is bybit safe for a complete beginner in 2026?

hi, firstly looking for honest input here rather than the usual "all CEXs bad" comments.

i've been on coinbase since february buying small DCA amounts into btc and eth. thinking about switching or at least adding bybit because the fees on coinbase are killing my stack and a few friends recommended it.

read the last 3 months of posts about exchange safety, still have specific questions that i couldn't find clean answers to. so:

1. is it actually safe for someone who isn't going to trade futures or anything fancy?

from what i gathered yes, they have the same basic security stack as the big ones. 2FA (google authenticator, not SMS which apparently i should avoid), withdrawal address whitelist, anti-phishing code you set that shows up in real emails from them. i turned all of this on during signup. took me maybe 15 minutes.

1. how worried should i be about the hack from last year?

saw a post here a week ago where someone said basically "every CEX gets hit eventually, what matters is whether they cover users" and that reframe stuck with me.

apparently bybit did cover everyone and withdrawals never stopped. which is more than i can say for some platforms i read about during my research.

1. what about just not keeping coins on the exchange at all?

this is what i'm actually doing. bought a trezor safe 3 after lurking here for a while. anything i'm not actively planning to sell within a few weeks goes to cold storage. not your keys not your coins i know this is drilled into everyone on this sub but it's the rule i follow.

1. anything specifically beginner-unfriendly about bybit vs coinbase?

the app has way more stuff on it. copy trading, bots, earn products, a card, launchpad. i basically ignore all of it and stick to the buy/sell screen. felt overwhelming the first day but now it's fine.

anywayany glaring red flags i should know about before i do my first bigger buy there? appreciate the sub, learned a lot from lurking.