I recently made a Coinbase account to do some trading and to use their services that they provide to new users to earn some small amounts of crypto.
However, in order to "verify" my account, I have to give information such a photograph of my state ID and credit card info.
I'm not one to willingly give away such personal information... is this something I should feel comfortable doing?
No. Read this thread:
Why KYC is extremely dangerous and uselessCoinbase was also exposed for selling user data to third parties
in a scandal last year.
Unfortunately, regulators have been cracking down on exchanges, and most of them are now requiring KYC. If you want to avail yourself of centralized exchanges -- particularly reputable, fiat onramps -- it's hard to avoid. The decision to verify shouldn't be taken lightly, though, and I would minimize the number of exchanges you do so with.