Bybit has obtained a full Virtual Asset Service Provider licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, allowing its local unit, Bybit Fintech FZE, to provide spot trading in the emirate. VARA’s public register shows the licence is active for Exchange Services and permits the company to serve institutional, qualified and retail investors.
The approval gives Bybit a fully operational footing in the city where it has maintained its international headquarters since 2022. But the licence is limited to spot trading, leaving derivatives, a core part of Bybit’s broader business, outside the current approval.
From preliminary approval to full operating status
The new licence follows two earlier steps that did not permit trading. Bybit first received a preliminary minimum viable product licence from VARA in June 2023, then a provisional licence in September 2024. Both were non-operational approvals.
That sequence meant the exchange was headquartered in Dubai but was unable to offer services to Dubai customers on a fully licensed basis for more than three years. The latest approval closes that gap, at least for spot market activity.
Spot only, while derivatives remain outside scope
The narrow scope of the licence is a significant detail. VARA’s register lists the approval for Exchange Services only, which means Bybit can launch spot trading in Dubai but not yet the derivatives products that have been central to its global platform.
Bybit chief legal and compliance officer Peter Loo said the company hopes “in time” to add derivatives, subject to regulatory approval. He described derivatives as “a major part of Bybit's global trading business,” underlining that the Dubai licence currently covers only part of the exchange’s wider offering.
Competitors moved earlier in Dubai
Bybit’s approval also comes after several major rivals had already secured active licences in the emirate. According to VARA’s register, Binance FZE has held a licence since April 2024 for exchange services that include virtual asset derivatives.
The same register shows active licences for other firms including OKX, Crypto.com, Deribit, Gate and HashKey. In that context, Bybit’s licence marks progress, but its present scope still leaves it behind Binance in terms of the products approved in Dubai.
Broader regulatory push and the next step
Bybit said the Dubai authorisation 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. The company also said it was pleased to take this latest step in Dubai as the emirate continues to build out its virtual asset regulatory framework.
The approval comes 20 months after hackers stole about $1.5 billion in virtual assets from Bybit in a theft the FBI attributed to North Korea. The next confirmed point to watch is whether VARA later extends Bybit’s Dubai licence to cover derivatives, which would bring its local offering closer to the scope already available to Binance.
Source: www.blockhead.co