Why do I need a Coinbase and Blockchain account?

Coinbase is an “exchange” where you can buy/sell bitcoin for other currencies, like U.S. dollars.  This allows you to move money easily to and from your bank account.  Blockchain.com is a “wallet” and serves a couple of important roles.  It stores your bitcoins securely and provides an added layer of safety and privacy so you can securely deposit and withdraw your bitcoin from any site that offers it.  Doing that directly from an exchange like Coinbase has more risks and less privacy, so we urge customers to use a wallet for transactions as laid out in our bitcoin guide.