ByBit announced Thursday that it will withdraw from France due to recent regulatory actions by French authorities. The company said it will no longer offer products and services to French citizens and residents.
Starting August 2, ByBit will restrict French users’ accounts to “close-only” mode, prohibiting them from opening new positions or adding deposits.
French-based users have been instructed to close all open positions in all products and begin withdrawing their assets. Starting August 13 , all positions that remain open will be automatically liquidated.
In addition, card services for French customers will be suspended. These customers will still be able to withdraw the remaining funds from their ByBit accounts. The exchange said it still intends to re-enter the French market after obtaining the necessary regulatory licenses in accordance with French law.
France’s AMF blacklists ByBit, citing non-compliance with regulations
This comes after a warning issued by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), France’s financial regulator, in May, when investors were advised to avoid trading on ByBit. The exchange had been under the magnifying glass in France for non-compliance with current regulations. As a result, the French regulator added the platform to its blacklist on May 20, 2022.
“ByBit is not authorized to provide digital asset services in France.” – the notice reads.
In addition, the AMF stressed that ByBit was not licensed as a digital asset service provider (DASP) in France. The regulator also noted that it has the right to take legal measures to block access to the platform’s website.
ByBit added to list of suspicious exchanges in Hong Kong
The AMF issued a similar warning against Bitget in April, reminding users to blacklist it in November 2023. In March, Hong Kong’s markets regulator added ByBit to its list of suspicious cryptocurrency exchanges and placed several ByBit products on its list of suspicious investment products.
The Securitiesand Futures Commission (SFC) warned that investors risked losing their entire investment and said it was prepared to take enforcement action if necessary.
