Bybit Enables Overseas Chinese Users to Access Crypto Trading Services

The digital asset trading platform Bybit has opened its doors to Chinese nationals living abroad, offering them access to its range of products and services, as reported by the South China Morning Post. This is conditional upon the individuals being situated in countries where Bybit operates.

Following updates to its terms of service under the Service Restricted Countries section last Friday, Bybit now permits Chinese expatriates to register using their Chinese identification or passports, as reported by SCMP.

Established in March 2018, Bybit has grown to become the world’s number two crypto exchange platform, just after Binance, with data from Coingecko indicating around 30 million monthly users. This is despite the fact that Bybit does not provide services to individuals from several regions including the United States, China, Hong Hong, Singapore, among others.

In May 2023, Bybit made the decision to withdraw from the Canadian market, in response to evolving regulatory measures in the country. That same year, it also ceased its operations in the United Kingdom.

Back in 2021, China intensified its clamp down on cryptocurrencies, enacting a ban on Bitcoin mining during June. Nevertheless, recent developments suggest a possible easing of their stance, with the introduction of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs trading in Hong Kong as of April.

While now open to Chinese expatriates, Bybit still maintains a block on IP addresses from within China and does not outline its approach to customers that may use VPNs to disguise their true location.

Bybit had not provided any comments on the matter immediately when approached by Decrypt.

Editing credits to Ryan Ozawa.