Bybit (Editorial Profile)
⚠︎ Risk warning: leveraged derivatives on unregulated platforms — you can lose everything you deposit. Not investment advice.
Bybit is one of the largest perpetual-futures venues in the world by volume, and for years it was the default answer to "where do people actually trade perps". For a European reader in 2026, the operative fact is different: there is currently no Bybit perps product lawfully available to EEA retail — and this site carries no referral links for Bybit anywhere (our methodology explains the policy; Bybit's own affiliate agreement in any case bars affiliates from every EEA state).
The essentials
| Global entity | Reportedly BVI/Seychelles-incorporated, Dubai-headquartered (corroborated by BVI FSC and Canadian tribunal documents; Bybit's own ToS entity clause not directly retrievable) |
|---|---|
| EU entity | Bybit EU GmbH, Vienna — MiCA CASP licence from Austria's FMA (2025); offers "Spot trading, Spot Margin trading", Earn and a card — no derivatives |
| EEA access | Global platform closed to new EEA sign-ups; existing EEA users were to migrate to bybit.eu or withdraw by 2026-07-01 — losing perps access in the process |
| Perps (global) | 100+ USDT-margined perpetuals plus USDC and inverse contracts; up to 100x (USDT majors) / 125x (select USDC) |
| Fees (base) | 0.020% maker / 0.055% taker (VIP 0, perpetual & futures; Bybit's own fee page) |
| Funding | Every 8 hours (00:00/08:00/16:00 UTC), adjustable by Bybit |
The EU picture: a platform in transition
Bybit took the licensing route — partially. Bybit EU GmbH holds an Austrian MiCA licence and runs bybit.eu from Vienna, but MiCA covers crypto-assets, not derivatives: the products Bybit's own pages list for bybit.eu are spot, spot margin, Earn and a card. For perps in the EEA, Bybit announced in September 2025 that Bybit X GmbH applied to Austria's FMA for a MiFID II investment-firm licence, which "would be permitted to offer regulated derivatives products… across the European Economic Area" — as of our check, we found no grant. If that licence lands, Bybit becomes a candidate for the regulated track; until then, EEA readers have no Bybit perps path, and the restricted-countries list on Bybit's own help center (updated May 2026) governs the global platform.
The February 2025 hack — and the recovery
On 21 February 2025 Bybit suffered the largest crypto theft on record: its own incident timeline puts the loss at "$1.46 billion" (401,347 ETH plus staked-ETH derivatives), taken from a cold wallet via a compromised multisig interface — the FBI attributed the attack to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The aftermath is genuinely notable: Bybit's CEO stated the exchange was solvent and client assets 1:1 backed, covered the hole within 72 hours via loans and OTC purchases, and kept withdrawals running. It is simultaneously the strongest case study for "offshore custody risk is real" and for "a large venue can absorb a catastrophic hit". Both halves belong in your risk model.
Also on the record
Ontario's Capital Markets Tribunal settled with Bybit Fintech Limited over operating an unregistered platform (disgorgement, 2023-era action), and the BVI regulator has stated the original BVI entity "has never been licensed or regulated" there and was dissolved in 2023. None of this is unusual for the offshore tier — which is precisely the point of the regulated/offshore split.
Bottom line for a European reader
Today, Bybit is not a decision you can make from the EEA: the global platform won't take you, and the EU platform has no perps. Watch the Bybit X MiFID application — it's the single event that would change this page. For live EU options, see OKX, Kraken, Bitstamp, Coinbase and One Trading.