Negative balances

A negative balance occurs when a purchase of crypto or a deposit of cash into your Coinbase account is not successfully paid by your bank or card issuer.

For example:

  • Your bank reverses or declines a transfer and the cash value is returned to your bank or card issuer. 

    • Coinbase will begin the recovery process within 1-5 days from the time the transaction was reversed.

  • Coinbase attempts to reclaim the cash from your account.

    • Unsuccessful cash reclamation occurs when value of crypto drops or funds are transferred off-site.

If your balance is negative, Coinbase places a hold on your account. You won’t be able to buy, sell, or trade until you pay the owed balance.

Resolve your negative balance

You can resolve your negative balance with:

  • Your Coinbase cash balance

  • ​​A linked bank account

    • If you don't have a linked bank account, you can link a new one.

    • Debit cards can't be used to resolve a negative balance.