Keep in mind it’s a KYC only exchange. You need to KYC. Using a VPN is not a good idea, most likely will lead you to being blocked if you sign in from a different location than you opened your account in.
They also have free withdraws. Even during those periods of high fees the withdraws were free.
i can attest about the free withdraws in gemini exchange. and yes, you need to submit kyc requirements to use this exchange. i created on this one to get my BAT earnings instead of uphold. if for example, you want to transfer your BAT to binance exchange, they won't charge you any fee (remember, BAT is under ERC20 network in this exchange). uphold is known to charge good amount of fees as i've read from its users.
but not a coinbase user here so can't give a comprehensive feedback.
@OP, as suggested, contact the gemini's support. i believe they will help you with your prob. am currently using the sms auth on this exchange.