Bybit Review

Security and licensing

Bybit was founded in 2018 by CEO Ben Zhou and moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2022. It is privately held. Its licensing map is uneven: it is authorised as a crypto-asset service provider in Austria under the EU's MiCA regime (May 2025), holds a virtual asset platform operator authorisation from the UAE's securities regulator (October 2025), and carries a Mauritius FSC registration, but it is blocked in the United States, left UK retail in March 2021 after the FCA banned crypto derivatives, and has drawn warnings or enforcement action in Japan, Hong Kong, Ontario, Malaysia and Thailand.

On 21 February 2025 attackers drained about 400,000 ETH (roughly $1.5 billion) from a cold wallet during a routine transfer, the largest exchange theft on record. The FBI attributed it to North Korea's Lazarus Group, which compromised Safe{Wallet} infrastructure to alter the multisig transaction. Bybit stayed solvent, kept operating and refilled its reserves within 72 hours with liquidity from Galaxy Digital, FalconX and Wintermute. No customer losses were reported.

Trading fees

Spot trading costs 0.10% for both makers and takers at the base (non-VIP) tier, in line with Binance and cheaper than Coinbase or Kraken for casual users. The real draw is derivatives: USDT and inverse perpetuals charge 0.01% maker and 0.06% taker at the base tier, so a $10,000 position costs $1 to post and $6 to take. VIP tiers cut both numbers further as 30-day volume rises, and holders of larger balances get additional discounts; Bybit does not publish the full VIP volume ladder outside its logged-in fee dashboard.

There are no deposit fees for crypto. Withdrawals carry a fixed per-coin network fee that Bybit sets and updates with network conditions - for example roughly 0.0005 BTC or the equivalent of about 10 USDT on stablecoin withdrawals - so check the current amount before sending small balances. Card purchases of crypto go through third-party processors and cost noticeably more than moving stablecoins in from another exchange, so the cheapest route is usually a USDT or USDC transfer. Funding rates on perpetuals are paid between traders every eight hours and are not an exchange fee.

Coins and products

Bybit runs spot, margin, USDT and USDC perpetuals, inverse contracts, dated futures and options from one Unified Trading Account, so a single collateral balance supports every product. Standard perpetuals offer up to 125x leverage, and a small set of assets go higher under the Smart Leverage label. Options are settled in USDC and cover the major coins. The matching engine is a genuine strength: it handled the volatility during the 2025 hack without going offline.

The spot catalogue is broad, though we could not confirm an exact coin count, and it sits behind Binance in both listings and depth on long-tail pairs. Beyond trading, Launchpool staking pays rewards for locking tokens, Earn products cover flexible savings and dual-asset structures, and copy trading lets you mirror ranked master traders with a chosen allocation. A demo trading environment is available for practising strategies before risking real money.

Deposits and withdrawals

Crypto deposits are free and credited once the network confirms them. Fiat comes in through card purchases and bank transfers in supported regions, with EUR, GBP, BRL and ARS among the currencies mentioned by third-party reviews; availability depends on your country, and residents of the EU are served through the MiCA-licensed entity. Withdrawals are processed in batches several times a day, and each coin has a fixed network fee that Bybit publishes on its fee page.

The weak point is compliance friction. Trustpilot's 7,600-plus reviews average 2.6 out of 5, and the dominant complaints are withdrawals held for compliance review, accounts frozen for weeks and templated responses that do not explain what triggered the hold. Bybit replies to almost every negative review within a day, but users still describe long waits. Keep a whitelist of withdrawal addresses, avoid sending funds from mixers or flagged sources, and do not park more on the exchange than you need for active trading.

Support

Bybit offers 24/7 live chat inside the app and on the website, plus email through support@bybit.com and a large help centre with fee tables, product guides and incident updates. Responses for routine questions such as deposit tracing or 2FA resets are generally quick, and the company was praised for the frequency and openness of its updates during the February 2025 incident, including a live-streamed briefing by the CEO.

The gap appears when a case moves to the compliance team. Reviewers consistently report generic answers, no timelines and no named contact once an account is under review. There is no phone line we could verify. Bybit maintains an active presence on X and Telegram for announcements, but these channels are not a substitute for a ticket. If you hit a hold, submit full documentation in the first reply to avoid another round trip.

Who is it for

Bybit suits active derivatives traders who want tight perpetual fees, high leverage and a matching engine that holds up in fast markets. It also fits people who want to copy experienced traders or earn yield on idle coins without leaving the exchange. EU residents get a MiCA-licensed entity, which is more than many offshore rivals can say.

It is a poor fit if you live in the US, UK, Japan or another blocked market, if you want the deepest spot order books and widest altcoin list, or if you are uncomfortable holding funds on a venue that lost $1.5 billion to a state-backed hacking group, even though customers were made whole. Anyone who relies on quick access to funds should weigh the volume of frozen-account complaints. Treat Bybit as a trading venue, not a long-term wallet, and keep two-factor authentication and address whitelisting switched on.