Points of Focus

• The MAS added Bybit to its Investor Alert List, warning that the exchange is not licensed to serve users in Singapore.
• Despite already blocking Singapore customers, the MAS moved to prevent confusion over Bybit’s regulatory status.
• A June 30 compliance deadline is pushing Bybit and Bitget to consider relocating staff to Dubai and Hong Kong.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) added Bybit Fintech Limited to its Investor Alert List (IAL) on June 17, 2026. The IAL flags entities that may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by the MAS. Inclusion does not mean Bybit has engaged in illegal activity, been banned globally, or been accused of fraud.

#InvestorAlert: Bybit Fintech Limited ; Bybit ; has been listed on our #IAL https://t.co/Qj2deLFzP3

— MAS (@MAS_sg) June 17, 2026

What it does mean is specific: Singapore users transacting on Bybit do so without dispute resolution protections, fund security oversight, or fair-dealing requirements that apply to licensed institutions. The MAS will not intervene on their behalf. 

At the time of writing, Bybit had not issued a public statement.

Bybit already restricts Singapore users; MAS acted anyway

Bybit geo-blocks Singapore IP addresses and explicitly prohibits Singapore residents in its terms of service. Those measures were insufficient for the MAS. The regulator’s position is that operational geo-blocking does not eliminate perception risk.

Users may access the platform through VPNs or assume that a prominent exchange founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Ben Zhou carries local regulatory standing. The alert closes that perception gap regardless of existing restrictions.

The June 30 deadline is creating pressure

The IAL listing arrives alongside a more consequential directive. The MAS has ordered all unlicensed digital token service providers to cease providing services to overseas clients from Singapore by June 30, 2026, covering firms operating within Singapore’s borders without a full Payment Services Act license.

Bybit and Bitget are both affected. Bitget is relocating staff to Dubai and Hong Kong. Bybit is weighing similar moves. The relocations reflect a reorientation of Singapore-based headcount rather than a full operational exit toward jurisdictions where licenses are held or being pursued.

In April 2026, Malaysia’s Securities Commission removed Bybit from its own investor alert list following regulatory engagement, a development Bybit cited as compliance progress. The Singapore addition reverses that momentum in a jurisdiction considerably more significant for institutional and professional counterparties.

Two important updates for Bybit in Malaysia.

1. Bybit has been removed from the Securities Commission Malaysia – Investor Alert List after constructive engagement and alignment with local regulatory expectations.
2. We also recently led funding into Hata, a dual-licensed crypto… https://t.co/tG2H3Pka3b

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) April 30, 2026

The IAL’s growing roster of major names

Binance was added to the MAS Investor Alert List in September 2021 after the MAS found it was providing payment services to Singapore customers without a license. KuCoin has also appeared on the list. Bybit’s addition places the world’s second-largest exchange alongside the world’s largest in the same public register.

The IAL carries over 900 entries spanning small investment scams to globally recognized operators. 

Bybit’s entry is not a fraud alert. The practical effect on Singapore users is identical regardless: The MAS has no obligation to protect them, and it has now said so in writing.