Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 2nd, 2026, Chainwire
Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, looks back at 2025 with highlights of mixed challenges and achievements. The exchange recounts its expansion from 50 million to 80 million registered users, global regulatory and compliance advancements, and trading highs across metrics amid market challenges. Despite the hacking incident in February, Bybit stood firm as the second largest centralized exchange, with 2025 marking the year it strengthened its ecosystem and solidified its position for future growth.
Global Regulatory Alignment
In July, Bybit’s Vienna-based operation secured full MiCA compliance across applicable EEA countries via local authorizations in Austria. In MENA’s blockchain and crypto hub, Bybit received the UAE’s first SCA Virtual Asset Platform Operator License in October, enabling full trading, custody, and fiat services nationwide. Bybit has also recently relaunched its services in the UK after a 2-year hiatus, now offering spot and P2P crypto trading for UK users by partnering with FCA-regulated Archax to comply with strict financial promotion rules, providing access to around 100 trading pairs.
Security: From Setback to Strength
In February 2025, Bybit faced a major cyberattack with approximately $1.4 billion in ETH stolen, in an incident linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. The attack proved to be the ultimate stress test for the exchange as it rose from defense to recovery and growth.
The platform ensured zero loss in client funds via its 1:1 reserve guarantee, restored reserves within 72 hours through partners’ support, and processed over 350,000 withdrawal requests in the initial 12 hours. The immediate actions taken not only helped Bybit avert the crisis, but also prevented the potential contagion effects across the crypto ecosystem.
In the aftermath, Bybit recovered BTC liquidity to $13 million daily in 30 days, surpassing industry benchmarks per Kaiko. In a report by Glassnode, analysts noted that ETH’s trading volume on Bybiy reached a new daily all-time high of $8.5 billion despite the hack during the summer rally, reflecting the unwavering community trust and Bybit’s operational resilience and financial depth.
The breach also prompted Bybit’s security taskforce to evolve and build towards a new infrastructure that contributes to industry-wide safety. A slew of over 50 security upgrades were conducted after 9 security audits within a month, establishing new trust benchmarks. With the establishment of the Lazarus Bounty program, Bybit offers an open invitation for experts to join the hunt and potentially help other victims of crypto-related cybercrime.
Bybit Spot: Early Access Strategy, Year-Round Breakout Listings
In 2025, Bybit Spot consolidated its listing strategies to effectively identify and list quality assets ahead of the hype and market saturation. The platform excelled at early discovery and advanced access for its users, connecting Bybit traders to emerging opportunities uniquely found on Bybit. In January, TRUMP recorded up to 548% gains on Bybit. Community-led DeFi project TUNA surged 2,637% on its first day of listing on Bybit, and MET hit 255% on day one. These results demonstrate Bybit Spot’s forward-looking listing strategy in unlocking early market trends.
In real-world assets (RWA) tokenization, Bybit Spot also remained at the industry forefront. The platform pioneered incorporating RWA assets like XAUT, with the asset reaching 127% in gains, and launched xStocks for on-chain U.S. equity trading, leading the tokenized equities trend. Additionally, Bybit Spot unleashed up to $40 million in total rewards through projects like NXPC and NIGHT, mobilizing market momentum into tangible returns for users.
Through strategies focusing on ahead-of-the-curve market entry, early access, and user-centric mechanisms, Bybit Spot concluded an exciting year of traders.
Trading Volume, Hybrid Trading, and Ecosystem Strategy
Throughout 2025, Bybit has sustained its No. 2 spot among exchanges by monthly trading volume. The momentum carried on during the relatively quiet winter trading season and the broader market downturn, recording a 24-hour spot trading volume of $9.1 billion on December 22, 2025.
Beyond the numbers, Bybit also intensified its all-inclusive strategies and ecosystem play. Now supporting all things on- and off-chain within one interface:
Whether traders are building a diversified portfolio in TradFi, gold, commodities, and crypto, seeking frictionless on-chain yield via Bybit Alpha and Bybit Earn, or going for the fully on-chain experience in Byreal, the Bybit ecosystem has it all.
WSOT: A Record-Breaking Year
Bybit’s flagship trading competition, the World Series of Trading (WSOT) 2025, featured a $10 million USDT prize pool, drawing record participation that earned Bybit a Guinness World Record title for the most participants in an online trading competition within 24 hours, with 71,765 unique active participants on August 27. WSOT 2025 generated $172.8 billion in total trading volume across 1,474 squads (up 288% YoY) and 520,451 traders from 202 countries and regions.
In this year’s WSOT, 300,000 USDT was pledged to blockchain education via the Bybit Rising Fund, empowering local communities with scholarships, hackathons and training.
Through inventive resilience and a collective growth mindset, Bybit turned 2025 around to be a year of quiet strength, celebrating over 80 million users by the end of 2025.
About Bybit
Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 80 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open, and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com.
