Exchange review · centralised · 3 min read · numbers checked 23 Sept 2026
Bybit review
The most open fee table and a good futures demo, from a company that won’t say clearly who it is.
By Learn Then Trade · Editorial standards
Our score
63/100
Commission is not an input
- Spot fee
- 0.1% / 0.1%
- Futures fee
- 0.02% / 0.06%
- Demo
- 50,000 USDT
- $1,000 round trip
- $2.00
Entry tier, maker / taker, from Bybit’s own fee pages.
Quick answer. The most transparent fees of the four — the full table is public, spot is 0.10% each side — and a demo account that teaches futures well. Against that: its own terms name two different contracting companies, no licence is published for the global site, and a US$1.46 billion hack in February 2025 (customers were made whole). Not available in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, France or mainland China.
Pick it if
You want to see every fee before you sign up, and learn how futures behave on a funded demo.
Skip it if
Anyone in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, France, Hong Kong or mainland China
Where it costs you
Its own terms name two different companies, no licence covers the global site, and it lost US$1.46bn to a hack in 2025.
Our score is 63/100 from six published criteria — but read the weakness first. It is what you would want a friend to tell you.
In this review
Who you are actually dealing with
This is the question Bybit answers least clearly. Its terms of service, effective 2 September 2026, give two different names for the company you contract with. Page 1 names Bybit Technology Limited. The definitions section names Bybit Virtual Asset Platform Operator – L.L.C – S.P.C. Bybit publishes no licence for the global company. The contract is governed by Singapore law, and the terms say your assets are "not insured by any Governmental Authority".
Bybit does hold licences for separate regional companies. Bybit EU GmbH is licensed under MiCA by Austria's FMA, which we confirmed on the regulator's site, but that licence covers the EU company only. A UAE licence has been announced; we could not verify its number. In 2022 Bybit paid US$2.47 million to the Ontario Securities Commission for operating in Ontario without registration.
The referral link on this site goes to bybitglobal.com. That is an official Bybit domain, pointing to the same site and the same terms as bybit.com.
What it costs
| Product | Maker | Taker | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot (entry tier) | 0.10% | 0.10% | 25% off if you pay fees in MNT |
| Perpetual futures (entry tier) | 0.02% | 0.055% | |
| Options | 0.02% | 0.03% |
Bybit publishes its full fee table without asking you to log in, which is the most open fee disclosure of the four venues we review. A spot round trip with market orders costs about 0.2% before spread.
Bybit is among the cheapest here: $2.00 in fees on a $1,000 round trip, against $16.00 at Kraken.
What can go wrong
- The largest hack on record. In February 2025 attackers took about US$1.46 billion in ETH and stETH from a Bybit cold wallet. They did it by spoofing the interface that staff use to sign multisig transactions, and the attack has been attributed to North Korea's Lazarus group. Bybit covered the loss from its reserves, bridge loans and over-the-counter purchases. Withdrawals kept working, and Bybit said it was back to 1:1 backing within 72 hours. Customers were made whole. The lesson is that even "cold" storage fails when the people signing are deceived.
- Proof of reserves. Bybit publishes one every month and names its auditor, Hacken, which puts it ahead of Binance and OKX on this point. Bybit's own caveat applies: it is "a point-in-time attestation" and "should not be considered a comprehensive financial audit".
- The insurance fund covers futures liquidations only. It does not protect your deposits.
- Your account. Bybit's controls are strong. Use a passkey, set an anti-phishing code and use the address book. New withdrawal addresses are locked for 24 hours, which buys you time if someone gets in.
Who can use it, and who can't
Section 11.3 of the terms excludes Australia, the United States, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, France, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, the occupied regions of Ukraine, Sudan and Syria. The help centre's list leaves out Australia and France. When the two disagree, the terms are what bind you, so we follow the terms.
UK: Bybit left the UK in October 2023 and returned in December 2025 with spot trading and P2P only. It says it is "not authorised, regulated, or registered by the FCA"; its UK promotions are approved by a third party, Archax. This site shows no Bybit link to UK readers.
If you have read the above
Open an account
Open the account, finish identity checks the same day, switch on a passkey or authenticator app before the first deposit — and spend your first week in the demo, then start with an amount you can afford to lose entirely.
Checking whether Bybit is offered where you are…
Education only. Most retail traders lose money.
Tools for learning
Bybit has a demo trading account for ordinary customers, funded with 50,000 USDT of play money. It is a good place to learn how perpetual futures behave, including funding payments and liquidation, before any real money is at risk. Support is slower: Bybit itself quotes 3–7 working days for some requests.
How do you set up Bybit safely?
An account is only as safe as its first ten minutes. In order:
- Turn on a passkey or an authenticator app — not SMS. See security basics.
- Set an anti-phishing code and a withdrawal allowlist before you deposit anything.
- Place your first orders in the demo: a limit order, a stop, and one small position you watch fill.
- Decide how much to leave on the exchange like you would size a position — read position sizing and custody and exchange risk.
How does Bybit compare?
Same checks, same date, side by side:
How we scored it: 63/100
Six criteria, 0–5 each, scored only from what the exchange and its regulators publish. Commission is not one of them. How we review
- Fee transparency5/5
The full fee table — spot, perpetuals, options — is public without a login.
- Security practices3/5
Named auditor (Hacken) on monthly proof of reserves and strong account controls — against the largest exchange hack on record, in 2025.
- Regulation and disclosure1/5
Its own terms name two different contracting companies, and no licence is published for the global one.
- Education3/5
A learning hub exists; useful, not independent.
- Usable by a learner4/5
Retail demo account with 50,000 USDT of play money — strong for learning futures mechanics.
- Support3/5
Channels are clear and a response time is stated — 3–7 working days, which is slow.