Bybit Moves Into Retail Banking with 'My Bank' Accounts, Betting on Fiat On‑Ramp Growth

Bybit revealed plans to add retail banking capabilities to its platform, offering customers personal IBAN accounts and the ability to send and receive fiat across traditional banks. The offering is scheduled to begin in February and will include US dollar transfers at the outset, expanding to multiple currencies pending approvals. The exchange says customers who complete identity verification will be able to deposit funds, receive salaries, pay bills and trade digital assets under their own legal name. To deliver these features, Bybit is collaborating with established banking partners — publicly identified names include Qatar National Bank and DMZ Finance — and it has been linked to a licensed lender operating out of Georgia. The product is positioned as a bridge between conventional banking rails and crypto services, reducing friction for users who move money between bank accounts and exchange wallets. This push follows a period of reputational and operational stress for the firm after a major security breach in the previous cycle, which makes trust-building a central challenge. From a regulatory perspective, the launch will be conditional on approvals in the jurisdictions involved, and compliance complexity will rise as the company takes on standard banking functions. Operationally, offering IBANs and multi-currency transfers requires robust custody, anti‑money‑laundering controls and banking integrations that differ from pure exchange infrastructure. The market opportunity is clear: exchanges that can safely combine fiat banking with crypto rails can capture higher customer lifetime value and simplify on‑ramp flows. Yet the move also places Bybit in direct competitive overlap with challenger banks, payment platforms and other exchanges seeking similar partnerships. Success will hinge on three variables: the speed of regulatory sign‑offs, the strength of partner banks’ due diligence, and Bybit’s ability to demonstrate improved security and insurance for customer funds. If executed well, the service could accelerate retail adoption by lowering the technical barrier to using crypto alongside everyday banking. If approvals stall or controls prove insufficient, the initiative risks attracting regulatory scrutiny and could amplify reputational damage instead of repairing it.