Crypto exchange Bybit is pushing ahead with plans for full regulatory approval in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after suffering a $1.4 billion hack.
The company today said that it received in-principle approval from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to establish a virtual asset platform operator.
The approval puts Bybit in the final stages of securing a full operational license, moving it closer to offering digital asset services to retail and institutional investors in the UAE.
Bybit’s regulatory nod arrived just days before the exchange was hit by one of the largest crypto hacks in history. The $1.4 billion breach happened last week during a transfer between Bybit’s cold and hot wallets.
Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou called the approval a key step in offering “secure and transparent” crypto trading. He reiterated Bybit’s intent to collaborate with regulators to build a compliant digital asset space in the region.
Expanding beyond the UAE
Bybit isn’t stopping with the UAE. The exchange has been securing regulatory approvals worldwide, recently re-entering India, along with expansions in Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.
Bybit registered and resumed full services in the country after it paid a $1 million penalty issued by India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for previously operating without mandatory registration.
Bybit it adjusted operations in the European Economic Area (EEA) to comply with Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. The company is now working on obtaining a MiCA license in Austria.
Meanwhile, the French financial regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers, recently removed Bybit from its noncompliance list after blacklisting it in May 2022.
Bybit also ran into trouble in Malaysia, where the Securities Commission ordered it to cease operations in December 2024 for running an unregistered digital asset exchange.
