Singapore's Monetary Authority of Singapore added Bybit Fintech Limited and its platform Bybit to its Investor Alert List on June 17, making it the latest major crypto exchange to be publicly flagged as operating without a local licence. MAS did not provide a specific reason for the listing.
The Investor Alert List is a consumer protection tool, not an enforcement action. MAS uses it to identify entities "that may be or may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or in any other way authorised or regulated" by the central bank. The authority has been explicit that inclusion on the list is not a finding of wrongdoing, a fraud allegation, or a ban on global operations. What it does mean is that anyone using the platform in Singapore has no MAS protections or regulatory recourse if something goes wrong. Users looking for licensed platforms can check the MAS Financial Institutions Directory for entities properly authorised under local law.
The core issue is that Bybit does not hold the licences required to offer digital payment token services in Singapore. Under the Payment Services Act, firms need MAS authorisation to legally serve Singapore users. The exchange is not alone in this position, but its size and profile make the listing notable.
For most Bybit users, the practical impact is limited. The exchange already lists Singapore as a service-restricted country and has geo-blocked local IP addresses. It has not operated in any licensed capacity in the city-state, and had not issued a public statement in response to the listing by publication time.
The notable irony is that Bybit was founded by Ben Zhou, a Singaporean entrepreneur who built the exchange into one of the largest in the world by trading volume before relocating its operational base to Dubai. The exchange is now headquartered in the UAE and holds regulatory approvals across several jurisdictions – none of them Singapore.
Binance has been on the Investor Alert List since September 2021 , and KuCoin was added in February this year. Global scale or brand recognition does not substitute for local licensing, and offshore platforms that wish to serve Singapore users must obtain the relevant approvals under the Payment Services Act.
The listing also arrives at a complex moment for Bybit's regulatory standing in the region. In April, the exchange was removed from Malaysia's Securities Commission alert list following regulatory engagement – a sign that dialogue with regulators can yield results. Singapore's move goes in the opposite direction.
In May, MAS revoked the Major Payment Institution licence of crypto liquidity provider Bsquared Technology for serious regulatory breaches , including weaknesses in risk management and multiple instances of false or misleading information provided to the regulator. That case demonstrated the authority's willingness to act beyond warnings when standards are not met.
