Bybit has led an $8 million Series A funding round in Hata, a dual-licensed digital asset exchange operating in Malaysia. The round also included participation from global family offices and follows Bybit’s earlier investment in Hata’s $4.2 million seed round.
According to Monday’s announcement, the funding will be used to improve liquidity, expand the user base and develop additional digital asset products.
Hata operates under licenses from the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Labuan Financial Services Authority, allowing it to offer trading and custody services for digital assets in the Southeast Asian country.
Since launching in 2023, the company has reported more than 209,000 registered users and processed 1.04 billion Malaysian ringgits (about $225 million) in transaction volume in 2025.
Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO, said Malaysia is “strategically important” and has “one of the most digitally engaged populations in Southeast Asia and strong long-term potential for digital asset adoption.”
Bybit is the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, according to data from CoinMarket.
Beyond the region, the exchange is also deepening its commitment to the Middle East. In March, Bybit appointed Derek Dai as the new country manager for the MENA region to oversee expansion and partnerships despite ongoing regional tensions.
Dai said the Middle East is emerging as a key crypto market, with Bybit planning to expand UAE dirham access and build partnerships with banks and payment providers in the coming months.
Related: Rwanda swats Bybit’s P2P platform offering franc-to-crypto trading
Malaysia builds out digital asset regulatory framework
The investment from Bybit comes as Malaysia has been developing its regulatory framework for digital assets through a series of initiatives and pilot programs.
In June, Malaysia launched its Digital Asset Innovation Hub as a regulatory sandbox, allowing fintech and digital asset firms to test use cases such as programmable payments, ringgit-backed stablecoins and supply chain financing under central bank oversight.
During the same month, a Malaysian telecom company owned by Crown Prince Ismail Ibrahim, son of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, launched a ringgit-backed stablecoin called RMJDT on the Zetrix blockchain under the sandbox framework.
In November, Bank Negara Malaysia outlined a three-year roadmap to explore asset tokenization, including pilots for tokenized deposits, stablecoins and cross-border settlement through its Digital Asset Innovation Hub. The central bank’s plan includes an industry working group co-led with the Securities Commission Malaysia to coordinate use cases and address regulatory and legal considerations.
More recently, the central bank said it is piloting three sandbox programs focused on ringgit-backed stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits for cross-border settlement, with participation from institutions including Standard Chartered, CIMB Group and Maybank.
Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt