Frequently Asked Questions
Self-managed

Frequently asked questions regarding Self-managed Commerce

General

What is Self-managed Commerce?

Self-managed Commerce is the non-custodial Commerce offering. You have full control of your crypto balance via a 12-word seed phrase. If you lose access to your 12-word seed phrase your funds will be irrecoverable and Coinbase will not be able to recover your phrase or funds on your behalf.

What to expect with a Self-managed account:

- Available globally (except OFAC-sanctioned nations)

- Merchant controls private key (non-custodial)

- 1% transaction fee

How do I sign up for an account?

You can sign up for a Self-managed Commerce account by selecting “Get started” under the Self-managed section here

Which cryptocurrencies can I accept?

We currently support ApeCoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, SHIBA INU, Tether and USD Coin.

We also support MATIC, USD Coin, and Wrapped Ether (WETH) on Polygon.

How much does it cost to use Coinbase Commerce?

Coinbase Commerce charges a 1% transaction fee. For additional information, please view our Help Center article here.

Are there role permissions available to allow for multiple users to log into the same account with different credentials?

At this time, Commerce only supports one email per account.

Does Coinbase Commerce offer a sandbox/test environment?

Commerce does not offer a sandbox/test environment at this time. We recommend sending a small amount of crypto in a low cost currency like Bitcoin Cash to complete your testing. You can also view our library of short video tutorials to see how the product works.

What types of customer information can I collect?

When creating a charge/checkout, you can decide to request additional information from your customers such as name, email address, address, phone number, and more. For merchants using the API, custom key value pairs can be provided to the metadata charge object.

How can I withdraw my crypto?

You can withdraw to an external crypto address or to a linked Coinbase.com account. For withdrawal help, please view our Help Center article here

Withdraws in fiat to a business bank account are currently not available with a Self-managed plan. If you are interested in this functionality, you can apply for a Coinbase-managed plan here.

Withdrawing ERC20 tokens like USDC & USDT require ETH to pay network fees. For details on how to add ETH to Commerce, please view our Help Center article here. Withdrawing USDC and WETH on Polygon, require MATIC to pay network fees (you can follow the above instructions but for MATIC as the donation currency).

Payments

How can I accept payments using Coinbase Commerce?

From the merchant dashboard or API, you can bill invoices, accept donations, and create custom checkouts. For additional information on checkout types, please visit our Help Center.

What is “Pay with Coinbase”?

Pay with Coinbase is a payment option that enables merchants to accept Crypto payments directly from Coinbase’s 108+ million verified users. 

What are the transaction statuses?

Coinbase Commerce uses various payment statuses depending on how the payment was received. 

If no payment was received within the charge window, an expired status will be displayed. If a single charge receives multiple payments, a multiple status will be displayed. For additional information on other payment statuses, please view our Help Center article here

Are there any OFAC checks done on each transaction?

Yes - we block transactions from OFAC sanctioned nations in the user interface and will not load the transaction screen. Additionally, we scan the address the payment comes from and will fail withdrawals to blocked addresses.

Refunds

How do I refund a customer payment?

From the merchant dashboard, find the 8-character charge code and select the blue Refund button. For additional information on how to refund, please view our Help Center article here.

Can I initiate a partial refund?

No. However, you can create a withdrawal directly to the customer’s specified receiving address for a lesser amount than the original payment.

Reporting

What types of reporting do you provide and how do I generate reports?

Transaction reports can be generated in the Coinbase Commerce dashboard. For additional information on transaction reports, please view ourHelp Center article here.

How do I calculate my fees?

Within your Commerce Dashboard, navigate to “Reports” to customize a specific date range for your payment history. This report will generate a CSV file, which will highlight fees paid. For additional information on transaction reports, please view our Help Center article here.

How do we share these reports?

When a report is generated, it will be sent to the email address associated with the Commerce account. Reports can then be shared at the discretion of the merchant.

Can I see the blockchain data of these transactions?

All on-chain data can be viewed and validated by visiting the respective block explorer for the payment cryptocurrency.

APIs

Where is our API documentation located?

You can find our API documentation here.

Can I automate withdrawals on my Self-managed Commerce account?

No. Coinbase Commerce does not support automatic withdrawals at this time.

What is the difference between the merchant user interface and API?

The user interface is intended to be user friendly to provide merchants easy ways to perform basic functions. The Commerce API provides developers a technical path to more granular information and customization. 

Are we rate limited?

Yes. Every business that uses the Coinbase Commerce product is rate limited to: 25 requests per minute for any charge endpoint or 200 requests per minute for all other endpoints

Coinbase-managed

Frequently asked questions regarding Coinbase-managed Commerce

General

What is Coinbase-managed Commerce?

Coinbase-managed Commerce is our institutional offering geared towards larger merchants and doesn’t require self-custody of funds. 

With our Coinbase-managed plan you can expect:

- Robust onboarding and due diligence process

- Available for US and select other geographies

- Funds settle into a Coinbase-managed wallet without you having to manage your private keys. Your Exchange account can hold crypto in addition to local currency (fiat). 

- Auto-conversion feature (crypto payments settle as USD on Coinbase Exchange)

- 1% transaction fee

You can view our guidelines for a Coinbase-managed Commerce application here.

How do I sign up for an account?

You can sign up for a Coinbase-managed Commerce account by selecting “Get started” under the Coinbase-managed section here.

Please ensure you sign up using an email address that is not already in use by an existing Coinbase account or Self-managed Commerce account. The initial email used upon sign up is specifically for the application itself and will not be used for account provisioning later in the application process. Later on in the application, you will need to provide a different email used for final provisioning.

Why does Coinbase-managed use two separate interfaces?

Coinbase-managed consists of two separate interfaces: 

Coinbase Exchange is used for payment settlement, withdrawals to a linked bank account, and refunds to customers.

Merchant dashboard is used to create invoices/checkouts, view customer payments, and generate transaction reports.

Which cryptocurrencies can I accept?

We currently support ApeCoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, SHIBA INU, Tether and USD Coin.

We also support MATIC, USD Coin, and Wrapped Ether (WETH) on Polygon.

How much does it cost to use Coinbase Commerce?

Coinbase Commerce charges a 1% transaction fee. For additional information on our fee structure, please view our Help Center article here.

Are there role permissions available to allow for multiple users to log into the same account with different credentials?

At this time, Commerce only supports one email per account. However, to add additional account holders please view our Help Center article here.

Does Coinbase Commerce offer a sandbox/test environment?

Commerce does not offer a sandbox/test environment at this time. We recommend sending a small amount of crypto in a low cost currency like Bitcoin Cash to complete your testing. You can also view our library of short video tutorials to see how the product works.

What types of customer information can I collect?

When creating a charge/checkout, you can decide to request additional information from your customers such as name, email address, address, phone number, and more. For merchants using the API, custom key value pairs can be provided to the metadata charge object.

Payments

How can I accept payments using Coinbase Commerce?

From the merchant dashboard or API, you can bill invoices, accept donations, and create custom checkouts. For additional information on checkout types, please view our Help Center.

What is “Pay with Coinbase”?

Pay with Coinbase is a payment option that enables merchants to accept Crypto payments directly from Coinbase’s 108+ million verified users. 

Payments made using Pay with Coinbase for Coinbase-managed merchants will be free and instant, meaning they will settle within minutes and your customer won’t pay any network fees for the transaction.

What are the transaction statuses?

Coinbase Commerce uses various payment statuses depending on how the payment was received. 

If no payment was received within the charge window, an expired status will be displayed. If a single charge receives multiple payments, a multiple status will be displayed. For additional information on other payment statuses, please view our Help Center article here.

Are there any OFAC checks done on each transaction?

Yes - we block transactions from OFAC sanctioned nations in the user interface and will not load the transaction screen. Additionally, we scan the address the payment comes from and will interdict payments from blocked addresses.

Refunds

How do I refund a customer payment?

To refund your customer you will need to initiate a crypto withdrawal to their specified receiving address. Please ensure this address is accurate as any error will result in a loss of funds.

If your customer is a Coinbase user, you can also move funds from Coinbase Exchange to your Coinbase retail account and refund the payment by entering their Coinbase email address (refunding directly to their Coinbase account will not incur network fees).

How do I refund crypto if I only hold USD?

If you only hold USD (or a currency that wasn’t used for the payment to be refunded) you will need to initiate a buy order for the payment currency. For instructions on how to purchase crypto, please view our Help Center article here.

Auto-conversions

How do auto-conversions work?

After your customer makes a payment, funds are sent to an internal Coinbase account where we collect a 1% fee in the payment cryptocurrency. Upon fee collection, our internal account will convert the remaining crypto to USD which will subsequently be deposited into your Coinbase Exchange account.  For more information on Auto Conversions, please view our Help Center article here.

Do my funds settle immediately? How are you reducing our risk of crypto volatility?

Enabling auto-conversions on a Coinbase-managed account is the most effective way to reduce risk to crypto volatility.

Am I guaranteed to receive the full amount requested?

On-chain payments require confirmation by the decentralized network to finalize payment. In that period of time, price fluctuations may occur causing a discrepancy in amount received versus amount requested. 

Can I settle a portion of funds in crypto?

We do not support fractional settlement at the moment.

Once USD has settled on Coinbase Exchange, how do I withdraw the funds to a bank account?

You can withdraw USD to your linked bank account by going to your Exchange account and selecting; Portfolios -> Withdraw -> USD -> Bank account

You can withdraw via wire and ACH.

Can my USD deposits on Exchange be withdrawn to my bank account automatically?

Yes. Please view our Exchange API docs.

Reporting

What types of reporting do you provide and how do I generate reports?

Transaction reports can be generated in the Coinbase Commerce dashboard. For additional information on transaction reports, please view our Help Center article here.

How do I calculate my fees?

Within your Commerce Dashboard, navigate to “Reports” to customize a specific date range for your payment history. This report will generate a CSV file, which will highlight fees paid. For additional information on transaction reports, please view our Help Center article here.

How do we share these reports?

When a report is generated, it will be sent to the email address associated with the Commerce account. Reports can then be shared at the discretion of the merchant.

Can I see the blockchain data of these transactions?

All on-chain data can be viewed and validated by visiting the respective block explorer for the payment cryptocurrency.

What are the differences between statements on Coinbase Exchange and reports on the merchant dashboard?

Statements on Coinbase Exchange detail your deposits and withdrawals, in addition to your trading history.

Reports on the merchant dashboard detail payment and donation history in addition to auto-conversion exchange rates and fees accrued.

APIs

Where is our API documentation located?

You can find our API documentation here.

What is the difference between the merchant user interface and API?

The user interface is intended to be user friendly to provide merchants easy ways to perform basic functions. The Commerce API provides developers a technical path to more granular information and customization.

Are we rate limited?

Yes. Every business that uses Coinbase Commerce is rate limited to:

- 25 requests per minute for any charge endpoint

- 200 requests per minute for all other endpoints

Can I increase my rate limit?

We can increase your rate limit for a specific time period upon request if anticipating high payment volume.

No representation or warranty is made, express or implied, with respect to the future performance of any digital asset, financial instrument or other market or economic measure. Recipients should consult their advisors before making any investment decision. Coinbase, Inc. is not registered or licensed in any capacity with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.