Bybit to discontinue services in France due to regulatory pressure

Global cryptocurrency exchange Bybit is winding down services in France effective from August 13th.

The crypto exchange, which ranks top in terms of trading volume, wrote to customers in the European country as seen in the announcement on Thursday. The company said that “its main goal has always been to conduct business in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. Bybit is going to discontinue providing its products and services to residents and nationals of France ("French Users") due to recent regulatory developments from the French regulator.”

A timeline of the periods during which users in the country will not be able to access the services and products was also disclosed in the official announcement.

The announcement stated that effective from August 2, 2024, at 8:00 UTC, the account of all French users will be restricted to a "Close-Only" mode. This means that French users will not be able to open or add new positions, nor will they be able to purchase any kind of product. The One-Click Buy, Bybit Card, P2P, all Spot products, all derivative products, Copy Trading, Trading Bot, Bybit Earn, and Bybit Structured Products are among the products that are subject to this restriction. All deposits into your account will also be restricted at the same time.

The exchange stated that users should close all open positions across all products and start withdrawing assets and funds from their account, the announcement stated.

Additionally, as of August 13, 2024, at 8:00 UTC, all open positions that are still open across all products—including but not limited to all derivative products, all spot products, copy trading, active trading bots, Bybit Card, Bybit Earn products, and Bybit Structured Products—that are not closed at that time will be liquidated. Moreover, as of this date, all card services will be suspended. Only funds and assets from your account with us will be withdrawable as of this date, the post added.

Bybit made its decision in response to a warning against the company issued in May 2023 by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), a French financial regulator. The exchange was operating in the country without authorization, the regulator claims, even after being placed on a blacklist two years prior. Before providing services related to digital assets, such as running a cryptocurrency trading platform, digital asset service providers (DASPs) are required by French law to register with the AMF.

Notwithstanding its exit, Bybit in the announcement stated that it plans to return to the European country as soon as the appropriate licenses required to operate have been secured.

French regulators made it more difficult for cryptocurrency companies to get the proper licenses in August 2023 as a lead-up to the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework of the European Union, which goes into full operation in December this year.

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