Bybit has secured a full Virtual Asset Service Provider license in Dubai, completing a regulatory process that previously limited its local entity to non-operational status. According to the official VARA public register, Bybit Fintech FZE is now an active VASP authorized to provide Exchange Services to retail, qualified and institutional investors. The regulator records the license as issued on October 20, 2026.
Bybit separately confirmed that the authorization currently covers spot trading. The Dubai license does not include derivatives, despite leveraged products forming a substantial part of Bybit’s broader international business. Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Peter Loo said the company hopes to expand its licensed activities to derivatives later, but any such offering remains subject to additional regulatory approval.
Full License Replaces 2024 Provisional Status
The authorization represents a material change from Bybit’s earlier regulatory position in Dubai. The exchange established its international headquarters in the emirate in 2022, but it did not receive its provisional, non-operational VARA approval until September 2024. That earlier approval allowed Bybit to progress through the licensing process but did not authorize it to provide regulated virtual-asset services to Dubai customers.
VARA now lists the local company under reference VL/26/10/003 with an active VASP license for Exchange Services. The regulator oversees virtual-asset activities across Dubai’s mainland and free zones except the Dubai International Financial Centre. The license therefore gives Bybit Fintech FZE a Dubai-specific regulatory perimeter rather than constituting a blanket authorization for every Bybit service worldwide.
That entity-level distinction also applies elsewhere in the group. Bybit obtained a full federal Virtual Asset Platform Operator license in the UAE in 2025 through a separate legal entity, while its European operations use additional regulated subsidiaries. The company has followed the same structure in Austria, where a Bybit subsidiary secured an electronic-money institution license while a different entity holds its MiCA authorization. A shared brand does not make the underlying regulatory permissions interchangeable.
Derivatives Remain Outside Dubai Authorization
VARA’s register lists Bybit simply for Exchange Services, unlike some other Dubai licenses that explicitly include derivatives trading. Bybit cannot infer permission for its global derivatives catalogue from the new spot authorization. The exchange continues to launch leveraged products elsewhere, including ARXUSDT and OUSDT perpetual contracts, but those listings do not establish availability through Bybit Fintech FZE in Dubai.
The distinction is similarly important for individual spot products. Bybit’s global platform continues adding assets, including the recent PONS spot listing, while its Dubai operation remains subject to local product eligibility and VARA requirements. A license for Exchange Services creates the regulatory framework for spot trading but does not automatically authorize every asset or product offered by other Bybit entities.
For Bybit, the immediate milestone is therefore narrower but more concrete than a general expansion announcement. Its Dubai entity has moved from provisional status to an active VASP license covering spot exchange services across three investor categories, while derivatives remain a future objective requiring separate regulatory clearance.
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