Bitget Restricted Countries List 2026: Bans, Licenses & Alternatives

Which Countries Does Bitget Restrict?

Bitget defines its prohibited regions in the Terms of Use, naming the jurisdictions where it will not onboard users. The wording is non-exhaustive and Bitget can revise it without notice, so membership shifts as sanctions and licensing rules change.

Restricted as of 2026:

• North America: United States and all its territories, Canada (Alberta is singled out, after the Alberta Securities Commission flagged that "Canada Bitget Limited" is not registered there)
• Greater China and Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea
• Western Europe: Netherlands
• Sanctioned and high-risk states: Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Central African Republic, Haiti, Lebanon, in line with OFAC and UN sanctions programs
• Occupied Ukrainian regions: Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk

The list moves both ways. Bitget removed Syria on June 12, 2025, restoring access for Syrian residents after sanctions relief, so the roster tracks live policy rather than sitting frozen.

Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and the Netherlands appear less out of hostility than because each runs a licensing regime the global platform has not entered directly. That also explains the modest count: Bitget blocks fewer places than BloFin or Gate because it has not split into the local entities those rivals use for regulated markets.

Treat the published list as the source of truth and check the current version before registering.

Countries Supported by Bitget

Outside the restricted set, Bitget runs one global platform across 150-plus countries, giving every supported user the same stack: spot, USDT-M, USDC-M, and Coin-M perpetuals up to 125x leverage, copy trading, Earn, and on-chain access via Bitget Wallet. Major supported regions:

• Europe: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, the Nordics, and most other EEA members
• Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, plus El Salvador
• Asia: Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia
• Middle East and Africa: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

Bank-rail funding covers a set list of currencies, including EUR, BRL, PLN, CZK, DKK, AUD, CAD, NOK, SEK, CHF, HUF, ZAR, and VND, while P2P, Quick Buy, and third-party gateways stretch card coverage to roughly 140 currencies. The UK is an in-between case: spot and most non-derivatives features work, but retail crypto derivatives stay hidden because the FCA bans them.

Bitget Derivatives Trading Restrictions

Bitget runs derivatives as one global product, with no separate spot-only country list. Wherever it onboards you, the full perpetuals stack is generally available, subject to eligibility checks, margin rules, and the controls in its Futures Services Agreement. Carve-outs are product-level, not country-wide: markets that ban retail derivatives, like the UK, see futures suppressed while spot stays, and Bitget can withhold new contracts from a region for compliance reasons.

Those controls were tested publicly in April 2025. On the 20th, the VOXEL/USDT perpetual market behaved abnormally, with volume briefly topping $12 billion and beating Bitcoin's on the platform after a market-maker bot bug let traders flip sub-$100 stakes into six-figure gains.

Bitget froze the accounts, rolled back the irregular trades within 24 hours, and pursued legal action against eight accounts tied to roughly $20 million in profit, with compensation drawn from its Protection Fund. It is a reminder that leveraged products carry venue risk on top of market risk, and that an exchange willing to reverse trades cuts both ways.

Traders weighing venues can compare the field through the perpetual exchanges directory, live funding rates, and the perp DEX versus CEX breakdown.

Does Bitget Require Mandatory KYC Verification?

Yes. Bitget made verification compulsory for new sign-ups in September 2023 and, since January 1, 2024, has required completed identity checks before any deposit, trade, or withdrawal. No usable unverified tier remains for normal activity.

• Level 1 (identity): A passport, driver's license, national ID, or residence permit, plus a live facial recognition check to match the document and block fraud.
• Withdrawal scaling: Unverified (mostly legacy) accounts are capped near 20,000 USDT per day; Level 1 lifts the daily ceiling to 3,000,000 USDT, rising toward 15,000,000 USDT at top VIP tiers.
• Account rules: Verification is tied to one main account and extends to linked sub-accounts, with a 24-hour withdrawal freeze after security changes like a password reset or new-device login.

Most reviews clear within about a business day. Because the document and declared residence are bound to the account, verification is what makes residence-based restrictions enforceable rather than cosmetic.

Is Bitget Banned in the US?

Yes. The United States, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the US Virgin Islands, and the minor outlying islands, sits on the restricted list, so US residents cannot register or trade spot, futures, or P2P.

The gap is structural. Serving US derivatives traders legally requires CFTC registration plus FinCEN money services registration and state money transmitter licenses, and Bitget holds none of these.

It is also the sharpest contrast with peers. OKX relaunched a US arm and Gate opened Gate US for spot in 2025, while Bitget has no US entity and no announced US path as of mid-2026. Operating unauthorized invites enforcement like the DOJ's $504.7 million OKX settlement of February 2025 and the $4.3 billion Binance settlement of November 2023.

US-based traders should start with the how to use Bitget in the USA guide, then the Coinbase Perpetuals and Kraken restricted countries breakdowns for CFTC-registered options.

What Licenses Does Bitget Have?

Bitget has spent two years assembling a regulatory footprint, and the result is broad but uneven. It holds real authorizations in several markets while missing the two licenses that define the current frontier.

The El Salvador DASP license from the CNAD is the most substantive, since it covers derivatives, staking, and yield products rather than payments alone.

Europe is the weak spot. Bitget runs EU access on national VASP registrations during the transitional window closing around July 1, 2026, but it is absent from the ESMA MiCA register of authorized CASPs, while Kraken, Coinbase, Bybit, OKX, and Gate already hold a passportable license. Its UK activity was paused in May 2025 under new FCA promotion rules and resumed that November once it was found compliant.

On transparency, Bitget publishes a monthly Proof of Reserves verified by Merkle tree, reported a 199% reserve ratio in June 2025, and maintains a Protection Fund stated at $300 million or more. Those measures sit alongside the missing licenses, not in place of them.

Can You Access Bitget with a VPN?

No, not in any way that holds up. A VPN can mask your IP at signup, but mandatory KYC ties the account to a government document and a declared country, which Bitget cross-checks against access patterns and law enforcement requests. Since verification gates both funding and withdrawals, a restricted-region user who clears KYC with local documents cannot reliably move money in or out.

The downside is concrete. Bitget can freeze an account later flagged as a restricted resident, a user who dodges geofencing has no consumer-protection recourse if funds vanish, and an unauthorized venue does not erase local tax reporting. The clean no-ID route is on-chain: the best decentralized perpetual exchanges and Hyperliquid restricted countries guide cover non-custodial venues, while the best no-KYC perpetual futures exchanges ranking covers centralized options with lighter checks.

Best Alternatives if Bitget is Unavailable in Your Country

The right substitute depends on whether you need a licensed local venue, the offshore high-leverage product, or non-custodial perpetuals. Regional picks:

• United States: Coinbase and Kraken offer CFTC-registered perpetuals through US-authorized entities.
• Canada: Kraken Canada and Bitbuy hold FINTRAC MSB registration with CAD rails, covered in the best crypto futures platforms in Canada guide.
• European Union: Bybit EU (MiCA FN 636180i), Kraken, and OKX all hold passportable MiCA authorizations, with regional context in the best crypto perpetual futures exchanges in Europe guide.
• Singapore: Coinhako and Independent Reserve are the main MAS-licensed Major Payment Institutions, though retail perpetuals remain off the table under local rules.
• Australia: AUSTRAC-registered venues are the compliant base; see the best crypto futures platforms in Australia guide.
• High-leverage and non-KYC: Hyperliquid and other on-chain venues lead on optional verification, alongside centralized options in the best no-KYC perpetual futures exchanges ranking.
• Cost-optimized: The lowest fee crypto perpetual exchanges guide ranks venues by maker and taker rates.

Confirm local licensing before depositing anywhere. Compliant access protects both your balance and your tax position.

Bottom Line

Bitget is the rare offshore exchange that scaled its user base faster than its license stack. The growth is real, the products are deep, and the restricted list is shorter than most rivals carry, all of it a consequence of running one global Seychelles platform instead of splitting into local arms.

That model also explains why Bitget trails on the two moves separating the leaders. With no MiCA CASP and no US entity, EU access leans on transitional VASP registrations expiring in 2026, and the US stays closed while OKX and Gate build onshore arms. The registrations and the Proof of Reserves are real, but the VOXEL episode is a standing reminder that a fast, leverage-heavy venue carries operational risk alongside its reach.

For traders in a supported country, Bitget is a strong derivatives venue with mandatory KYC as the cost of entry. For anyone in a restricted region, the alternatives above are the cleaner path, and the perpetual exchanges directory plus live open interest and funding rates trackers cover the working options in every major market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bitget available in mainland China?

‍No. China bars residents from centralized crypto exchanges after the People's Bank of China declared crypto transactions illegal in 2021, so Bitget does not onboard mainland users. Hong Kong is restricted separately under Bitget's Terms, reflecting the city's own VASP licensing regime rather than the mainland ban.

Can I use Bitget when traveling to a restricted country?

‍Access is tied to your physical location, so logging in from within a prohibited region can trigger an IP block even on an existing account. Short trips usually do not close a verified account, but you may be unable to trade until you leave the jurisdiction. Masking the location with a VPN breaches the Terms and risks a freeze.

Is Bitget Wallet available in countries where the exchange is banned?

‍Often, yes. Bitget Wallet is a self-custody Web3 wallet that holds your own keys and connects to on-chain apps, so it sits apart from the centralized exchange and stays reachable in many regions where the CEX cannot onboard users, including the US. It does not give access to Bitget's spot or futures markets, which remain governed by the restricted list.

What happens to my account if Bitget adds my country to the restricted list?

‍Bitget typically notifies affected users and moves the account into a withdraw-and-close-only mode rather than seizing funds. You can usually cancel orders, close positions, redeem Earn subscriptions, and withdraw your balance during a wind-down window, while new trades are blocked. Move funds to self-custody or a supported venue promptly, since timelines sit at Bitget's discretion.