Bybit Review: Availability, Fees, Proof of Reserves and the EU Version

Verdict: Bybit is a derivatives-first exchange with low futures fees, monthly proof-of-reserves reports checked by the audit firm Hacken, and the record of surviving what was then the largest exchange theft on record, in February 2025, without halting withdrawals. It does not serve the United States, Canada, mainland China, Hong Kong or Singapore. EEA residents get a different, spot-only service from Bybit EU in Austria, where entry-level fees are far higher than on the global site.

This review uses Bybit’s own fee schedules, restricted-country pages, regulation guide and proof-of-reserves pages (read in November 2026), plus regulator records and the FBI’s statement on the 2025 theft. We do not quote live prices, and this is not investment advice. Crypto assets are volatile, and leveraged products can lose more than you expect very quickly.

Who runs Bybit, and which Bybit will you sign up with?

Bybit says its services are provided through separate legal entities, and no single authorisation covers its global operations. EEA residents are onboarded to Bybit EU GmbH, an Austrian company with a MiCA licence, through bybit.eu, which is a separate account from bybit.com. The UAE has its own operator, Bybit Virtual Asset Platform Operator LLC. Everyone else in a permitted country uses the global bybit.com platform.

Where is Bybit available, and where is it banned?

Bybit’s Service Restricted Countries page, updated 16 October 2026, excludes the United States, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Syria, Crimea and the non-government-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. It also refuses people on US, EU and UK sanctions lists and, with a narrow company exception, persons in Seychelles.

• United States: excluded. Bybit has no separate US company of the kind OKX and Binance run.
• Canada: excluded on both bybit.com and bybit.eu.
• EU and EEA: served by Bybit EU GmbH under its Austrian MiCA licence, which France’s AMF lists as passported into France from 28 May 2025. Bybit EU itself is not open to nationals of a separate list of countries (updated 7 May 2026), which includes Malta, Russia, Belarus, Malaysia, Canada and the United States, or to stateless people.
• United Kingdom: not on the global excluded list. Bybit’s own regulation guide notes that the UK is moving crypto firms into full FCA authorisation, with the application gateway opening on 30 September 2026. We could not confirm from a primary source which Bybit products UK residents can use today, so check the sign-up page for your country before depositing.
• Australia: not on the excluded list; product access depends on local rules, so confirm the terms shown to you at registration.

If you live in the EEA, our explainer on how MiCA regulation works covers what a MiCA licence protects, and our list of MiCA-licensed exchanges in Europe lets you compare Bybit EU with the alternatives.

Is Bybit safe after the 2025 hack?

On or about 21 February 2025 North Korean hackers stole about $1.5 billion in virtual assets from Bybit, according to an FBI public service announcement of 26 February 2025 that attributed the theft to the activity it calls TraderTraitor. Bybit kept processing withdrawals and has published monthly proof-of-reserves reports audited by Hacken since. The risk of holding coins on any exchange remains.

We cover the attack itself, how the cold wallet was compromised and what it changed for the industry, in our separate explainer: the Bybit hack explained. Here we focus on what the record means for someone choosing an exchange today. The short version: a well-capitalised exchange can absorb a large loss, but customers depend on that capital, and on the exchange’s honesty about it, when something goes wrong. Our guide to whether it is safe to keep crypto on an exchange sets out the general risks.

What does Bybit’s proof of reserves show?

Bybit publishes a proof-of-reserves report roughly once a month, each with an audit report from Hacken and open-source Merkle-tree code on GitHub (bybit-exchange/merkle-proof). Report number 41, with a snapshot taken at 06:00 UTC on 27 October 2026, put mainstream asset value at up to $17.3 billion. For bitcoin it showed 57,373 BTC of user assets against 58,643 BTC in Bybit wallets, a reserve ratio of 102%.

Bybit proves wallet ownership with a send-to-self transfer from each published address at a set time. User assets in scope include spot, futures, options and unified margin trading accounts plus funding accounts, and Bybit notes that open profit and loss, leverage and borrowing make the net value move slightly. Like every proof of reserves, this shows assets at a snapshot; it does not show the company’s wider debts.

What else is on Bybit’s regulatory record?

Bybit’s licence map has changed often, and several regulators have acted against Bybit entities over the years. Rather than repeat claims we could not confirm against a primary source, we point you to the checks that matter: the country exclusions above, the FMA authorisation for Bybit EU and the AMF white-list entry for France. If you are outside the EEA, look up the local regulator’s register for the exact Bybit entity named in your terms.

What are Bybit’s trading fees?

On Bybit’s fee page updated 5 November 2026, a VIP 0 bybit.com user pays 0.10% maker and 0.10% taker on crypto-to-crypto spot pairs, and 0.02% maker and 0.055% taker on perpetual and futures contracts. Bybit EU has charged a single 0.25% VIP 0 rate since 5 October 2026. On an illustrative $1,000 spot buy that is $1.00 globally versus about €2.50 on Bybit EU.

Bybit’s fee page also says actual rates can vary by region and that the rate that applies to you is shown on the My Fee Rate page after identity verification. VIP levels are recalculated daily at 07:00 UTC. VIP 1 on bybit.com needs an asset balance of $100,000 or 30-day spot volume of $1 million, and cuts spot fees to 0.0675% maker and 0.08% taker. On Bybit EU the VIP 0 rate starts falling once 30-day spot volume reaches €100,000 (to 0.22%), €250,000 (0.20%) and €500,000 (0.15%).

Does paying fees in MNT reduce costs?

Bybit offers a fee discount for paying with MNT, the token of the Mantle network. The discount applies only to spot (including fiat pairs) and to USDT and USDC perpetuals and futures. It does not apply to Pro-tier users, API orders, liquidation orders, trading bot orders or copy-trading followers. Holding a volatile token to save a fraction of a percent on fees is a trade-off worth thinking through before you do it.

What does it cost to buy crypto instantly on Bybit?

Bybit’s menu lists One-Click Buy, recurring buys, Convert and a P2P marketplace labelled zero fees. P2P trades are with other users, so the price you agree is the cost, and the counterparty risk sits with you and the escrow rules. For card and bank purchases the fee and exchange rate depend on the payment method and provider shown at checkout. Always compare the quote with the spot order book before confirming.

How much does it cost to withdraw BTC or USDT from Bybit?

Bybit charges a network fee per withdrawal that it shows on the withdrawal screen for the coin and network you choose. The fee varies with network congestion, so the useful check is the live figure, not a table copied elsewhere. Bybit’s deposit and withdrawal status page on 7 November 2026 showed BTC withdrawals as normal and USDT and ETH as limited service, so check that page before you move funds.

For USDT, pick the network your receiving wallet or exchange actually supports. A transfer on the wrong network is one of the most common ways people lose stablecoins, and an exchange cannot always recover it. Sending a small test amount first costs one extra network fee and removes most of that risk.

What identity verification does Bybit require?

Bybit requires identity verification as part of its know-your-customer process in every market it serves, and says so in its regulation guide. Your fee rate, limits and product list are only confirmed after verification, on the My Fee Rate page and in your account settings. Bybit EU follows Austrian and EU anti-money-laundering rules, including the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation for transfers to and from self-hosted wallets.

Give accurate details. Bybit’s terms say that if you give false information about your residence or turn out to be in an excluded jurisdiction, it can close your account immediately and liquidate open positions. Using a VPN to sign up from a restricted country is the quickest way to have funds frozen at a bad moment.

Which Bybit products can you use?

On bybit.com the product list is broad: spot, spot margin, USDT and USDC perpetuals, inverse contracts, options, copy trading, trading bots, Earn and staking products, crypto loans, a launchpad, P2P, the Bybit Card and TradFi products such as stock tokens (xStocks) and CFDs. Bybit EU is much narrower, offering spot, spot margin, selected Earn products and the Bybit EU Card, with no futures or options.

How risky is trading futures on Bybit?

Perpetual contracts let you trade with borrowed money, so a small price move against you can wipe out your margin and trigger liquidation of the position. The low 0.055% taker fee applies to the full position size, not to your margin, so a leveraged position multiplies the fee in money terms as well as the risk. Funding payments between long and short traders are not counted as trading volume.

If you only want to buy and hold coins, spot is the simpler and safer product. Derivatives are where most retail losses on exchanges like Bybit happen.

How do you withdraw from Bybit to your own wallet?

Turn on two-factor authentication and Bybit’s withdrawal address allowlist, then send a small test before the full amount. In the app choose Withdraw, select the coin and the network your wallet supports, paste the address and check the first and last characters, review the fee on screen, and confirm with your second factor. Check the deposit and withdrawal status page first if a coin shows limited service.

1. Set up your own wallet and write the recovery phrase on paper; never type it into a website or share it with anyone claiming to be support.
2. Add the receiving address to your allowlist and wait out any security hold.
3. Send a small test and confirm it on a block explorer.
4. Send the remainder.

Our guide to moving crypto from an exchange to your own wallet goes through each step. Use only bybit.com, bybit.eu or the official app listing: Bybit runs an Authenticity Check tool for its official channels because fake support accounts are common.

What are the main alternatives to Bybit?

For a similar derivatives-heavy global exchange, OKX and Bitget are the closest matches, and both publish proof of reserves. In the EEA, compare Bybit EU’s 0.25% entry rate with other MiCA-licensed platforms such as Kraken or Crypto.com. US residents cannot use Bybit at all and need a US-registered exchange instead.

For a broader shortlist see our hub on how to choose a crypto exchange.