Singapore Tells Bybit "See You In Court" (Just Kidding, It's An Investor Alert List)

Bybit has been added to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's [MAS] Investor Alert List, a regulatory watchlist of entities that may be wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by the city-state's financial watchdog. MAS announced the addition on June 17, listing both "Bybit Fintech Limited" and "Bybit" on the investor alert database. The move does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing.

According to MAS, the Investor Alert List identifies persons or entities that, based on information available to the regulator, may be or may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed, authorized, or otherwise regulated in Singapore. The regulator notes that inclusion on the list does not automatically mean an entity has violated Singapore law, and that the list is not exhaustive. Based on publicly available information, Bybit is not licensed or regulated by MAS.

A day after the listing, Bybit said it was aware that Bybit Fintech Limited had been added to the IAL and was engaging with MAS "to better understand the basis for this listing." In a statement published on June 18, the exchange said it has maintained ongoing measures to prevent access by Singapore users, including restrictions in its Terms of Service and geo-blocking of Singapore IP addresses. "Bybit does not offer services to users in Singapore," the company said, adding that it has consistently engaged with MAS and remains committed to working collaboratively with regulators worldwide. Singapore is listed among the company's "Service Restricted Countries" on its website. Bybit was founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Ben Zhou. MAS has not publicly commented on the reasons behind the addition.

The development arrives amid continued regulatory scrutiny of major crypto exchanges worldwide. Bybit remains one of the largest digital asset trading platforms globally and has expanded beyond traditional crypto trading into products including tokenized equities and other financial offerings. Singapore has positioned itself as one of Asia's leading digital asset hubs while maintaining a strict licensing framework for crypto service providers under its Payment Services Act.

In other Singapore enforcement actions, MAS revoked the Major Payment Institution license of crypto liquidity provider Bsquared Technology in May after uncovering what it described as serious regulatory breaches, including weaknesses in risk management and conflict-of-interest policies, and after determining the company had provided false or misleading information on multiple occasions. Separately, Singapore police charged former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao in May with six counts of fraud for allegedly misleading customers about the crypto lender's exposure to the 2022 Terra ecosystem collapse; Hodlnaut suspended withdrawals in August 2022 and was later ordered to liquidate. The regulator previously placed Binance.com on its Investor Alert List in 2021, according to The Straits Times, though a search of the list on Wednesday did not show any mention of Binance among 910 records.