Bybit to Launch Dollar Accounts With Partner Banks – Can Crypto Go Mainstream?
Bybit, the world’s second-largest crypto alternate by buying and selling quantity, introduced plans to launch dollar-denominated banking accounts by partnerships with licensed monetary establishments.
The Dubai-based platform will introduce “MyBank” accounts outfitted with International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) in February 2026, pending regulatory approvals, permitting clients to maintain balances in US {dollars} and 17 different fiat currencies.
The transfer positions Bybit to function extra like a neo-bank, reversing the standard trajectory of corporations like Revolut and Robinhood that added crypto buying and selling after establishing banking providers.
According to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, the accounts will allow seamless conversion between fiat and digital belongings. “The second that your pound or US greenback arrives, you possibly can select to switch it to crypto. That’s an enormous replace,” Zhou advised Bloomberg.
Banking Infrastructure Meets Crypto Trading
Bybit’s MyBank initiative will launch with assist from accomplice banks, together with Pave Bank, a Georgia-licensed startup lender, in accordance to Zhou.
The accounts will assist transfers throughout 18 currencies, and customers should cross “know your buyer” checks performed by each Bybit and its banking companions earlier than accessing providers.
The alternate emphasised that this represents a pure growth past its current ventures into commodities and inventory buying and selling by Contracts for Difference derivatives.
Zhou highlighted Bybit’s operational attain as a aggressive benefit throughout a January 29 keynote address titled “BUIDLing a New Financial Era,” the place he outlined the corporate’s 2026 roadmap.
The platform presently operates in over 200 jurisdictions, with partnerships spanning shut to 2,000 banks that assist its infrastructure, offering a basis for the banking product rollout.
The CEO burdened that “Crypto is the infrastructure for the brand new monetary system,” positioning the accounts as a bridge between conventional finance and digital belongings.
#KeynoteWithBen is LIVE!
A brand new monetary period begins. See what’s subsequent for Bybit merchants in 2026.
Watch Now: https://t.co/EIbHFpodeB https://t.co/4hgA9zosD8
— Bybit (@Bybit_Official) January 29, 2026
Institutional Push and US Market Ambitions
Beyond retail banking providers, Bybit plans to launch a custody product focusing on institutional traders, notably banks and huge traders concerned in tokenizing real-world belongings like property or shares on blockchains.
The transfer aligns with Zhou’s keynote emphasis on reaching “dominance in RWA buying and selling, prediction markets, and on-chain capital” as a defining 2026 milestone.
However, the alternate will keep away from prediction markets regardless of their current recognition, with Zhou citing “a variety of compliance challenges” which have stored centralized exchanges from getting into the area.
US growth looms as a strategic precedence beneath President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration, although Bybit would wish to accomplice with a licensed operator to enter the market.
Zhou confirmed the corporate is “wanting into” American growth and described a US public itemizing as a “long-term objective,” including: “We are getting increasingly more ready.“
The CEO disclosed that Bybit is presently in discussions with main banks about probably advising on an inventory effort.
The banking product launch follows a tumultuous 2025 that included a $1.5 billion hack attributed to North Korea, forcing Bybit to borrow from different platforms and deploy treasury funds to exchange roughly 515,000 stolen tokens, primarily Ether and its derivatives.
During the January keynote, Zhou mirrored on dealing with the incident with “radical transparency,” confirming the alternate maintained zero downtime and repurchased almost $300 million in tokens to guarantee no consumer losses.
The platform’s progress accelerated regardless of the setback, reaching over 82 million registered customers globally, in accordance to Zhou.
Bybit has secured regulatory licenses throughout a number of jurisdictions, together with a full Virtual Asset Provider Organization license within the United Arab Emirates and compliance with Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation in the European Economic Area by its Vienna-based entity.
The alternate’s asset inflows surged from $1.3 billion in Q3 2025 to $2.88 billion in This fall, in accordance to firm knowledge.
Looking ahead, MyBank accounts present Bybit’s guess that providing conventional monetary providers can speed up mainstream crypto adoption by eliminating friction between fiat and digital asset ecosystems.
Broader Industry Consolidation
Bybit’s banking push got here amid an intensifying competitors amongst main crypto exchanges as they merge digital belongings with conventional monetary merchandise.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto alternate, confirmed on January 23 that it submitted a Markets in Crypto-Assets license application in Greece as platforms rush to safe regulatory approval earlier than June 2026 transitional deadlines expire.
Binance can also be exploring plans to reintroduce stock trading 4 years after discontinuing the characteristic, in accordance to The Information, whereas it secured three Abu Dhabi licenses in December 2025 overlaying alternate, clearing, and broker-dealer actions for Binance.com operations.
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