Coinbase Prime deploys high levels of security to ensure funds remain safe at all times. Authorized user roles are able to edit the requirements of approval policies for the entity, specific portfolios, transactions, and video verification. Transfer policies can be set for specific transaction types to offer more granularity.
Expand each section below to learn more about the approvals and controls provided by each security feature.
Consensus provides a checks-and-balances system on Coinbase Prime. Consensus requirements are managed through Entity, Portfolio, and Transfer Approval Policies. Each Policy allows you to set the number of users needed to approve transactions or complete actions taken on the account.
During the onboarding process, account owners designate consensus settings. They can choose either a majority of approvers (recommended) or all approvers required. Your preference at onboarding will apply to both your Entity and Portfolio policies and can be edited in Settings at any time. The more approvers needed to reach consensus, the more secure the account.
Consensus settings include:
Entity Policy: approvals needed for entity level activities.
Portfolio Policy: approvals needed for portfolio level activities.
Governance Voting: Set whether consensus is required for Governance voting proposals.
Transfer Approvals Policy: approvals and video approvers needed for transfers, deposits, and withdrawals.
You can customize transfer approval policies for each Coinbase Prime portfolio under Settings > Security > Transfers.
Available settings depend on the transfer type and can include:
Transfer type: Trading balance or vault withdrawals, and trading balance or vault internal transfers.
Destination: Destination-specific conditions for eligible internal transfers to a trading balance or vault.
Currency: Cryptocurrency or fiat, where available for the selected transfer type.
Transfer size: Different approval requirements for different transaction amounts.
Consensus approvals: How many approvers must approve the request and the time allowed to reach consensus.
Video approvals: How many video approvals are required, where available for the selected transfer type.
For the available conditions and exceptions, see Transfer approval policies on Coinbase Prime.
Important
A video call with the Prime Operations team may be required if your settings are below recommended security levels. Learn more about transfer policy reviews here.
Video calls are required for certain actions taken on your Coinbase Prime account, such as account withdrawals. This security measure allows the Prime team to conduct secondary verification of the client’s identity after general consensus has been met.
During the onboarding process, in the business application, you’ll set the video verification settings and add video call approvers. You can edit the video verification settings and video call approval permissions after you’ve onboarded using Transfer Approval Policy Settings.
In the withdrawal form, Prime shows the remaining daily limit and the per-transaction limit below the amount field. The withdrawal preview shows the approvals required for that request. Review the amount, destination address, and network, then complete the required confirmation before initiating the withdrawal.
After you initiate a withdrawal, the status screen shows any approvals still needed and links to the activity details. Initiating a request does not mean it has completed.
A video call with the Prime Operations team may be required if your settings are below recommended security levels.