Bybit Lands Full Dubai Spot-Trading License From VARA

Bybit has secured a full virtual asset service provider license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, authorizing spot trading services for retail, qualified and institutional investors — but the exchange can't switch the service on yet.

The company said Thursday that its Dubai entity, Bybit Fintech FZE, received the VASP license for exchange services, including spot trading. VARA's public register lists the new license as active.

That marks a step up from the in-principle approval the entity previously held. A Bybit spokesperson said the earlier approval was non-operational and did not permit the firm to serve customers in Dubai.

What still stands between Bybit and launch?

A license on the register isn't the same as a live trading desk. The spokesperson said Bybit must still complete VARA's launch process and meet operational requirements before it can begin spot trading services. The company did not provide a launch date, leaving the timing question open.

That distinction matters for anyone tracking Dubai's crypto market structure. VARA runs a staged licensing regime where firms progress from initial approval through to operational status, and each stage carries its own conditions. Bybit now holds the authorization; the operational green light is a separate milestone.

The license permits the exchange to serve three categories of clients — retail, qualified and institutional investors — once services go live, according to VARA's register.

How does this fit with Bybit's federal UAE license?

The Dubai permit adds a second regulatory pillar to Bybit's UAE footprint. In October 2025, the exchange secured a full Virtual Asset Platform Operator license from the Securities and Commodities Authority, the UAE's federal regulator. That license sits with a separate entity, Bybit Virtual Asset Platform Operator LLC.

The two regimes don't overlap neatly. Bybit's SCA service restrictions exclude Dubai from the jurisdictions its SCA-licensed entity can serve, which means the federal license never opened the emirate's market to the exchange. The new VARA license is what covers Dubai specifically.

When asked how the VARA license differs from the SCA approval, and whether the earlier federal license permitted services in Dubai, the spokesperson declined to comment.

Why Dubai keeps pulling in exchanges?

The approval tightens Bybit's position in a jurisdiction that has built a dedicated crypto regulator from scratch. VARA, established under Dubai's virtual asset framework, licenses exchanges, brokers and other virtual asset service providers directly, and its public register has become the reference point for checking which firms can actually operate in the emirate.

Bybit now waits on the operational phase. Until it clears VARA's launch process and satisfies the regulator's operational requirements, the license authorizes spot trading but doesn't deliver it — and no launch date has been put on the table.