Bybit expands to Japan and Korea with new fiat payment gateways

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bybit has added support for the Japanese yen and South Korean won in a bid to expand its roots in Asian markets.

In an announcement on Aug. 26, Bybit said the addition of these two new fiat currency payment options takes the total number of supported fiat currencies to 43. 

Bybit made a debut with fiat payments in June, allowing traders to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) using 20 different fiat currencies, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou told Cointelegraph.

“With the latest update we now offer conversion to BTC, ETH, and USDT from 43 fiat currencies,” he said.

The fiat gateway allows users to buy any of the three supported cryptocurrencies through an electronic fund transfer or with Visa or Mastercard credit and debit cards. The exchange also supports cash deposits but this is limited to certain regions.

Since June, traders have purchased more than $13 million worth of cryptocurrencies using the fiat gateway, Zhou said. The most popular fiat currency was the euro, and the most popular cryptocurrency was Bitcoin.

The exchange is working with three payment gateway providers — Banxa, Xanpool and Moonpay. Zhou said that they are looking to partner with other providers to facilitate more cryptocurrencies.

As of now, Ben stated, the exchange only allows “a uni-directional purchase of cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies.” This means users cannot exchange their crypto funds for fiat currency to withdraw into their bank accounts. However, Ben added that they may explore that option in the future.

With the addition of two new Asian currencies and Vietnamese language support on the platform, Ben is expecting “substantial growth in the Asian numbers.”