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Regulation & Policy · 1 min read

Bybit Secures Dubai VARA VASP Licence for Spot Exchange Services

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority granted Bybit Fintech FZE approval to serve retail, qualified, and institutional investors.

Editorial oversight: Julian Mercer, Chief Editor
Neutral

At a glance In effect

What happened
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority granted Bybit Fintech FZE an active VASP license covering spot exchange services.
Why it matters
The license formally authorizes Bybit to serve retail, qualified, and institutional market participants under Dubai's regulatory framework.
Who is affected
Crypto investors and institutional market participants in Dubai using Bybit's exchange platform.
Takes effect
2026/06/20
What's next
Bybit plans to seek subsequent regulatory approval from VARA to expand its offering into derivatives trading.
Primary source
vara.ae: Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit) - VARA

Key points

  • Bybit Fintech FZE secured an active VASP license from Dubai's VARA to operate spot exchange services 1, 2.
  • The regulatory approval allows Bybit to serve retail, qualified, and institutional investors from its Dubai base 1.
  • Bybit plans to seek regulatory approval to offer derivatives trading in Dubai alongside its spot services 2.

Bybit Fintech FZE has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to operate exchange services 1, 2. The authorization permits the exchange to offer spot trading across retail, qualified, and institutional investor segments in the emirate 1, 2.

Public registry records from VARA indicate that the VASP license (reference VL/26/10/003) carries active status and was formally issued on June 20, 2026 1. Operating from its base at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Bybit operates under CMA registration number CMA-VASP-1000000-0006 1.

Expansion Strategy and Global Footprint

The licensing milestone comes after Bybit set up its global headquarters in Dubai in 2022 2. Bybit Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Peter Loo stated that the company plans to seek further regulatory permissions in the future to broaden its Dubai offering into derivatives, which represent a core segment of the platform's worldwide trading activity 2.

The Dubai authorization follows a series of international registrations for the platform. During an October 2026 presentation, Bybit Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou noted that the company secured five new regulatory licenses and approvals throughout 2026, spanning the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa, and El Salvador 2.

Questions this story raises

What services is Bybit licensed to offer under VARA?
Bybit Fintech FZE is licensed for exchange services covering spot trading for institutional, qualified, and retail investors.
Does Bybit have permission to offer crypto derivatives in Dubai?
Not under the current license. Bybit has indicated it intends to apply for regulatory permissions for derivatives at a later date.

Sources

  1. [1] Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit) - VARA — vara.ae, October 23, 2026
  2. [2] Bybit Secures VARA Licence for Exchange Services in Dubai — prnewswire.co.uk, October 22, 2026

Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.

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