Bybit eyes neobank features with IBAN accounts rollout planned for February

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced Thursday that the crypto exchange plans to roll out IBAN-based fiat accounts as soon as February, positioning the platform closer to traditional banking and expanding its services beyond digital assets.

According to Zhou, the exchange aims to let users hold U.S. dollars, pounds, and other fiat currencies and move funds across borders, a step that would add “neobank” features and expand its reach beyond trading into payments and custody for a user base that now exceeds 81 million globally.

The planned accounts, branded as “MyBank,” will be issued with the support of partner banks, including Pave Bank, a lender licensed in Georgia, Zhou said. Each account will carry an International Bank Account Number, enabling transfers in and out across 18 fiat currencies. Access will be subject to know-your-customer checks conducted by both Bybit and its banking partners, with the February launch contingent on regulatory approvals.

A Bybit spokesperson confirmed the plans to The Block. “Bybit users can have their own personal IBAN to receive money and transfer assets out,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “When they deposit, they can choose which currency they want to choose, crypto or fiat. When they transfer out, they can transfer to their own account and third party account. We will firstly support USD and then other currencies.”

The spokesperson added that the company’s compliance team is working with relevant authorities and expects the necessary approvals to be granted next month. 

Institutional custody and US public listing

The planned launch is part of a broader expansion. Zhou said the exchange is developing a new custody product focused on banks and large investors involved in tokenizing real-world assets.

He said Bybit is also “looking into” U.S. expansion, which would require a licensed partner, and confirmed a U.S. public listing is a long-term goal. The company is in talks with major banks to advise on a potential listing, according to Zhou.

The developments follow a year marked by both growth and disruption for Bybit, the second-largest centralized exchange by trading volume, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

In February 2025, Bybit suffered a hack attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, with approximately $1.4 billion in ether stolen. According to a Jan. 2 company recap, Bybit used its treasury and partner funds to replace client assets, ensuring no customer losses under its 1:1 reserve guarantee. The statement said the exchange conducted over 50 security upgrades following nine audits in the month after the breach.

The same statement outlined advances in real-world asset tokenization, including support for tokenized gold through XAUT and the launch of xStocks, which provide onchain exposure to U.S. equities. Bybit also highlighted its partnership with Mantle as part of its broader tokenization and institutional strategy.

Riding on regulatory gains in 2025, Bybit said institutional inflows rose from $1.3 billion in the third quarter to $2.88 billion in the fourth, while assets under management in its wealth arm increased fivefold to $200 million. The exchange also relaunched its UK platform in December after a two-year hiatus, offering spot and peer-to-peer trading through a partnership with FCA-regulated Archax.

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