Bybit vs Coinbase (2024): Fees, Features & Security

Bybit vs Coinbase, these two well-known crypto exchanges offer distinct experiences for traders. Bybit caters to those seeking derivatives trading with leverage, focusing on a more advanced feature set. 

Coinbase, a popular US-based exchange, prioritizes simplicity and regulatory compliance, making it a potential starting point for beginners. But which platform aligns better with your trading goals? Let’s compare their features, fees, security, and overall approach to find out.

Key Takeaways:

1. Bybit is a derivatives-focused cryptocurrency exchange known for its leverage trading, while Coinbase is a spot exchange offering a simple, beginner-friendly platform for buying and selling various cryptocurrencies.
2. Bybit is ideal for traders seeking advanced trading tools, higher leverage options up to 125x, and a wider variety of cryptocurrencies for trading.
3. Coinbase is a strong choice for US-based traders who prioritize regulatory oversight and the convenience of easy deposits and withdrawals through bank accounts.

Bybit vs Coinbase: Overview

What is Bybit?

Bybit is a popular crypto exchange established in 2018 that prioritizes derivatives and copy trading. With more than 20 million users across 160+ countries, it provides a secure platform for buying, selling, and trading digital assets.

One of Bybit’s main advantages is its speed and efficiency. The platform is capable of handling 100,000 tps with minimal price slippage. Additionally, it offers a variety of trading tools across spot markets (direct buying/selling of crypto), derivatives markets (contracts like futures and options), an NFT marketplace, and staking to earn passive income on your crypto holdings.

Bybit prioritizes security, safeguarding user funds with offline cold storage and employing multi-layered protection. The exchange also features a dedicated customer service team, available 24/7 in multiple languages, providing support whenever you need it. Read our full Bybit review for a more detailed guide.

Start trading on Bybit today and claim your $30,000 Deposit Rewards! Use referral code “59618” and sign up via our affiliate link to claim rewards.

[CTA Box]

What is Coinbase?

Coinbase is a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform founded in 2012. It offers over 241 cryptocurrencies for buying, selling, and trading, including major players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many others. As a publicly traded company, Coinbase provides transparency and legitimacy that sets it apart from Bybit.

It provides multiple products and services tailored to different user needs. Its flagship platform, Coinbase.com, is designed for easy and intuitive buying and selling of cryptocurrencies for beginners. 

Coinbase Advanced offers advanced trading tools for experienced traders, including real-time order books and charting capabilities. Coinbase Wallet is a separate application that acts as a self-custody wallet, giving users complete control over their crypto assets. The exchange is available in more than 100 countries and prioritizes regulatory compliance, working closely with relevant authorities to ensure it operates within established legal frameworks. See our full Coinbase review for more information.

Bybit vs Coinbase: Features comparison

Futures Trading

Bybit offers inverse perpetual futures and USDT-margined futures contracts on a variety of cryptocurrencies. Bybit’s perpetual futures contracts have no expiry date, making them suitable for longer-term holds. The use of inverse contracts means traders settle in the underlying cryptocurrency rather than a stablecoin. 

Bybit boasts high leverage options, up to 125x for some assets. Its funding rate mechanism, occurring every 8 hours, helps keep perpetual contract prices aligned with spot prices.

Coinbase, on the other hand, offers regulated cryptocurrency futures trading within the United States for qualified traders only. Their futures offerings focus on a smaller set of cryptocurrencies, currently Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Coinbase’s leverage is comparatively lower, a maximum of 10x for qualified individuals (higher leverage may be available for eligible institutions), potentially limiting risk exposure.

Related: Best crypto futures trading exchanges

NFT Marketplace

Bybit NFT marketplace supports different blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, BSC, Polygon, and Tezos blockchain. A core advantage of Bybit’s marketplace is its zero-platform fee structure, making trades notably more cost-effective. However, you will need to pay the network fees.

It offers a focus on early access to innovative NFTs, particularly those within the GameFi (gaming and finance) and metaverse sectors.

Coinbase also features an NFT marketplace for artists. But, it is still in the “Beta” phase. It supports only three blockchains, Ethereum, Base, and Polygon. 

Staking & Earn

Staking is a core mechanism of many cryptocurrencies that use a ‘proof-of-stake’ system. By staking your coins, you’re essentially helping to secure and validate transactions on the network. In return, you earn rewards in the form of additional coins. Bybit offers different types of earn products:

1. Flexible Staking: This option gives you maximum freedom. You can deposit your coins and start earning rewards right away. Best of all, you can withdraw your staked coins at any time if you need them. It’s like a high-yield savings account where you always have the flexibility to access your funds.
2. Fixed Staking: With fixed staking, you lock up your coins for a specific period (like 7 days, 30 days, etc.). In exchange for this commitment, you typically receive a higher interest rate than flexible staking.
3. Lending: It is like lending out your money to other users for a set period in exchange for interest. You deposit your chosen cryptocurrency, set your desired interest rate, and if someone agrees to the terms, your crypto is lent, and you start earning interest.
4. Crypto Loans: If you need access to cash but don’t want to sell your cryptocurrency, Bybit Earn has a crypto loans program. You put up your cryptocurrency as collateral and get a loan in a stablecoin. When you repay the loan plus interest, you get your crypto back.

Coinbase focuses on simplicity and user-friendliness across all its products, and its staking program is no exception. Coinbase supports a smaller selection of cryptocurrencies for staking, typically well-established coins like Ethereum, Algorand, and Solana. Staking on Coinbase is incredibly straightforward; simply hold a supported asset, and you may start automatically earning rewards. You can earn up to 10% APY on your holdings.

Coinbase Earn also has a unique educational component. You can earn small amounts of cryptocurrency by completing short quizzes and learning about different crypto projects. It’s a fantastic way to explore new assets while simultaneously earning some rewards.

Copy Trading

Bybit’s copy trading platform places a strong emphasis on transparency and ease of use. You can quickly browse ‘Master Traders’ based on metrics like their profit and loss (P&L) history, return on investment (ROI), risk preferences, and commonly traded pairs. It’s easy to filter your search to find traders matching your investment goals. 

Bybit offers both a manual copy trading mode, where you choose which trades to copy, and a Smart Copy Mode that automatically mimics the Master Trader’s positions.

One key advantage of Bybit is the flexibility in order management. You can set independent take-profit and stop-loss levels for your copied trades, allowing for more tailored risk management even with automation.

Coinbase, at the time of writing, does not offer a dedicated copy trading platform.

Bybit vs Coinbase Fees

Bybit Fee Structure

1. Spot Trading Fees: Bybit distinguishes itself with a simple maker/taker model. Makers, who add liquidity to the market, pay a fee of 0.1%. Takers, who reduce liquidity by taking existing orders also pay a fee of 0.1%. Users can get discounts based on 30-day trading volume.
2. Derivatives Trading Fees: Similar to spot trading, Bybit employs a maker/taker model for derivatives, keeping its fee structure transparent. As a maker on Bybit’s derivatives market, you pay 0.02%, and if you’re a taker, you’ll pay a cost of 0.055%.
3. Deposit and Withdrawal Fees: Bybit doesn’t charge any fees for depositing cryptocurrencies into your account. However, it charges withdrawal fees that vary depending on the specific cryptocurrency. These fees are dynamic, designed to cover the costs associated with network transactions on the relevant blockchain.

Coinbase Fee Structure

Coinbase takes a different approach to fees, with structures varying based on factors like trading volume, location, and payment method. 

On Coinbase Basic, the transaction fees vary based on the size of your transaction. Here’s how it works:

• For transactions of $10 or lower, the flat fee is $0.99.
• For transactions between $10 and $25, the flat fee is $1.49.
• For transactions between $25 and $50, the flat fee is $1.99.
• For transactions between $50 and $200, the flat fee is $2.99.

However, for transactions above $200, Coinbase charges a percentage-based fee (1.49% per order) instead of a flat fee. Coinbase also charges a spread fee, which is typically around 0.5% per order.

Coinbase Advanced applies tiered fees based on transaction volume. Taker fees range from 0.60% for transactions under $10,000 to 0.05% for transactions exceeding $400 million. Market makers fees start at 0.40% for lower volume transactions and decrease to 0.00% for transactions over $250 million.

Here is the Coinbase Advanced fees breakdown:

Coinbase charges different fees for depositing and withdrawing funds using various payment methods.

For deposits, using the ACH method incurs no fees. However, depositing via wire transfer in USD attracts a fee of $10 USD. Deposits made through SEPA in EUR carry a fee of €0.15 EUR, while Swift deposits in GBP are free of charge.

When it comes to withdrawals, ACH withdrawals do not incur any fees. However, withdrawing via wire transfer in USD carries a fee of $25 USD. SEPA withdrawals in EUR are free of charge. Finally, Swift withdrawals in GBP have a fee of £1 GBP.

Winner: Bybit is the clear winner with lower 0.1% maker/taker fees compared to Coinbase’s 0.4% maker and 0.6% taker fees.

Bybit vs Coinbase: Supported Currencies

Bybit stands out for its sheer volume of supported cryptocurrencies. With approximately 1,084 coins and tokens available and multiple trading pairs, it offers traders a wide range of choices.

This extends beyond mainstream assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to include smaller-cap altcoins, meme coins, and lesser-known tokens within the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) sector. 

In contrast, Coinbase takes a more curated approach with its roughly 241 supported coins. The focus on Coinbase lies primarily on established cryptocurrencies with a significant market presence and proven track records. You’ll find blue-chip assets as well as a selection of promising altcoins but may not have access to the newest or most speculative projects in the space. This strategy aligns with Coinbase’s emphasis on security and regulatory compliance.

Winner: Bybit cryptocurrency exchange supports over 1,084 cryptocurrencies, whereas Coinbase offers only 241 digital assets.

Bybit vs Coinbase: Security

Bybit takes digital security seriously and has deployed a variety of measures to safeguard its platform. Users are required to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) via SMS, email, or Google Authenticator, which adds a crucial extra layer of protection. 

Additionally, Bybit stores the majority of user crypto assets in “cold wallets”. These wallets are offline and disconnected from the internet, significantly reducing their vulnerability to hacking attempts. Transfers from Bybit’s wallets involve multi-signature addresses, meaning multiple approvals are needed to authorize a transaction. This setup reduces the likelihood of unauthorized access to the wallets.

Moreover, Bybit’s website is protected by SSL encryption, which is the industry standard for securing data transmitted online. You can also set up withdrawal address whitelisting and anti-phishing code to further enhance the safety of assets. Hence, Bybit is safe to use.

Much like Bybit, Coinbase also emphasizes 2FA for all user accounts. In line with best practices, they store approximately 98% of customer assets within secure offline cold storage vaults, minimizing the risk associated with keeping large quantities of cryptocurrency easily accessible online.

Coinbase goes a step further by geographically distributing its cold storage across safety deposit boxes and vaults worldwide. This distribution helps ensure that even in the unlikely event of a breach in one area, the majority of funds remain safe. Furthermore, Coinbase maintains crime insurance to protect a portion of the digital assets.

Bybit and Coinbase Licenses

• Bybit holds a Virtual Asset License from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
• It also secured a license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), allowing it to operate as a crypto exchange and custodian within the European Union.
• Bybit is also registered under the Astana Financial Services Authority, Kazakhstan.

On the other hand, Coinbase also holds several important licenses in the US. It is licensed as a Money Transmitter by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. 

Coinbase is also registered as a Money Services Business with FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). These licenses are essential for operating a cryptocurrency exchange within the United States. You can find all Coinbase Inc. licenses here.

Winner: Both cryptocurrency exchanges are highly secure with various security measures and adhere to regulatory standards. 

Conclusion

The verdict on which exchange, Bybit vs Coinbase, is superior depends entirely on what you need as a trader. If you desire advanced trading options like derivatives and leverage, and you prioritize lower fees, Bybit is likely a strong contender. 

Conversely, if you value simplicity and a beginner-friendly experience for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies with an emphasis on regulatory compliance, then Coinbase might be a better fit. Consider your experience level, the types of trades you want to make, and how important regulatory adherence is to you when making your final decision.

FAQs

Which is better, Bybit or Coinbase?

Coinbase is a well-established, US-regulated exchange known for its beginner-friendly interface and emphasis on security. It’s great if you’re new to crypto or prioritize ease of use and regulatory compliance. 

Bybit, on the other hand, is geared towards more experienced traders. It boasts advanced features like derivatives crypto trading, margin trading with higher leverage, and generally lower fees. If you want those features and don’t mind a slightly more complex interface, Bybit could be a good choice.

Can a US citizen use Bybit?

No, Bybit does not offer its services to traders living in the United States due to regulations. The platform strongly enforces this rule, stopping US residents from trading. Bybit also uses methods like blocking IP addresses to follow these rules. While some people might think about getting around these restrictions with a VPN, doing that could lead to serious consequences like having your account suspended or facing legal issues.

What happens if I use Bybit in the US?

Using Bybit in the US can lead to legal consequences and potential penalties. You might face account termination, the freeze of funds, or legal actions if found violating these regulations.

Which country owns Bybit?

Bybit is a global company. It was incorporated in Singapore and is currently headquartered in Dubai. The ownership of Bybit is not strictly tied to a single country. It has investors and users worldwide.