Polished crypto education with transparent 0-5 scorecards, but it earns affiliate commissions from the same exchanges it ranks and sells paid review coverage, so its independence rests on a self-stated promise rather than a firewall.
What it's really for A crypto education brand; it rates exchanges, monetized by affiliate commissions and paid memberships.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its 5-category crypto exchange scores, not everything the site does.
Medium Scoring Confidence Mostly sourced, but a detail or two still needs a primary source, so the grade could shift slightly.
Revenue comes primarily from exchanges and crypto services via affiliate/referral commissions on users who sign up and trade through Coin Bureau's links, plus paid memberships and a fee-based review/press-release service; it states paying or submitting "does not guarantee a positive review" and that affiliate links don't change its assessment, but those same companies are both the subjects of its rankings and the source of its commissions.
Source →- Operating since
- 2017 (9 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- A crypto education and review brand (blog plus 2M+ subscriber YouTube channel) that rates exchanges on a 5-category 0-5 scorecard while monetizing through affiliate commissions, sign-up referral deals, paid memberships, and a paid review/press-release service.
- What they do
- Reviews and rates crypto exchanges, wallets, and projects across five weighted categories (security, trust/transparency, fees, product breadth, ease of use) and publishes a numeric overall score alongside long-form educational content.
- What to watch for
- It does not appear to run independent hands-on, funded testing of each exchange; by its own disclosure many review links are affiliate links that pay it a commission, and it charges projects a fee for review/press-release coverage, which critics say creates a conflict for a self-described "unbiased" reviewer.
- Composite score
- 2.00 / 5.00 → grade C-
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Coin Bureau's review pages carry an affiliate disclosure: 'Some links in this Coinbase review may be affiliate links. If you choose to use a service through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you,' and disclose a five-category 0-5 scorecard (security, trust and transparency, fees, product breadth, ease of use) with an overall 4.8/5 score for Coinbase, based largely on reviewing the exchange's own materials rather than independent hands-on testing. Source: Coin Bureau — Coinbase Review →
- Coin Bureau offers a paid review/press-release service: 'To manage demand, we charge a fee that helps cover writing, research, SEO, and design...' with payment in advance and non-refundable, while stating 'All reviews are written from an educational and critical perspective. Submitting a request does not guarantee a positive review.' Source: Coin Bureau — Review Inquiry →
- Coin Bureau began in 2017 as an educational blog covering blockchain and crypto, co-founded by Guy Turner, and launched its YouTube channel in January 2019; it is independently operated with Nic Puckrin as CEO and Guy Turner as Chief Content Officer, with no parent company disclosed. Source: Coinweb — Coin Bureau profile →