Bybit is looking to expand its presence in Türkiye far beyond traditional crypto trading.
CEO Ben Zhou says the company wants its Turkish operation to eventually become a financial “super app” offering services such as payments, international transfers, stablecoin transactions and broader investment products.
The plan reflects Bybit’s wider strategy of moving beyond the standard crypto exchange model and building a more complete financial platform.
However, many of the proposed services would require additional regulatory approvals in Türkiye, and the company has not announced specific launch dates or confirmed licenses for those products.
Bybit wants to build a financial super app in Türkiye
Zhou described Türkiye as one of the most important crypto markets globally for international exchanges.
He said Bybit wants to expand its local platform so users can eventually handle more of their financial activity in one place.
Potential services could include:
- Crypto trading
- Stablecoin payments
- International money transfers
- Traditional investment products
- Services for corporate clients
- Payment infrastructure
- Custody products
Zhou described the long-term goal as turning Bybit Türkiye into a “super application.”
The company has not yet provided a detailed product roadmap for Türkiye or confirmed when these services could become available.
Bybit’s strategy goes beyond crypto trading
The Türkiye plan fits with Bybit’s broader 2026 expansion strategy.
During the year, the company has been moving into areas such as payments, foreign-exchange products, traditional asset derivatives, custody and cross-border financial services.
This suggests Bybit increasingly wants to position itself as more than a cryptocurrency exchange.
Instead, the company appears to be building toward a platform where users could potentially access both crypto-based and traditional financial products through one ecosystem.
Türkiye could become an important market for testing that strategy, particularly because of its already high level of crypto activity.
Stablecoin payments could become a major focus
Payments are expected to be one of the key parts of Bybit’s Türkiye strategy.
Zhou highlighted the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions, especially among businesses.
He said Türkiye could become one of the largest markets for corporate stablecoin payments.
That statement reflects Zhou’s assessment rather than an independently verified global ranking.
However, previous blockchain research has shown that stablecoin activity is already significant in Türkiye.
Chainalysis research previously found that Türkiye ranked highly in stablecoin transaction activity relative to the size of its economy.
That makes stablecoin-based payments and international transfers a logical area of interest for exchanges looking to expand beyond trading.
Bybit Pay could support the payments strategy
Bybit has already been developing payment infrastructure in other markets.
The company has connected Bybit Pay with more than 300 wallets, exchanges and financial platforms through Mesh.
This infrastructure is designed to let users spend or transfer crypto from exchange balances.
The model could potentially support similar products in Türkiye.
However, availability would depend on local regulations.
A payment product may require different approvals from those required for running a cryptocurrency trading platform.
That means Bybit would likely need additional licenses before introducing certain payment or money-transfer services.
Expansion depends on Türkiye’s licensing framework
Bybit’s growth plans remain closely tied to Türkiye’s developing crypto regulations.
Bybit Kripto Varlık Alım Satım Platformu AŞ appears on the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye’s list of firms that have declared their intention to continue operating.
However, the regulator describes this as a temporary operating list.
Being included on that list does not mean the company has received full authorization under Türkiye’s crypto rules.
That distinction is important.
Bybit has a local operating presence, but its status should not be described as a completed or unrestricted Turkish license.
Türkiye has tightened crypto regulation
Türkiye brought crypto asset service providers under Capital Markets Board oversight through legislation introduced in July 2024.
Further regulations that took effect in March 2025 introduced requirements covering several areas.
These include:
- Corporate organization
- Internal controls
- Risk management
- Technology infrastructure
- Independent audits
- Custody
- Token listings
- Capital requirements
- Proof-of-reserves reviews
The rules also require customer assets to be separated from the service provider’s own assets.
Customer cryptocurrency must be handled through authorized custody arrangements.
These requirements are shaping how international exchanges operate in the country.
AML rules have also become stricter
Türkiye has separately strengthened its anti-money laundering requirements for crypto businesses.
A MASAK framework introduced in June 2025 added stricter customer verification and transaction controls.
The rules included enhanced customer checks, waiting periods for some withdrawals and limits on certain stablecoin transfers.
Zhou said wallet controls, infrastructure security and customer protection have become important parts of the licensing process.
He expects local crypto companies to expand their products as regulations become clearer, while global exchanges will need to invest more heavily in localization.
Why Türkiye matters to Bybit
Zhou linked Türkiye’s strong crypto adoption to several factors.
These include its relatively young population, economic conditions and its geographic position between Europe and Asia.
Inflation has also played a role in the country’s crypto usage, according to Zhou.
Stablecoins in particular may appeal to users and companies looking for digital assets linked to major fiat currencies.
Chainalysis previously estimated that Türkiye received close to $200 billion in crypto value during the period covered by its 2025 regional research.
That made it one of the largest crypto markets in the Middle East and North Africa grouping used in that report.
Bybit has already localized its Türkiye platform
Bybit began expanding its Turkish offering before the current licensing framework was fully developed.
In September 2024, the company introduced direct Turkish-lira trading pairs.
These included TRY markets for assets such as Bitcoin, Ether and Tether.
Adding local-currency trading made it easier for Turkish users to move between crypto assets and the lira.
The next stage of the company’s strategy appears to involve building additional financial products around that local trading infrastructure.
Local exchanges and global platforms have different strengths
Zhou said Turkish crypto companies and international exchanges currently bring different advantages to the market.
Domestic platforms such as Paribu and BtcTurk have strong Turkish-lira payment connections and established relationships with local users.
Global exchanges, meanwhile, typically offer wider international product ranges and deeper connections with global crypto markets.
Bybit appears to see an opportunity to combine international infrastructure with a more localized Turkish platform.
Turkish banks could become partners
Bybit does not necessarily see traditional banks only as competitors.
Zhou said banks could potentially work with crypto platforms through partnerships.
Bybit could provide areas such as:
- Crypto technology
- Liquidity
- Custody infrastructure
- Blockchain integration
This could allow banks to provide digital asset services without developing all of the underlying technology internally.
Several major Turkish banking groups are already participating in the country’s developing crypto framework.
The regulator’s temporary list includes custody-related applications associated with institutions such as Akbank, Türkiye İş Bankası, Yapı Kredi and Garanti BBVA-related entities.
Bybit is using Europe as another model
Bybit’s European operations provide an example of how the company could expand beyond pure crypto trading while operating within a regulatory framework.
Bybit EU operates through an Austrian entity authorized as a crypto-asset service provider under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.
Its authorization covers specified services including:
- Crypto custody
- Crypto-to-fiat exchange
- Crypto-to-crypto exchange
- Crypto transfer services
However, Bybit EU has also noted that not every product falls under MiCAR supervision.
Product availability therefore varies by jurisdiction.
The company has increasingly directed eligible European users toward its regulated EU operation.
European licenses do not automatically apply in Türkiye
Bybit has also secured an Austrian electronic-money license through a payments subsidiary.
That provides another regulated route for electronic-money and payment services in the European Union.
However, European authorization does not automatically give Bybit permission to offer the same services in Türkiye.
Türkiye has its own licensing and regulatory requirements.
Any payments, stocks or other investment products introduced locally would need to meet those separate rules.
Bybit says the 2025 hack changed its security approach
Security is another important part of Bybit’s Türkiye strategy.
The country’s regulations place significant requirements on custody, technology systems and internal controls.
Bybit experienced one of the crypto industry’s largest security incidents in February 2025.
Approximately $1.46 billion was stolen during the attack.
The incident was linked to a compromised third-party wallet interface.
The FBI later attributed the attack to North Korea-linked TraderTraitor actors.
Following the breach, Zhou said Bybit significantly changed its security model.
Bybit says it now follows a zero-trust model
Zhou said the exchange is implementing what he described as a “zero trust” approach.
Under this model, systems do not automatically trust users, devices or external infrastructure simply because they are already inside the network.
Instead, access and activity are continually verified.
Bybit has also separated more of its wallet infrastructure.
The goal is to prevent a single compromise from exposing a large concentration of assets.
This represents one of the major lessons the company says it took from the 2025 hack.
Bybit says it blocked $700 million in potential losses
Bybit’s August 2026 security report said the exchange intercepted more than 30,000 suspicious withdrawal attempts during the first half of the year.
The company estimated that these attempts represented more than $700 million in potential user losses.
Bybit also said it now monitors all business-relevant onchain activity.
According to the company, its systems processed more than 100,000 security alerts with AI assistance.
These figures are reported by Bybit and represent the company’s own description of its security performance.
Bybit continues trying to recover funds from the hack
The exchange has also taken legal action connected with the 2025 attack.
Bybit filed a civil lawsuit in August against North Korea, the country’s Reconnaissance General Bureau and the Lazarus Group in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The exchange said it had recovered approximately $48.4 million and helped freeze more than $30.5 million across more than 28 exchanges and custodians as of the filing.
The recovery effort remains separate from the company’s broader strategy to strengthen wallet controls and security infrastructure.
What could a Bybit super app look like?
If Bybit eventually receives the necessary approvals, its Turkish platform could look very different from a conventional crypto exchange.
Users could potentially have access to crypto trading, payments, stablecoin transfers and other investment products from one account.
Corporate users could also gain access to international settlement or stablecoin payment tools.
Banks could potentially use Bybit as a technology or liquidity provider.
However, these remain plans rather than confirmed products.
Bybit has not announced specific launch dates or completed licenses for the full proposed service range.
What happens next?
The biggest factor shaping Bybit’s Türkiye strategy will be regulation.
Important developments to watch include:
- Final crypto licensing decisions
- New payment licenses
- Additional investment-product approvals
- Custody requirements
- Stablecoin rules
- Partnerships with Turkish banks
- Expansion of local TRY services
- Security and compliance requirements
Bybit’s presence on the regulator’s temporary list gives it a path to continue operating while the licensing process develops, but it should not be interpreted as final authorization.
The company’s super-app vision therefore depends on both regulatory approval and successful localization.
For now, Bybit’s Türkiye business remains primarily centered on crypto.
The longer-term ambition is much broader: combine crypto trading, payments, international transfers and investment services inside a single financial platform.
Whether that vision becomes reality will depend largely on which licenses the company secures and how Türkiye’s crypto rules continue to evolve.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
