Bybit’s Dubai VASP Licence Still Shuts Out Derivatives

Bybit Fintech FZE now holds an active VASP licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for spot Exchange Services, dated June 20 on the public register. The exchange published the news on October 22, 2026. Derivatives are not on the permit.

Peter Loo, chief legal and compliance officer, still wants that second nod, and the September tape shows why. Derivatives were 8.24 times Bybit’s spot volume, the product Binance already lists a few floors down at One Central.

Exchange Services Only, Dated June 20

VARA’s register names the licensee as Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit), reference VL/26/10/003, status Active. The permitted activity is Exchange Services. The condition lets the firm serve retail, qualified and institutional investors. The office is listed at TO4-Floor 10-10.01, The Office 4, One Central, Dubai World Trade Centre, with the local site at bybit.com/ae/.

THE LICENCE ON VARA’S REGISTER

• The entity: Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit), CMA registration CMA-VASP-1000000-0006.
• The activity: Exchange Services, with no derivatives line on the face of the record.
• The clients: Institutional, qualified and retail investors.
• The dates: Issued June 20, 2026; announced by the company on October 22.

That Exchange Services dated June 20, 2026 entry is the legal fact under the press language. VARA’s public list showed 60 results when the Bybit record sat among active VASP licences and in-principle files. An in-principle holder still cannot serve clients. This one is marked Active.

Bybit’s own statement said the Dubai unit had secured a VASP licence for spot trading, and that it is trusted by more than 80 million users worldwide. The text gave no start date, no pair list and no onboarding window for Dubai clients.

A major milestone for Bybit in Dubai 🇦🇪

We’ve secured a VASP licence from VARA, strengthening our long-term commitment to the emirate’s digital asset ecosystem.

Read more: https://t.co/VHRrDAAHTx pic.twitter.com/WD3XFvef3V

— Bybit (@Bybit_Official) October 22, 2026

Ben Zhou, co-founder and chief executive, tied the nod to the 2022 headquarters move. “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,” he said in the company statement. On X he added that the licence was “another step in building for the long term,” with “trust, compliance and local commitment at the core.”

Bybit’s September Book Was $434.5 Billion in Derivatives

CoinMarketCap Research’s September exchange report put Bybit third among eleven tracked venues, with $487.2 billion in September volume and a 10.09% share. Spot was $52.7 billion. Derivatives were $434.5 billion, or 89% of that total, and 8.24 times spot. Bybit’s derivatives share of the tracked market was 10.69%.

SEPTEMBER 2026 VOLUME AT THREE EXCHANGES

Across those eleven venues, spot was $762.7 billion and derivatives $4,064.7 billion, for $4,827.4 billion in all. Loo did not need that table to describe the gap in Dubai.

In time, we also hope to expand our licensed activities to include derivatives, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. Derivatives are a major part of Bybit’s global trading business, and we want to bring more of our offering to Dubai through the appropriate regulatory process.

Peter Loo, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Bybit statement, October 22, 2026

The same report logged a $331.8 million net outflow at Bybit in the window to October 5, 72% of the $460.1 million in tracked outflows. That flow figure is a separate ledger from the volume mix. It does not change what the VARA line authorises.

Binance Has Held the Missing Permission Since 2024

VARA licenses activities, not brands. Exchange Services does not, by itself, authorise futures or perpetual swaps. Those sit on a separate line, written onto the register only when the regulator grants them.

WHO HOLDS WHAT IN DUBAI

• Bybit Fintech FZE: Exchange Services only, retail through institutional, issued June 20, 2026.
• Binance FZE: Exchange Services including VA Derivatives Trading, issued April 15, 2024, with derivatives limited to institutional and qualified investors.
• OKX Middle East Fintech FZE: VASP licence VL/23/12/003, issued September 17, 2024; the firm’s own disclosure states retail access to VA derivatives under a limited licence.
• Payward FZCO: Management and Investment Services plus Broker-Dealer Services, issued October 6, 2026, with no Exchange Services line on that register row.

Binance FZE’s address is One Central, The Offices 4, Level 5, Unit 501. Bybit lists Floor 10 in The Office 4 at the same complex. The rival that already has the derivatives line sits in the same development the new licensee just celebrated.

Binance’s conditions also confine margin trading to institutional and qualified investors under the exchange licence. Retail in Dubai can use Bybit’s new permit for spot. They cannot use it for the contracts that filled most of Bybit’s September book.

How Long the Dubai Licence Took

Bybit set its international headquarters in Dubai in 2022. VARA gave the local entity provisional, non-operational approval in August 2024 so it could finish the remaining tests. The register then dated the active VASP licence June 20, 2026. The company told the market on October 22.

THE DUBAI FILE

1. 2022: Bybit establishes its international headquarters in Dubai.
2. August 2024: VARA issues provisional, non-operational approval for the local entity.
3. February 2025: The federal Securities and Commodities Authority issues in-principle approval.
4. October 9, 2025: The SCA grants a Virtual Asset Platform Operator licence, which Bybit called a first for a crypto exchange.
5. June 20, 2026: VARA dates the active VASP licence for Exchange Services.
6. October 22, 2026: Bybit publishes the Dubai VARA approval and says derivatives still need a further nod.

The June-to-October gap is on the documents. Neither the register nor the company statement explains why the public notice landed after the issue date. Derek, Bybit’s regional head of MENA, called the VARA stamp “a major milestone for Bybit, but definitely not the finish line.”

The SCA Stamp Already Runs Across the Wider UAE

The Dubai permit does not sit on a blank map. On October 9, 2025, Bybit said it had secured the SCA’s Virtual Asset Platform Operator licence, covering regulated trading, brokerage, custody and fiat conversion for retail and institutional clients across the UAE. That federal track began with an SCA in-principle approval in February 2025.

VARA regulates virtual-asset activity in Dubai, including free zones, except the Dubai International Financial Centre. The SCA’s perimeter is the wider UAE outside that Dubai VARA patch and outside DIFC. A firm that wants onshore Dubai exchange services and mainland UAE coverage still needs both doors.

The 2025 SCA announcement also set a hiring target of more than 500 people across Abu Dhabi and Dubai. That plan is a year older than the VARA notice. It is the staffing story Bybit attached to the federal licence, not a headcount VARA published with VL/26/10/003.

Zhou used an October keynote to list five other 2026 licences and approvals, in the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. The Dubai file is the one that puts a VARA number on the headquarters city. It is also the one that still stops at spot.

Payward Cleared a Different Activity the Same Month

Payward FZCO, Kraken’s parent, received VARA licence VL/26/10/002 on October 6, 2026, for Management and Investment Services and Broker-Dealer Services. That is a different job from Exchange Services. Two large firms picked up active VARA records in the same October window and will draw on the same short Dubai list of compliance and risk leads.

The applause around Bybit’s post treated the stamp as a finish. A few recaps also billed broker-dealer and custody permissions the register does not give this entity. The record is narrower: spot exchange, three client classes, no derivatives line, no launch date in the statement.

Loo’s next filing is the one that would put Bybit’s actual book inside the emirate. Until VARA writes that line, the licensed Dubai venue is the smaller market, and the contracts that were 8.24 times its September spot volume stay outside the permit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Legal Entity Holds Bybit’s Dubai VARA Licence?

The licensee is Bybit Fintech FZE (Bybit), at Office TO4-Floor 10-10.01, The Office 4, One Central, Dubai World Trade Centre, with CMA registration number CMA-VASP-1000000-0006 and the local site listed as bybit.com/ae/. The licence reference is VL/26/10/003.

How Does a VARA Licence Differ From Bybit’s SCA Licence?

VARA is the Dubai regulator for virtual-asset activity in the emirate’s mainland and free zones, except DIFC. The SCA’s Virtual Asset Platform Operator licence, which Bybit obtained on October 9, 2025, is the federal track for the wider UAE outside that Dubai VARA perimeter. The two permissions cover different maps, not duplicate copies of the same desk.

What Is an In-Principle Approval From VARA?

VARA issues an in-principle approval so an applicant can finish remaining requirements. Holders of that status are prohibited from starting operations, conducting virtual-asset activities, or serving clients until they hold a full VASP licence. Bybit’s current register line is a VASP licence marked Active, not an in-principle file.

Does the VARA Permit Cover the Dubai International Financial Centre?

No. VARA’s own register text states that it is the authority across Dubai’s free zones and mainland except within DIFC, which is supervised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. A DIFC firm follows that separate rulebook even if it also holds a VARA licence through another entity.

Does Exchange Services Automatically Include Derivatives?

No. VARA treats exchange-traded derivative services as an express add-on, written onto the licence before those products can be offered. Binance FZE’s register line spells out “Exchange Services (including VA Derivatives Trading)” with extra client limits. Bybit’s line stops at Exchange Services.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of a licensing announcement and public register entries. It is informational only and does not constitute investment, trading, legal or regulatory advice, and it is not a recommendation to use any exchange or product. Readers should consult a qualified financial adviser and, where needed, a lawyer licensed in the UAE before acting on any virtual-asset service. Figures, licence statuses and product scopes reflect the cited company statements, VARA register pages and CoinMarketCap Research tables as published, and those records can change.