Bybit Makes UK Comeback With Spot Trading and P2P Only
What Did Bybit Launch in the UK, and Under What Setup?
Bybit says it has rebegined services in the United Kingdom later than a 2-year pause, rolling out a UK platform with spot trading across 100 pairs and a peer-to-peer venue. The Dubai-based platform had stopped serving UK customers in late 2023 when the Financial Conduct Authority’s tougher financial promotion rules took effect.
The relaunch is not tied to Bybit securing its own FCA registration or authorization. Instead, Bybit says the rollout is being delivered under a promotions arrangement approved by Archax, a London-based crypto platform that is FCA-authorized to approve financial promotions. In practice, this route acts as a gateway for firms that are not FCA-authorized to market crypto services to UK consumers within the promotions regime.
Bybit describes the setup as a framework designed to meet and to increase transparency for UK users. The platform will operate and market its services under Archax’s approval, rather than under its own FCA license.
Investor Takeaway
Why Did Bybit Leave in 2023, and What Changed in the Rulebook?
The FCA tightened its financial promotion rules in October 2023, adding stricter standards for how crypto firms advertise to British residents and how onboarding and risk warnings are handled. The crackdown prompted several crypto firms to stop UK operations or change their marketing structures. Bybit exited the market around that shift and is now returning using a promotions-approval pathway rather than direct authorization.
The company’s UK offering excludes derivatives and other higher-risk leveraged products at launch. It also highlights prominent risk warnings around the possibility of losing all invested funds and the lack of protection under the or the Financial Ombudsman Service for most crypto activity.
In its messaging, Bybit links the reboot to the UK’s regulatory direction and a tightening environment around promotion compliance. “The UK is home to one of the most sophisticated financial ecosystems in the world, and its clear regulatory direction makes it an ideal environment for responsible innovation,” said Mykolas Majauskas, senior director of policy at Bybit. “In the months ahead, we aim to embody this innovative spirit by introducing new products tailored to the needs of UK users, always within a framework that prioritises transparency, and compliance.”
UK policy direction has also moved. The government has said it intends to establish a broader crypto rulebook by 2027, which would extend beyond promotion constraints into a more complete framework for supervision and conduct requirements.
Does UK Crypto Adoption Support a Re-entry Narrative?
Bybit’s announcement points to 8% engagement in UK crypto activity. That number intersects with a diverse angle from the regulator: the ownership has fallen to 8% from 12% previously, with fragileer appetite among newer users for speculative tokens. The identical figure can be read in two ways: either a stable base that still exists under tighter marketing rules, or a cooling market later than the 2021–2022 cycle and the 2023 promotions crackdown.
For platforms, the UK remains commercially attractive because of a large retail market, a deep financial services ecosystem, and a global payments footprint. The trade-off is heavier compliance friction: stricter promotion controls, tighter onboarding standards, and limited room for higher-risk product distribution to mass-market users.
What Questions Follow When a Platform Returns Without Its Own FCA License?
The Archax arrangement is central to Bybit’s UK re-entry. Archax holds a regulatory permission that allows it to approve financial promotions. That creates a route for unauthorized firms to market in the UK, but it also concentrates accountability around how promotions are reviewed, how customers are onboarded, and how risks are communicated.
Archax says it has provided similar support to other large platforms. “Archax is supporting Bybit’s compliant access to the UK market, building on our experience where we have previously assisted other , such as Coinbase and OKX, access the UK market without the need for their own authorisation,” said Ben Brown, chief compliance officer at Archax, via email.
Bybit’s UK rebegin is a test case for how far the promotions framework can stretch as a market-access route. The and P2P, with messaging focused on KYC/AML and promotion compliance. The next scrutiny point is product expansion: what can be added under this structure, and how the customer relationship is defined when the platform itself is not FCA-authorized.
