Regulation
Bybit Opens Doors to Chinese Users Despite Regulatory Hurdles
Bybit removed China from the list of countries whose citizens cannot use its services.
CryptoSlate confirmed this development on June 5 via the exchange website and noted that the list still includes other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong.
It is unclear whether Bybit has secured a license to operate in China. However, market watchers believe the move could attract millions of Chinese users to the platform.
Today, Wu Blockchain reported that the cryptocurrency exchange is allowing Chinese users to register. The journalist added:
“Bybit’s competitors have essentially opened up registration to Chinese users. However, Bybit’s move has also caused panic among internal employees.”
According to CoinMarketCap, Bybit is the second largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, processing more than $4 billion worth of transactions in the past 24 hours. The foreign exchange reserve of the blockchain analysis company Nansen control Panel shows that customers hold over $7 billion worth of assets on the platform.
As of this writing, Bybit has not commented publicly on the development or responded to requests for comment.
China’s anti-crypto stance
Bybit’s decision to establish a presence in China is unexpected, given the country’s strict regulatory stance towards the cryptocurrency industry. China initially banned crypto transactions in 2013 and extended the ban to cryptocurrency mining activities in 2021.
This anti-crypto regulatory environment has forced several crypto platforms, including Binance AND HTX (formerly Huobi), a cease to serve customers in mainland China after authorities banned foreign exchanges from providing services to mainland Chinese investors.
Despite the ban, relationships suggest that cryptocurrency traders in China have found alternative ways of participating in the cryptocurrency market. A chain of analysis relationship ranked China as the third Asian country with the most crypto activity, saying that Chinese cryptocurrencies received $86.4 billion worth of transactions between 2022 and 2023.