Bybit gets Dubai VARA licence for spot crypto trading

A full licence for Bybit’s Dubai entity

Bybit has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) through its local company, Bybit Fintech FZE. In a press release dated 22 October, Bybit said the licence is for Exchange Services and covers spot trading, meaning the direct purchase and sale of crypto assets rather than contracts that track their price. The company promoted the news the same day on its official X account, calling it a major milestone for Bybit in Dubai.

Dubai has been Bybit’s international headquarters since 2022, according to the company. Chief executive Ben Zhou said Bybit plans to keep building its business there in line with the standards set by VARA.

What the VARA register shows

VARA’s public register now lists Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit) with a VASP Licence under reference VL/26/10/003 and a status of Active. The only licensed activity shown is Exchange Services. The register also lists a separate category, Exchange Services including exchange-traded derivative services, which does not appear on Bybit’s entry. The licence condition says the company may serve institutional investors, qualified investors and retail investors.

The entry gives the company’s principal place of business as The Office 4 at One Central in the Dubai World Trade Centre, links to bybit.com/ae as its website and lists a UAE Capital Market Authority registration number. One detail is unexplained: the register gives a licence issue date of 20 June 2026, while Bybit announced the licence on 22 October and has not said when it was formally granted.

The step matters because of how VARA licensing works. The regulator describes an In-Principle Approval as a conditional stage, and says applicants holding only that approval are strictly prohibited from starting operations or serving clients until they receive a full VASP licence.

Derivatives are a later, separate step

Derivatives such as perpetual futures and options are not part of this approval. Peter Loo, Bybit’s Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, said the company hopes “in time” to expand its licensed activities to include derivatives, “subject to the necessary regulatory approvals”, and described derivatives as a major part of Bybit’s global trading business. Bybit did not give a timetable or say whether an application has been filed.

For readers in Dubai, the practical reading is simple: the licensed offer from Bybit Fintech FZE is spot exchange services. Any derivatives product would need its own approval from VARA first.

What Bybit has not published yet

The announcement does not explain how Dubai residents will be onboarded to Bybit Fintech FZE, whether existing Bybit accounts held by UAE users will be moved to the local entity, or which assets and trading pairs the licensed platform will offer. It also gives no launch date for services under the new licence. VARA’s remit covers Dubai’s mainland and free zones but not the Dubai International Financial Centre, which has its own regulator.

Bybit placed the Dubai approval alongside other regulatory progress this year, saying its October keynote highlighted new licences and approvals in the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. The partner offer shown on this page is Exchange.news’s existing Bybit EU code for Bybit’s European platform; it is not an offer from the Dubai entity, and eligibility depends on where you live.