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Bybit grew up as the derivatives exchange that let you trade without an identity check. That ended on May 8, 2023, when Level 1 verification became mandatory for every product. It does not serve the United States, Canada or Singapore. And for privacy coins in particular, it offers a Monero price contract but no Monero you can actually hold.
None of that makes Bybit a bad exchange. When it lost about $1.4 billion to a hack in February 2025, it kept withdrawals open and paid everyone out within about half a day, which is more than most exchanges in our hack tracker managed. We list what it does better first. But if what you want is to swap coins without an account, or to end up with real XMR in your own wallet, Bybit is not built for that. CoinVast does that one job.
The one-sentence verdict: use Bybit, where it serves you, for derivatives and active trading; use CoinVast when the job is a private coin-to-coin swap without an account.
Plenty of "Bybit no KYC" advice still circulates from before 2023. Here is what actually happened since, with the source for each in the Sources section.
Bybit launches an XMRUSDT perpetual contract. It never adds a Monero spot market, so there is no XMR to deposit or withdraw, only a price to bet on.
Level 1 identity verification becomes mandatory for every Bybit product. Unverified users can only close positions, repay loans and withdraw, within daily and monthly caps.
Bybit announces it is leaving Canada, citing regulatory changes. Canada joins the United States and Singapore on its list of restricted countries.
The Dutch central bank, DNB, fines Bybit €2,250,000 for offering crypto services in the Netherlands without registration from October 2020 to September 2023.
India's Financial Intelligence Unit orders a ₹9.27 crore penalty for serving Indian users without registering. Bybit pays, registers, and returns to Indian app stores later that year.
Attackers drain about 401,000 ETH, roughly $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion, from a Bybit cold wallet. The FBI attributes it to North Korea. Bybit processes every pending withdrawal within about 12 hours and reports reserves still above customer balances.
Bybit EU GmbH receives a MiCA license from Austria's financial regulator, covering the 29 countries of the European Economic Area, with its EU headquarters in Vienna.
✓ and ✗ mark what’s better or worse for you, not a feature checklist. Bybit cells trace to its own pages, its public market list and the records listed in Sources.
| Feature | Bybit | CoinVast |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts and identity | ||
| Account required | ✗ Yes, full registration | ✓ No, and there is no account to create |
| KYC required | ✗ Level 1 ID for every product since May 8, 2023 | ✓ Never. The deposit is screened, not the person |
| Where it serves you | ✗ Not in the United States, Canada or Singapore, among others; EEA users go through its separate EU entity | ✓ No coverage map on a crypto-to-crypto swap; sanctioned regions excepted |
| Privacy coins | ||
| Monero (XMR) | ✗ Perpetual futures only. No spot market, so no XMR to buy, hold or withdraw | ✓ Native XMR, settled against our own Monero node |
| Zcash and Dash | ✗ No spot market for either in its October 2026 market list | ✓ ZEC (transparent addresses) and DASH supported |
| Own blockchain nodes | Not disclosed | ✓ Self-hosted BTC, LTC, BCH, DASH and Monero nodes |
| Custody and freezes | ||
| Who holds your funds | ✗ Bybit, in account balances | ✓ You. Coins pass through us only for the minutes a swap runs |
| If compliance flags you | ✗ Account restricted pending review, all balances included | ✓ The swap never starts; coins auto-return minus the network fee |
| Proof of reserves | ✓ Monthly, checked by Hacken; September 2026 report showed BTC 104%, ETH 103% | Nothing to prove beyond open orders; we show those on /reserves |
| Sanctions-list match | Account restricted under law | Held and reported, the single stated exception to auto-refund |
| Trading and features | ||
| Assets listed | ✓ Over 500 spot pairs, plus hundreds of derivatives contracts | ✗ 136 coins on 86 networks, every pair live |
| Derivatives, copy trading, bots, earn | ✓ One of the largest derivatives venues in crypto | ✗ None. Simple swaps at one fixed rate, locked at quote time |
| Fiat | ✓ Card, bank and P2P purchases in many currencies | ✗ No fiat, crypto to crypto only, on purpose |
| Fees | ✓ 0.1% base spot fee, lower at VIP tiers | A flat 2% spread, printed on every quote and locked at quote time |
| Trust signals | ||
| Operating since | ✓ 2018 | ✗ 2026. We are the new kid and we know it |
| Regulatory record | Fines in the Netherlands (2024) and India (2025) for unregistered service; MiCA license in the EU (2025) | Operating entity in formation; details publish on /trust when registered |
| Stress tested | ✓ Paid out every withdrawal after a $1.4 billion plus hack in 2025 | ✗ Too young to claim a track record like that. Our structure holds no balances to drain |
Perpetuals, futures and options with deep order books. Bybit is one of the largest derivatives venues in crypto, and CoinVast does not offer leverage of any kind. If you trade positions rather than swap coins, this is a different category.
On February 21, 2025, attackers took about 401,000 ETH from a Bybit cold wallet, the largest exchange theft on record. Bybit never paused withdrawals, cleared every pending request within about 12 hours, and its auditor reported reserves still above customer balances. Our exchange hack tracker shows how rare that response is.
Checked by the security firm Hacken. The September 23, 2026 report covered 50 assets and showed BTC at 104% and ETH at 103% of customer balances. Our proof of reserves tracker compares it with the other large exchanges.
A 0.1% base spot fee, lower at VIP tiers, across more than 500 spot pairs. For frequent traders that is much cheaper than our flat 2% spread, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Every Bybit product has required Level 1 verification since May 8, 2023: a government ID and a face check, stored by the exchange. EEA users who move to its EU entity go through that entity's own checks. Once you verify, your documents sit in a database you do not control.
The United States, Canada and Singapore are on its restricted list, alongside sanctioned regions, and regulators in the Netherlands and India have both fined it for serving users before it was registered. Reaching it through a VPN from a restricted country breaks its terms, and the whole balance is what is at stake if the account is flagged.
Bybit lists an XMRUSDT perpetual, which tracks Monero's price, but no Monero spot market. You cannot buy XMR there and withdraw it to a wallet. Its October 2026 market list has no Zcash or Dash spot pairs either. CoinVast settles Monero against its own node and sends real XMR to the address you choose.
On any custodial exchange, a compliance flag can restrict the whole account while a review runs, and after a large hack every exchange watches incoming and outgoing flows more closely. That is not malice; it is what holding customer balances looks like. Our frozen funds tracker logs how often it happens across the industry.
Our own fine print, stated just as plainly: CoinVast screens every deposit before the exchange starts. Pass means the swap runs and is final. Fail means it never starts and your coins auto-return minus the network fee, no documents. The one exception is a government sanctions-list match, which the law requires us to hold and report.
On Bybit, as on any custodial exchange, checks run while your money sits inside their system, so a flag lands on funds they are already holding, and restricting the account is the cautious move.
CoinVast inverts the order. The risk check runs at order creation, before you send anything. Pass and the swap runs to completion, final and never clawed back. Fail and it never begins; your coins auto-return minus the network fee, with the hash printed on the order page. At no point do we hold your money while deciding what to ask of you.
It is the difference between a swap that took ten minutes and a support ticket that says the review is ongoing.
Bybit charges a 0.1% base fee on spot trades, lower at VIP tiers, with withdrawal fees per coin on top. On pure trading cost a Bybit trader pays less than our spread.
CoinVast charges a flat 2% spread on every swap, locked the moment you create the order, with the payout network fee on its own line. On a $1,000 swap that is $20 of spread, printed before you commit. No tiers, no account. You can check our quote against any price index in ten seconds, and decide whether the trade is worth making before you send a coin.
No. Since May 8, 2023, Bybit requires at least Level 1 identity verification for every product. Accounts that never verified can only close positions, repay loans and withdraw, within daily and monthly caps. If you want to swap coins without handing over identity documents, you need a service that does not run accounts at all, such as a no-KYC swap.
No. Bybit lists the United States, Canada and Singapore among its restricted countries, alongside sanctioned regions. It announced its exit from Canada in May 2023. Using a VPN to get around a restricted country breaks its terms and puts the whole account balance at risk if it is detected.
No. Bybit has offered an XMRUSDT perpetual contract since December 2021, but it has no Monero spot market. A perpetual lets you bet on the price; it never gives you coins to withdraw to a wallet. Its October 2026 market list also has no Zcash or Dash spot pairs. CoinVast swaps native XMR, settled against our own Monero node, straight to your wallet.
Its response is the strongest point in its favor. After about $1.4 billion in ETH was stolen on February 21, 2025, Bybit kept withdrawals open, processed every pending request within about 12 hours, and its auditor reported reserves still above customer balances. It publishes a monthly proof of reserves checked by Hacken. No exchange can promise it will never be hacked; the useful question is what happened to customers when it was. Our exchange hack tracker records how each major incident played out.
No. Bybit is a full exchange and one of the largest derivatives venues in crypto, with over 500 spot pairs, perpetuals, options, copy trading, bots and earn products. CoinVast replaces one job: exchanging one crypto for another without an account or KYC. For leverage or active trading, Bybit does things we do not.
The risk check runs when you create the order, before any coins move. Pass means the swap runs to completion, final and never clawed back. Fail means it never starts and your deposit auto-returns to your refund address minus the network fee, with the return hash printed on the order page. The single exception is a sanctions-list match, which the law requires us to hold and report.
Yes, on pure trading cost. Bybit's base spot fee is 0.1%, lower at VIP tiers, while CoinVast charges a flat 2% spread. Ours is a single number printed on every quote and locked when you create the swap, with no account, no verification and no balance left on a platform. Whether that trade is worth 2% is your call, and we print it before you send anything.
In most jurisdictions, yes. KYC obligations fall on businesses, not customers, and swapping coins you already own is not a crime. Every CoinVast order passes sanctions and risk screening before it runs. Rules vary by country, and a coin-to-coin swap can be a taxable event whether or not anyone saw your passport.
Yes, and for many people that is the practical setup where Bybit is available to them. Keep Bybit for derivatives and its spot market, withdraw to your own wallet, and use CoinVast for the swaps you want to make without an account, such as getting real Monero rather than a Monero price contract.
Claims about Bybit trace to the pages below, read in October 2026, and to its public market list for spot and perpetual pairs. If a fact changes, tell us at [email protected] and we will fix the page.
Screening runs before you send, the spread is printed on the quote, and the XMR lands in your own wallet. Test it with a small swap.
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