Bybit Secures Dubai VARA Licence for Spot Exchange Services

Crypto exchange Bybit has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from Dubai's regulator, VARA. The company announced it on Oct. 22: the licence is held by Bybit Fintech FZE and covers exchange services, meaning spot trading.

Details

According to Bybit's press release, the company has had its international headquarters in Dubai since 2022. Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said the emirate has made significant progress in building a regulatory framework for virtual assets, while Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Peter Loo stressed that a healthy market needs strong oversight and sound risk management.

Bybit cites more than 80 million users worldwide and five other licences and approvals in 2026, across the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. It hopes to extend its licensed activities to derivatives, subject to separate regulatory approvals.

Cryptonews reports that VARA issues separate permissions for exchange, broker-dealer, lending and custody activities, and that Loo is a former VARA general counsel who joined Bybit in August. We did not find a separate notice on VARA's own site at the time of writing, so the details rest on Bybit's statement and independent coverage such as Business Intelligence.

What it means for the market

For Bybit, the licence lets it offer spot services in Dubai under the local regime. In 2024 the exchange held only a provisional, non-operational approval from VARA.

The caveat matters: the licence covers spot only, while derivatives, a large part of Bybit's business, remain a stated goal. For live bitcoin prices see the daily brief; for background on picking an exchange read How to choose a crypto exchange.