Quick Stats
✓ ~$3.5T
Reported 2024 spot + derivatives notional volume per CoinGecko aggregated exchange data. Bybit ranks behind Binance and ahead of OKX on most monthly derivatives league tables; the earlier marketing figure of $8T circulating in some 2025 decks conflated multi-year cumulative flow with annual volume.
✓ 60M+
Registered accounts worldwide as of mid-2025, up from roughly 20M at the end of 2023. Active monthly traders are a much smaller subset — Bybit does not publish DAU/MAU, but Similarweb session data suggests low single-digit millions of monthly visitors to bybit.com.
✓ 600+
Spot listings as of early 2026, alongside ~300 USDT-margined perpetuals, USDC perps, inverse contracts, options on BTC/ETH/SOL, and tokenised equity perps. Coverage of small-cap altcoins is broader than Coinbase or Kraken but listings can be delisted with 7–14 days' notice.
✓ 0.10% / 0.055%
Standard spot taker fee and USDT perpetual taker fee at the base VIP-0 tier. Maker rebates of -0.005% on perps are available from VIP-1 (≥$10M 30-day volume). Fees fall to 0.02%/0.05% on spot at VIP-Pro tiers; see Bybit's published fee schedule for the full ladder.
Our Verdict: 4.5 / 5
Bybit has rapidly established itself as one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges since its founding in 2018. With ~$8 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, over 50 million registered users, and a strong reputation in derivatives trading, it has become a serious competitor to the industry's biggest names.
The platform excels in three key areas: a clean, modern interface that makes derivatives trading accessible, a competitive fee structure matching Binance at 0.10% spot, and one of the best copy trading platforms in the industry. Its 600+ coin listings also make it attractive for altcoin hunters looking for new opportunities.
Where Bybit falls short is liquidity (thinner order books than Binance on most pairs), regulatory maturity (no SAFU-equivalent insurance fund, fewer global licenses), and fiat on-ramp options that are more limited for EU users. In this review, we break down fees, security, features, regulation, and who Bybit is best suited for.
Pros & Cons
✓ What We Like
600+ spot pairs with broader altcoin coverage than Coinbase or Kraken. Established copy-trading product with public leaderboards, position-size caps, and a master-trader profit-share model. Up to 100x leverage on major USDT perpetuals (BTC, ETH, SOL) and 50x on most mid-caps. Competitive base fees: 0.10% spot taker, 0.02% maker / 0.055% taker on USDT perps. Monthly Merkle-tree Proof of Reserves since December 2022 — one of the earliest post-FTX implementations. Customer balances were made whole within seven days after the February 2025 exploit, funded from the company balance sheet and a syndicated bridge loan, with no socialised losses or ADL events on perpetual positions.
✓ What Could Be Better
February 21, 2025 cold-to-warm signing exploit drained ~401,000 ETH (~$1.4B at the time), attributed by the FBI and on-chain investigators to North Korea's Lazarus Group — the largest single crypto exchange theft on record. Spot order-book depth still trails Binance and Coinbase on BTC, ETH, and most majors; slippage on $1M market orders is meaningfully wider. Founded in 2018, so a shorter operating history than Kraken (2011) or Coinbase (2012). Not licensed in the US, UK (FCA consumer-warning list since March 2022), or Canada (Ontario settlement, June 2022); the EU footprint depends on a MiCA CASP authorisation that, as of early 2026, is sourced via a single member-state passport rather than a pan-EU primary licence. No native fee-discount token comparable to BNB — claims that holding MNT (Mantle) confers BNB-style fee rebates are inaccurate; MNT is a separate L2 ecosystem token.
Bybit Fee Breakdown
| Product | Maker Fee | Taker Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Spot Trading | 0.10% | 0.10% |
| Perpetual Futures | 0.02% | 0.055% |
| Inverse Futures | 0.02% | 0.055% |
| Crypto Deposit | Free | Free |
| Fiat Deposit | Varies | — |
| Crypto Withdrawal | Varies | — |
VIP tiers: Bybit offers volume-based VIP tiers (VIP 1 through VIP 5+) that progressively reduce trading fees. High-volume traders can achieve maker fees as low as 0.005% on spot and 0.0000% on futures. Holding and staking Bybit's native token can also unlock fee benefits. VIP tiers: Bybit offers volume-based VIP tiers (VIP 1 through VIP 5+) that progressively reduce trading fees. High-volume traders can achieve maker fees as low as 0.005% on spot and 0.0000% on futures. Holding and staking Bybit's native token can also unlock fee benefits.
Security: How Safe Is Bybit?
Cold Storage, Multi-Sig, and the Feb 2025 Breach
Bybit states that the majority of user funds sit in offline multi-signature cold wallets, with hot/warm wallets sized to daily withdrawal flow. On February 21, 2025, attackers compromised a routine cold-to-warm Ethereum transfer: signers using the Safe{Wallet} (formerly Gnosis Safe) interface were shown a legitimate-looking transaction in their hardware-wallet displays while the underlying calldata had been swapped to delegate-call a malicious contract that re-wrote the Safe's implementation slot. ~401,000 ETH (~$1.4B at then-prices) was drained in a single transaction. The FBI (IC3 PIN dated Feb 26, 2025), Elliptic, and on-chain analyst ZachXBT attributed the theft to North Korea's Lazarus Group / TraderTraitor cluster. Cold reserves outside the signing flow were not touched. Bybit replaced the stolen ETH within 72 hours via a mix of treasury, partner loans (Bitget, MEXC, others publicly disclosed bridge transfers), and an OTC ETH purchase programme; the reserve ratio for ETH on the next monthly PoR snapshot (March 2025) returned to >100%.
Account-Level Controls
Supports TOTP via Google Authenticator, SMS 2FA (with known SIM-swap caveats), withdrawal email confirmation, withdrawal address whitelisting with a 24-hour cool-down on new addresses, anti-phishing codes for email, IP-based login alerts, and biometric login on iOS/Android. Passkeys (WebAuthn) rolled out in late 2024 and are now the recommended primary factor for new accounts. API keys can be scoped to read-only or trading-only and IP-whitelisted; sub-account isolation is supported for users running automated strategies separately from a main custody account.
Bug Bounty, Audits, and Post-Mortem Disclosure
Bybit runs a public bug-bounty programme on HackerOne with payouts raised to a maximum of $4M for critical findings after the February 2025 incident (previously $4,000 maximum — the gap drew significant criticism). External penetration tests are conducted by firms including Chaintech Labs and Hacken. The post-mortem from the Feb 2025 exploit was published in stages between February and April 2025 and pointed at a compromised developer machine in the Safe{Wallet} supply chain rather than a flaw in Bybit's own signing infrastructure; Safe issued its own incident report on Feb 26, 2025 corroborating that finding. Bybit subsequently moved to in-house signing tooling for large transfers and added blind-signing detection.
Proof of Reserves
Bybit has published monthly Merkle-tree Proof of Reserves snapshots since December 2022, making it one of the earliest post-FTX implementations. Each snapshot covers BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, and roughly 25–30 other major assets representing the bulk of customer balances; reserve ratios are published per-asset and have remained ≥100% on every monthly snapshot, including the post-hack March 2025 report. Users can verify their individual balance is included in the Merkle tree via a self-service tool in account settings. Limitations to keep in mind: PoR proves assets at a point in time, does not prove the absence of off-balance-sheet liabilities, and does not cover the full long tail of listed altcoins. It is a meaningful improvement over pre-2022 industry practice but is not a substitute for a full audited financial statement, which Bybit (as a private offshore entity) does not publish.
Important caveat: Unlike Binance, which maintains a $1 billion SAFU emergency insurance fund, Bybit does not have a publicly disclosed insurance fund of equivalent size. The February 2025 hot/warm-wallet exploit (~$1.4B in ETH) was covered by Bybit's own treasury, OTC purchases, and short-term loans from peer exchanges within 72 hours — but the absence of a pre-funded insurance reserve means any future incident would face the same ad-hoc replenishment risk. See our crypto security guide for best practices. Important caveat: Unlike Binance, which maintains a $1 billion SAFU emergency insurance fund, Bybit does not have a publicly disclosed insurance fund of equivalent size. The February 2025 hot/warm-wallet exploit (~$1.4B in ETH) was covered by Bybit's own treasury, OTC purchases, and short-term loans from peer exchanges within 72 hours — but the absence of a pre-funded insurance reserve means any future incident would face the same ad-hoc replenishment risk. See our crypto security guide for best practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bybit safe to use? +
How does Bybit compare to Binance? +
What are Bybit's trading fees? +
Can I use Bybit in the EU? +
Does Bybit require KYC? +
Derivatives & Leveraged Products — Important Risk Warning
Derivatives are complex financial instruments that carry a high risk of rapid capital loss. Leveraged trading (futures, perpetual contracts, margin trading, options) can result in losses that exceed your initial investment. The majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading derivatives.
You should carefully consider whether you understand how derivatives work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, or a recommendation to trade derivatives.
In the European Union, crypto derivatives are classified as financial instruments under MiFID II. Only platforms with appropriate MiFID II authorization may offer these products to EU residents. Regulatory treatment varies by jurisdiction — verify the legal status of derivatives trading in your country before participating.
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