UAE regulated Bybit prevented in 2026 more than $700 million in potential user losses

Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, intercepted more than 30,000 suspicious withdrawal requests in the first half of 2026, preventing what could have amounted to more than $700 million in potential user losses, according to its H1 2026 Risk & Security Report.

The figure is the clearest indicator yet of how Bybit is repositioning its security strategy after the February 2025 theft of approximately $1.46 billion in digital assets: from reactive incident response to faster, layered and intelligence-led defence.

In the report, covering January 1 through June 15, Bybit said the intercepted withdrawals affected nearly 20,000 users. Its average initial risk review time was 4.7 minutes, with 95% of reviews completed within 10 minutes.

The main takeaway: Bybit says it is building a security model designed to detect suspicious activity earlier, intervene faster and continuously adapt as attackers use more advanced methods, including artificial intelligence.

The security push also lands against a broader regulatory story. In the UAE, Bybit secured a full Virtual Asset Platform Operator License from the Securities and Commodities Authority in October 2025, becoming the first crypto exchange to obtain that licence and enabling it to offer regulated trading, brokerage, custody and fiat services across the country. The approval followed an In-Principle Approval from the SCA in February 2025 and earlier progress with Dubai’s VARA, where Bybit FinTech FZE received an MVP Preparatory License in 2023.

Europe has become another important part of the same compliance roadmap. Bybit EU GmbH received a MiCAR crypto-asset service provider authorisation from Austria’s Financial Market Authority in May 2025 and opened its European headquarters in Vienna, allowing it to passport regulated crypto services across 29 EEA markets. More recently, as MiCA’s transition period reshaped access to global crypto platforms in Europe, Bybit has been moving EEA users toward its dedicated, MiCA-regulated Bybit EU platform rather than serving them through the global exchange.