Is Bybit Available in the US? What Bybit's Own Terms Say
No. Bybit's terms name the United States as an excluded jurisdiction, and the sentence that follows is the one that costs money: a false location lets Bybit close the account and liquidate open positions. Here is the clause, what happens when Bybit detects a US location, and what US traders use instead.
- No. Section 11.3 of Bybit's Platform Terms and Conditions, effective 2 September 2026, lists the United States among the Excluded Jurisdictions, and Bybit's help center page, updated 1 September 2026, names it first.
- If Bybit determines that you gave a false location or place of residence, the same clause lets it terminate the account immediately and liquidate any open positions.
- Bybit's own FAQ says users in a restricted country are logged out automatically. Orders and positions stay open, and closing them from there means asking Live Chat.
- A VPN does not fix this. It creates exactly the false location the clause describes, and your identity verification already shows where you live.
- Outside the US, the cost question is the taker fee: 0.055% at VIP 0, or 0.0385% after 30% cashback.
Search for this and most of what comes back is a VPN advertisement or a forum thread from years ago. The document that answers it is Bybit's own Platform Terms and Conditions, and the answer sits in a single paragraph, section 11.3. It names the United States, it took effect on 2 September 2026, and the sentence after the list explains what happens to an account that pretends otherwise. That second sentence decides whether you lose money, so this article spends more time on it than on the yes or no.
Is Bybit available in the US?
No. Bybit does not offer its services or products to users in the United States, and its terms say so by name. Section 11.3 of the Bybit Platform Terms and Conditions, effective 2 September 2026, lists the Excluded Jurisdictions: Australia, the United States, the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, France, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, the Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine, Sevastopol, Sudan and Syria.
The Service Restricted Countries page in Bybit's help center, last updated on 1 September 2026, carries the same restriction and puts the United States first. The two lists are not word for word identical, because the platform terms also name Australia and France. The United States is on both.
The first sentence of the clause reaches further than residence. Bybit's services may not be used "by or for the benefit of" anyone in a jurisdiction where Bybit is not authorized to provide them. There is no state-by-state carve-out anywhere in the text.
We also do not offer services or products to Users in a few excluded jurisdictions including the Australia, United States, the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, France, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine (currently including the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions), Sevastopol, Sudan, Syria, or any other jurisdictions in which we may determine from time to time to terminate the services at our sole discretion (the “Excluded Jurisdictions”). […] You understand and acknowledge that if it is determined that you have given false representations of your location or place of residence or your status as a Prohibited Party, the Company reserves the right to take any appropriate actions in compliance with this restriction or in compliance with the law of a relevant jurisdiction, including termination of any Account immediately and liquidating any open positions.
The clause as published, effective 2 September 2026. The list and the penalty sit in the same paragraph.
Why doesn't Bybit serve US customers?
Bybit is not authorized to serve the United States, and its terms tie the exclusion to exactly that. The clause covers every jurisdiction where providing the platform would be contrary to applicable law or "where we are not authorized", and Bybit lists no US license or registration.
Its licenses sit elsewhere. In Europe, Bybit EU operates from Austria under a MiCA license, and Bybit holds a virtual-asset license in the UAE. Most of what Bybit sells to active traders is derivatives, perpetual futures with up to 100x leverage on BTC, and US venues that offer crypto futures to retail customers do it through US-regulated entities.
So this is not a temporary block waiting for a deadline to pass. It sits in the general terms rather than in an announcement, and nothing in the text points to a change.
What happens if you use Bybit from the US anyway?
Bybit logs you out automatically once it detects you in a restricted country, and your orders and positions stay exactly where they are. That comes from Bybit's own account FAQ: users visiting a restricted country "will be automatically logged out of their account by the system", can log back in once they leave, and their orders and positions are not affected.
Not affected sounds reassuring until you hold a leveraged position. A position you cannot reach is a position you cannot manage, and the market keeps moving while you are locked out. The only route the FAQ offers for closing it from inside a restricted country is to contact Live Chat and give your consent for support to close it or cancel the order for you.
The harsher rule applies to residents rather than visitors. Section 11.3 says that if Bybit determines you gave false representations of your location or place of residence, it may terminate the account immediately and liquidate any open positions. Liquidation at a moment Bybit chooses, on positions you sized for your own plan, is the real cost behind this question.
- 1Bybit detects that you are in a restricted country
- 2The system logs you out of the account automatically
- 3Open orders and positions stay open and keep moving with the market
- 4Closing them from there means contacting Live Chat and giving your consent
Section 11.3: Bybit may terminate the account immediately and liquidate any open positions.
Does a VPN change the answer?
No. A VPN changes where your connection appears to come from, and that is the false location the terms describe. The clause does not use the word VPN. It does not need to, because it covers false representations of "your location or place of residence", and a VPN exists to produce one.
Verification closes the second door. Trading on Bybit requires identity verification, and a US passport or a US proof of address puts your residence in Bybit's records whichever server you connect through. A document on file outlasts any IP address.
The guides that rank for this question with step-by-step VPN instructions are mostly written by companies that sell VPN subscriptions. None of the ones we read quote section 11.3. If you want the wider picture on how Bybit protects accounts and handles custody, our Bybit safety review covers it.
Which crypto exchanges work in the US?
US residents need an exchange licensed to serve them, which rules out every offshore derivatives venue in the grid below. The US-licensed list is a different set of companies, with Coinbase, Kraken and OKX US among them. OKX runs its US business as a separate entity: according to OKX US, it serves 44 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico, and New York is not on that list.
The offshore side is just as clear. Bybit, MEXC, Bitget, Phemex, BloFin, Bitunix and WEEX all name the United States in their own terms or restricted-region notices, and we have covered the MEXC and Bitget clauses separately. These are also the exchanges Trade Reclaim pays cashback on, so this section has nothing to sell a US reader.
For a longer comparison of the US-licensed options, our Coinbase alternatives guide covers fees and US availability for each of them.
- Coinbase
- Kraken
- OKX US
- Bybit
- MEXC
- Bitget
- Phemex
- BloFin
- Bitunix
- WEEX
If you trade on Bybit outside the US
Outside the US, the number that decides what Bybit costs you is the futures taker fee. At VIP 0, Bybit charges 0.020% maker and 0.055% taker. On 5,000,000 USDT of monthly taker volume, that is 2,750 USDT in fees every month.
Part of that fee is already paid out by Bybit as affiliate commission. Trade Reclaim passes 30% of it back to you in USDT, which turns the 0.055% taker fee into 0.0385% and returns 825 USDT a month on the same volume. It never asks for your password, API keys or access to your trading account. Only your public UID links you to the cashback.
Traders in the EU sign up through Bybit EU. The full breakdown, including spot fees and withdrawals, is in our Bybit fees guide, and the calculator runs the same numbers on your own volume.
| Maker | Taker | |
|---|---|---|
| Bybit VIP 0 | 0.020% | 0.055% |
| With Trade Reclaim (30%) | 0.014% | 0.0385% |
Source: Bybit official futures fee schedule, verified 12 October 2026. Cashback is 30% of the fee, paid in USDT.
Trading on Bybit from outside the US? Take the fee rebate with you
Exchanges pay part of every trading fee back as affiliate commission. Trade Reclaim returns 30 to 50% of it to you in USDT, across 9 exchanges from one account, with no volume threshold.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to use Bybit in the US?
Bybit's own terms exclude US residents, and breaking them puts the account at risk whatever any statute says. Section 11.3 of the Bybit Platform Terms and Conditions lists the United States as an Excluded Jurisdiction, and Bybit reserves the right to terminate accounts and liquidate positions when a user misstates location or residence. Whether a specific trade breaks a US law depends on the product and your situation, which is a question for a lawyer. The practical answer does not change: the account is what is at risk.
Why can't I access my Bybit account or withdraw from the US?
Bybit logs users out automatically when it detects them in a restricted country, so the account cannot be reached from US soil. Its FAQ says orders and positions are not affected and that access returns once you leave the restricted jurisdiction. If a position needs closing or an order needs cancelling while you are still there, the official route is Live Chat, where you give consent for support to do it. For a US resident whose verification shows a US address, the account falls outside the terms altogether.
Can I use Bybit with a VPN in the US?
Using a VPN to hide a US location breaks Bybit's terms and exposes the account to termination. Section 11.3 lets Bybit terminate an account immediately and liquidate open positions if it determines that a user gave a false location or place of residence. A VPN also changes nothing about identity verification, where a US document already shows your residence. For a leveraged trader the cost lands at the worst time: an account closed with positions still open.
What can US traders use instead of Bybit?
US residents need an exchange licensed to serve them, such as Coinbase, Kraken or OKX US. OKX US serves 44 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico, and New York is not among them. Offshore derivatives venues, including Bybit, MEXC and Bitget, name the United States as restricted in their own terms. Check each venue's state list before you open an account, because US licenses often stop at specific state lines.
Can I use Bybit while travelling in the US?
No, a Bybit account cannot be used from inside the United States, even by a visitor. Bybit's FAQ says users visiting a restricted country are logged out automatically and can log back in once they leave. The logout does not touch orders or positions. If something needs closing during the trip, Live Chat can close positions or cancel orders with your consent.
The Trade Reclaim research desk tracks fee schedules, VIP thresholds and market access rules across the 9 exchanges we cover. Every figure here comes from an exchange's own terms or a regulator's own filing, checked on the date of publication, because a rate copied from a comparison site is a rate nobody verified.
Trade Reclaim earns from exchange referrals and shares most of it back to you as cashback. Education, not financial advice.