Crypto exchange flagged for potential regulatory confusion
Crypto exchange Bybit has been added to Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Investor Alert List, a registry that flags entities which may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by the authority.
Bybit Fintech Limited and Bybit appeared on the MAS alert list on Wednesday, June 18, 2026. The list identifies entities and investment offers that may create false impressions of being licensed, authorized, regulated or registered by MAS. The alert list contained 910 records at the time of the addition.
Bybit is not licensed or regulated by MAS. The exchange already lists Singapore among its “Service Restricted Countries,” meaning users in the jurisdiction cannot access its services. MAS did not provide a specific reason for Bybit’s inclusion on the alert list.
The move follows a period of intensified MAS oversight of the crypto sector. In May 2026, MAS revoked the Major Payment Institution license of Bsquared Technology, a crypto liquidity provider, citing serious regulatory breaches including weaknesses in risk management and conflict-of-interest policies, and for providing false or misleading information.
Also in May 2026, Singapore police charged Zhu Juntao, former CEO of Hodlnaut, with six counts of fraud. Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto lending platform, suspended withdrawals in August 2022 following the Terra ecosystem collapse and was later ordered to liquidate. The platform had served tens of thousands of users before the suspension.
Singapore ranks among the world’s top jurisdictions for decentralized finance and institutional digital asset services, according to Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. The MAS Investor Alert List serves as a public tool to protect consumers from entities that may mislead them about regulatory status.
Bybit did not respond to a request for comment on the listing.
Context
The MAS Investor Alert List has been used to flag other major crypto platforms. Binance.com was placed on the list in 2021 according to The Straits Times, though a search of the list on Wednesday showed no mention of Binance among the 910 records.
