Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit said on Thursday that its local unit, Bybit Fintech FZE, has received a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for exchange services, covering spot trading, according to a company statement.
VARA’s public register lists the license as active under reference VL/26/10/003, with Exchange Services as the only licensed activity and an issue date of June 20, 2026. The entry also carries a registration number with the UAE Capital Market Authority.
The license does not cover derivatives, which Bybit said are a major part of its global trading business. “In time, we also hope to expand our licensed activities to include derivatives, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals,” said Peter Loo, Bybit’s chief legal and compliance officer.
“Dubai has made significant progress in building a regulatory environment for virtual assets, and we are pleased to take this next step in our journey here,” said Ben Zhou, Bybit’s co-founder and chief executive.
Bybit set up its international headquarters in Dubai in 2022 and says it has more than 80 million users worldwide. The company said Zhou highlighted five new licenses and regulatory approvals in 2026, in the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador.
In October 2025, Bybit received a virtual asset platform operator license from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority, The National reported at the time.
The exchange suffered a theft of about $1.5 billion in digital tokens in February 2025, which the FBI attributed to North Korea.
