Bybit EU announced on 21 August 2026 that it has been selected as a recommended alternative platform for MEXC users in the Netherlands.
Bybit EU, headquartered in Vienna and operating under a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) licence granted by Austria's Financial Market Authority (FMA), presented the arrangement as a compliant landing spot for users leaving a platform that does not hold the authorisation the EU now demands.
The trigger is MiCAR, the EU's crypto-asset regime, which requires every crypto-asset service provider operating in the bloc to hold an appropriate authorisation. MEXC, which is not MiCAR-authorised in the EU, announced it will no longer serve users in the Netherlands as the rules take effect.
What must Dutch users do?
The most important detail for affected users is that this is a referral, not a migration. Nothing moves automatically. MEXC users in the Netherlands will receive direct communication from MEXC with guidance on next steps and timelines, and those who choose to move to Bybit EU must create and verify a new account independently. No accounts, balances or assets are transferred across for them.
Users are encouraged to complete their move by 31 October 2026, with MEXC's final offboarding of Dutch users set for 16 November 2026. To smooth the switch, Bybit EU is offering a welcome package to eligible new registrants, including bonus rewards, preferential trading fees and cashback on the Bybit Card, alongside a Dutch-language landing page with step-by-step guidance.
The licensing picture
Bybit EU GmbH is an Austrian crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorised under MiCAR by the FMA, a licence it has held since May 2025, and it serves customers across the European Economic Area, except Malta. Its authorised activities include custody and administration of crypto-assets, exchange of crypto-assets for funds and other crypto-assets, placing of crypto-assets, and transfer services, and it says it segregates user funds from company assets as the regulation requires.
Both sides cast the move as protective. "The MiCAR framework exists to protect European users, and we're committed to providing a secure, seamless experience for everyone transitioning to Bybit EU," said Nazar Tymoshchuk, Regional Country Manager at Bybit. MEXC's Chief Compliance Officer, Robert MacDonald, described the partnership as "an important step in ensuring a secure, compliant, and seamless transition for our users."
Lesson for compliance teams
For compliance and market-access functions, the Bybit EU and MEXC arrangement previews MiCAR's real-world effect: providers without authorisation are exiting national markets, and the users left behind become a compliance-sensitive population that needs re-onboarding rather than a back-office transfer.
That places weight on clean KYC and fresh customer due diligence at the receiving platform, clear communication so users are not funnelled toward look-alike scam sites during the changeover, and careful handling of the incentive offers so they do not cut against suitability and fair-marketing expectations.
It is the on-the-ground consequence of the MiCA transition RegTech.com has tracked, from the closing of MiCA grandfathering that left many crypto firms unlicensed to Austria's FMA issuing Europe's first published MiCA penalty under the same regulator that authorises Bybit EU.
The primary announcement is on Bybit EU's press page.
