Coinbase Considering Subscription Model, Hints New User Survey

Cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and others drive their revenue through the fees users are charged for the trades or purchases they make.

However, a new user survey being circulated by Coinbase appears to hint at the cryptocurrency powerhouse exploring new fee models, including a subscription model.

Coinbase Survey Polls Users on Potential Subscription Model

Companies frequently send around surveys to their most active and loyal customers, seeking valuable input and feedback that may or may not end up shaping future products or services. This past week, San Francisco-based cryptocurrency giant Coinbase sent around a survey to select customers seeking feedback on a number of questions.

According to the questions asked in the survey, Coinbase appeared particularly interested in changing up its fee structure in order to remain competitive in the ever-changing crypto space. Among the questions, the crypto firm compared their maker and taker fee models against other exchanges, such as Binance, Huobi Pro, Gemini, and more.

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However, there was another section of questions where Coinbase focused on gaining user input on potentially switching to a subscription fee model for users. The survey asked how interested a user would be in paying a “modest subscription fee” in exchange for lower “maker” or “taker” fees and other perks.

With a subscription model, a user would likely pay a monthly or annual fee to gain access to lower overall fees and “perks.” The survey didn’t hint at what the potential perks might be. It’s also worth pointing out that survey’s like the one in this example are seeking to gain feedback and may not lead to actual products or changes to services. Should the feedback about the subscription services be overwhelmingly negative, the subscription model may never see the light of day.

Coinbase Pivoting To Better Monetize Active Users?

A recent report from the Blockchain Transparency Institute showed that Coinbase had the highest number of daily active users on its cryptocurrency exchange. The Brian Armstrong-led firm boasted over 100,000 more active users than Binance, and nearly four times as many users as the #3 and #4 spots on the list.

However, despite having such a large amount of active users, each user only contributed a dismal amount of transaction volume.

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Coinbase ranked the lowest by transaction volume out of the four exchanges with over 100,000 daily active users. Each user contributes only $189 in transaction volume, compared to $2,137 per user on Binance.

With cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and Binance generating revenue from fees, which are typically a set percentage of the transaction value, it’s not a surprise to see Coinbase exploring ways to better monetize their large volume of active users.

If Coinbase moved forward with a subscription model, it would allow the firm to charge a set fee to use their services, regardless of transaction volume and value. But again, many ideas mentioned in user surveys don’t end up coming to fruition, so only time will tell if the firm’s executives are satisfied with the feedback and decides to roll out a subscription model.