Bybit returns to UK crypto market after 2 years

• The exchange restarted access on Thursday, including spot trading across 100 currency pairs.
• FCA financial promotion rules introduced in October 2023 led several crypto firms to end UK operations.
• The UK government has said it intends to establish a crypto rulebook by 2027.

Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, says it has restarted services in the UK, nearly two years after tougher rules on the promotion and marketing of crypto products pushed firms to pull back.

The company, which says it has around 80 million users globally, relaunched UK access on Thursday with a set of products that includes spot trading across 100 currency pairs, reports CoinDesk.

The move comes as the Financial Conduct Authority continues to scrutinise how crypto services are advertised to British residents, while the UK government has signalled it wants a fuller crypto rulebook in place by 2027.

Why Bybit left and what changed

The FCA tightened its financial promotion regime for crypto advertising in October 2023, triggering a wave of operational changes across the industry and prompting several firms to end UK activity.

According to CoinDesk, Bybit said its return is built around meeting FCA financial promotion standards, with an emphasis on clearer communications and transparency for UK users.

The company is not licensed in the UK, but says it is operating within a framework designed to comply with the FCA’s requirements for promotions.

That framework matters because, under the rules, crypto marketing aimed at UK consumers must be approved by an authorised firm unless an exemption applies.

What UK users can access now

Bybit said UK customers can again use its services, including spot trading across 100 currency pairs, notes CoinDesk.

The exchange described the restart as a reopening of UK services rather than a limited pilot, positioning it as a return to the market after the regulatory shift.

Bybit’s policy team framed the UK as a market with a sophisticated financial ecosystem and a clearer regulatory direction, saying the exchange intends to introduce products tailored for UK users while prioritising transparency and compliance.

How Archax is enabling compliant crypto promotion

To support its UK activity, Bybit will operate and market its services via London-based crypto exchange Archax.

Archax holds a specific FCA permission that allows it to approve financial promotions, a route that can enable unauthorised firms to legally market and provide services to UK consumers.

Archax said it is supporting Bybit’s compliant access to the UK market and pointed to prior work helping other large exchanges, states CoinDesk,  including Coinbase and OKX, reach UK users without needing their own authorisation.

What the 2027 crypto rulebook signal means

Alongside the FCA’s stricter approach to promotions, the UK government has said it intends to establish a crypto rulebook by 2027.

That announcement has fuelled expectations of a more defined operating environment for exchanges, even as marketing standards remain a key gatekeeper for consumer-facing activity in the near term.

Industry watchers see the arrangement as another test case for how large global crypto platforms re-enter the UK without holding direct regulatory authorisation under evolving financial promotion oversight regimes globally.