Cryptoupdated 36m ago2 min read
Bybit Secures VARA Licence for Dubai Spot Exchange Services Through Bybit Fintech FZE
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Bybit Fintech FZE secured a VARA license to offer crypto spot trading in Dubai. The license covers exchange services for spot trading and not derivatives yet.
Save coverage image
Explore source coverage 5 source types
Directory totals describe our source library, not outlets checked for this story.
Dubai spot trading license
Bybit secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider licence from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) that authorizes its Dubai entity, Bybit Fintech FZE, to offer exchange services covering spot trading. VARA's public register lists the licence as active and covering Exchange Services only, and the licence permits Bybit to serve institutional, qualified and retail investors. Bybit said the full licence follows two earlier, non-operational approvals, including a preliminary minimum viable product licence from VARA in June 2023 and a provisional licence in September 2024.
Bybit's chief legal and compliance officer Peter Loo said the company hopes "in time" to add derivatives, subject to regulatory approval, describing them as "a major part of Bybit's global trading business." Bybit's co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said, "Dubai has made significant progress in building a regulatory environment for virtual assets, and we are pleased to take this next step in our journey here."
Derivatives still excluded
Bybit told Cointelegraph that its previous in-principle approval was non-operational and did not permit it to serve customers in Dubai, while the new VARA licence is listed as active for exchange services including spot trading. Bybit said it must complete VARA's launch process and meet operational requirements before starting spot trading services, and it did not provide a launch date. VARA's public register lists Bybit Fintech FZE as an active licensee permitting spot trading, and Unchainedcrypto reported that the licence covers spot trading only and does not extend to derivatives.
Peter Loo said, "In time, we also hope to expand our licensed activities to include derivatives, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals," while the licence itself remains limited to exchange services. Bybit also said it has more than 80 million users worldwide, and it framed the Dubai approval as part of building for the long term in the emirate where it has kept its international headquarters since 2022.
Regulatory context and next steps
Bybit's Dubai spot licence arrives after hackers stole about $1.5 billion in virtual assets from Bybit in a theft the FBI attributed to North Korea, and the Blockhead report said the next milestone is whether VARA extends the licence to derivatives. VARA's register shows Binance FZE licensed since April 2024 with exchange services that include virtual asset derivatives, alongside active licences for OKX, Crypto.com, Deribit, Gate and HashKey, among others. FinanceFeeds said VARA's exchange-services authorization does not automatically extend the full product set available on Bybit's international platform to Dubai customers, and it noted that Bybit did not specify launch details or trading pairs in the announcement.
“Bybit said it hopes to expand its licensed activities in Dubai to include derivatives, subject to regulatory approval.”
Bybit said its Dubai milestone adds to five licences and regulatory approvals it has obtained in 2026 across the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. Bybit also said it has submitted a license application to Brazil's central bank, and CoinMarketCap reported that the exchange framed the Dubai approval as a step toward expanding licensed activities to include derivatives, subject to regulatory approval.