How to buy crypto on Coinbase and send it to an external wallet

4 min readMay 25, 2021

I am not a financial advisor. This is not financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and risky. You could lose your entire investment.

Start by signing up to Coinbase by clicking on this link here (non-affiliate link).

Step 1: Optional security (recommended)

When you have registered your Coinbase account and logged in I would recommend adding 2 Step-Verification first before anything else. This is so that hackers will have a hard time accessing your account. I would recommend having Google Authenticator installed first on your phone or computer.

Download and install the Google Authenticator app. Then click on your profile in the right hand corner and press settings:

Now that you’re in settings, press the Security tab. You can here keep your phone number updated and add 2-step verification (recommended).

Step 2: Add Payment Method

I would then add a payment method to your Coinbase Account, so that you can buy cryptos. Click on the payment methods tab in settings. You can add your bank account and/or a credit/debit card. You can then use these payment methods to buy crypto at Coinbase.

Step 3: Fund your account

You need to fund your account to be able to buy cryptos on Coinbase, unless you’re using a debit/credit card. To fund your account from your bank account, go to the homescreen:

Then press the “Buy/Sell” button

Then press: “Deposit Funds.”

Then press “Deposit.”

Last step is to use this information to fund your Coinbase account from your online bank. You can use the buttons to the right to copy the information. It can take a couple of days to fund the account.

Step 4: Buy Crypto

To find all the coins you can buy at Coinbase, click on Portfolio on the left side tab. Now you have a bunch of coins to choose from. In this example, let’s click on Algorand:

Now you only have to push the buy button. It is then very easy to buy, you only have to choose the fiat amount and then it gets converted to the crypto of your choice. No need to deal with complicated exchanges.

Step 5: Send your crypto to an external wallet

The last step would then be to send your crypto to an external wallet, unless you wish to keep your coins on the exchange. My recommendation would be to first purchase a hardware wallet in that case and create an address that you can send to.

To send your coins to an external wallet:

1: Choose the coin you wish to send from your portfolio.

2: Press the Send tab and then the amount you wish to send.

3: Paste the crypto address here. Make sure you’re sending the correct coin.

4: Press Continue and follow the instructions.