive cryptocurrency, you can share your address, select Copy, or allow the sender to scan your QR code.

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