Overview
- Bybit Payments GmbH was granted an Austrian Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, authorising issuance of e-money and a range of regulated payment services under Austria’s rules.
- Bybit will keep payments and crypto operations in separate Austrian entities, with Bybit Payments GmbH handling e-money and Bybit EU GmbH continuing to run crypto services under its MiCAR authorisation.
- Both entities will present services through the Bybit.eu platform so customers can access payment and crypto functions from one interface while each company remains responsible only for activities within its own licence.
- Bybit says the EMI licence creates a clear regulatory basis for future features that could include person-to-person transfers, strong customer authentication, open-banking links, merchant payments and payment cards, but it has not given launch dates or rollout specifics.
- The move deepens Bybit’s Europe strategy by pairing MiCAR crypto authorisation with national payment licensing, a structure that could let the firm build direct bank and payments partnerships and slowly cut dependence on third-party payment rails.