Bybit will disable the withdrawal function in France from January 8

What’s new? Leading centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Bybit will stop providing custody and withdrawal services in France from January 8, 2025. Bybit cited the actions of local regulators, under the influence of which the exchange had previously already imposed restrictions on local users. The company urged French clients to withdraw funds from the platform before the said date.

Press release

What else is known? On January 8, users with assets of 10 USDC stablecoins or less will be charged a fee of 10 USDC, after which their accounts will be permanently locked.

Other users’ assets will be converted to USDC at the current exchange rate and transferred to Coinhouse’s regulated custodial partner platform, which will start charging a custodial fee: 0,16% of the value of the assets per month, but no less than 1 USDC.

The transfer process to Coinhouse will last from January 8 to January 16, during which time users will not be able to access assets.

Users who do not have a Coinhouse account will need to register and complete a KYC (KYC) process, providing the same documents as for Bybit. Once the account is verified, fees will not be charged on assets received from Bybit.

Back in August, the exchange announced its withdrawal from the French market due to the lack of necessary licenses. On August 13, the exchange closed all products for local clients and their positions, leaving only the ability to withdraw funds.

This came three months after the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) issued a warning that Bybit did not have local registration. The exchange itself has expressed hope to return to the French market once it receives the necessary documents.

The new press release emphasizes that the main task for the exchange remains to operate in compliance with all necessary regulatory requirements.

On December 6, the exchange stopped serving users in Uzbekistan with a similar wording. At the same time, the head of Bybit Ben Zhou confirmed earlier that the exchange serves clients in mainland China on condition of using VPN.