Bybit Proof of Reserves (PoR) lets you check whether an eligible balance from a specific audit snapshot was included in Bybit’s Merkle-tree liabilities and compare those liabilities with the platform’s published wallet assets. It is useful evidence, but it is not a real-time guarantee of solvency, withdrawal availability or safety. A careful check should cover your own Merkle proof, the dated reserve-ratio report, announced-wallet ownership and the limits of the audit.
Verified on August 26, 2026. This independent guide uses Bybit’s current account-verification instructions, wallet-ownership procedure, public reserve pages, open-source Merkle verifier and July 2026 Proof of Reserves announcement. Audit scope, supported tokens, balances, ratios, methodology, wallet addresses and access paths can change. Treat the latest Bybit reserve page, the audit data displayed inside your account and the linked auditor report as the controlling evidence.
Bybit Proof of Reserves at a glance
| Evidence | What it can help verify | What it does not prove by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Your audit data | Whether a covered balance associated with your account was included in a specified snapshot. | That today’s balance or every asset you have ever held is included. |
| Merkle proof | Whether your leaf and proof path reproduce the published Merkle root without revealing every user’s account. | That every liability outside the audited dataset was captured. |
| Reserve ratio | The published relationship between in-scope wallet assets and user liabilities at the snapshot time. | Real-time solvency, liquidity or uninterrupted withdrawals after the snapshot. |
| Announced wallets | On-chain balances for disclosed addresses. | Whether assets are unencumbered, or whether undisclosed obligations exist. |
| Wallet-ownership proof | That Bybit demonstrated control of announced addresses through a documented Send-to-Self transaction process. | That control, balances and operational availability will remain unchanged. |
| Independent attestation | That an outside verifier applied the stated procedures to the defined scope and date. | A government guarantee, deposit insurance or complete financial-statement audit. |
1. What Bybit Proof of Reserves is actually testing
A Proof of Reserves system tries to connect two sides of a dated equation. On the liabilities side, eligible customer balances are organized into a Merkle tree and summarized by a root hash. On the asset side, balances in announced blockchain wallets are measured and ownership of those wallets is tested. A reserve ratio can then be calculated for each covered asset:
Reserve ratio = In-scope wallet assets ÷ In-scope user liabilities × 100.
A ratio at or above 100% means the assets counted under that report were at least as large as the user liabilities counted for the same token and snapshot. It does not mean the exchange is risk-free or that the ratio will remain above 100%. The numerator, denominator, asset scope, account scope and timestamp all matter.
Bybit’s own educational explanation describes PoR as only one criterion for evaluating a centralized exchange. BYDITT agrees with that narrow interpretation: it is stronger than an unsupported claim, but it should be combined with account security, withdrawal testing, legal-entity checks and limits on how much you leave in custody. See the separate Bybit security, scam and custody-risk guide for those controls.
2. The latest dated Bybit snapshot reviewed for this guide
Bybit announced its 38th Proof of Reserves report on July 30, 2026, using asset balances as of July 22, 2026. The announcement says the report covered the 50 tokens with the highest assets under management after ten tokens were added and that Hacken independently verified the report. The following figures are historical snapshot values from that announcement—not live balances or permanent promises.
| Asset | Published user liabilities | Published wallet assets | Published reserve ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDT | Approximately 4.71 billion USDT | Approximately 4.98 billion USDT | 105% |
| USDC | Approximately 626.4 million USDC | Approximately 1,093.9 million USDC | 174% |
| BTC | 56,438 BTC | 59,064 BTC | 104% |
| ETH | 541,412 ETH | 553,776 ETH | 102% |
For example, 59,064 BTC divided by 56,438 BTC is approximately 104.65%. The announced 104% figure is a rounded published ratio; differences can also reflect the report’s precise data and display conventions. Do not reuse this calculation as today’s ratio. Open the current reserve-ratio page, confirm its snapshot date, then use the report tied to that date.
3. How to verify your Bybit account balance in the platform
- Sign in through a verified Bybit domain or app: avoid links from unsolicited messages and confirm the domain before entering credentials.
- Open the Proof of Reserves page: use the account route to the audit data rather than relying only on a screenshot or promotional summary.
- Select View My Audit Data: Bybit’s current instructions expose the audit round, snapshot and account-level proof details through this area.
- Check the snapshot date and covered assets: a current wallet balance can differ from the amount captured at the audit snapshot.
- Open Details for the asset or audit record: confirm that the displayed balance, leaf information and Merkle root belong to the same audit round.
- Compare the result with the public report: the account proof and public root must refer to the same snapshot; mixing rounds invalidates the comparison.
- Record the evidence safely: keep the date, report link and result, but never publish credentials, recovery codes, private keys or sensitive account identifiers.
Bybit says an account may have no audit record if it was created after the audit snapshot or if the token was not included in that audit. A zero balance at the snapshot, later deposit, internal transfer or withdrawal can also make the historical record look different from today’s account. That mismatch is not automatically proof of an error; first align the account, asset and timestamp.
If you are still setting up the account, the Bybit registration, KYC and security guide explains the basic account checks. Product and verification access can vary by legal entity, region and account status. Never misrepresent your location to reach a restricted service.
4. How to perform the open-source Merkle proof check
The in-platform result is the simplest check, but Bybit also provides an open-source verification route. Its current help article directs users to copy their audit data, save it as myProof.json, obtain the official Bybit Merkle-proof repository and run the verifier locally. The documented prerequisites include JDK 1.8 or later and Maven.
- Open the audit Details page for the exact snapshot you want to test.
- Use the platform’s Copy Data function and save the complete data as myProof.json without changing hashes, numbers or structure.
- Download or clone the official bybit-exchange/merkle-proof repository. Check that the repository owner and URL are correct.
- Follow the commands in the repository version you downloaded. Do not paste unreviewed commands from a third-party tutorial into a privileged shell.
- Confirm that the verifier reports a valid path to the same Merkle root published for that audit round.
- If verification fails, re-copy the data, confirm the audit round and repository version, and preserve the error before contacting official support.
A valid Merkle path means your supplied leaf is mathematically included beneath the stated root. It does not independently prove that the input balance was correct, that every user liability was included or that wallet assets were available at another time. Merkle inclusion and financial solvency are related checks, not interchangeable conclusions.
5. How to verify announced wallet ownership and balances
Bybit’s current wallet-verification guide directs users from View My Audit Data to Details and then Download Proof of Funds. That evidence lists announced addresses and the transactions used in its ownership test. For each disclosed wallet, you can check the address and transaction hash in the appropriate public blockchain explorer.
The Send-to-Self ownership test
Bybit describes a Send-to-Self method in which the platform transfers a nonce-derived amount from an announced address back to itself. The transaction is publicly visible, and the amount demonstrates control of the private key at the time of the test. The documented calculation is:
Transfer amount = First three digits of the nonce ÷ 1,000,000.
Match the nonce, calculated amount, sender, recipient, network and transaction hash to the proof document. A transaction on the wrong chain, from a different address or from a different audit round is not equivalent evidence. Bybit also describes direct explorer checks for BTC and multi-network checks for ETH and stablecoins, with a Python balance-checker for supported address sets.
Wallet ownership is a point-in-time control test. It does not establish that every announced asset is free of liens or other obligations, or that the exchange will retain control and liquidity later. Those are limitations to record, not reasons to ignore the on-chain evidence.
6. Why your balance or proof may not match what you expected
| Possible cause | What to compare | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Account created after the snapshot | Account creation time versus audit time | Wait for a later audit round and review its scope. |
| Token not covered | Token list for the selected report | Check the latest report; do not substitute another asset’s ratio. |
| Deposit or withdrawal after snapshot | Transaction timestamp versus snapshot | Reconstruct the balance at the exact snapshot time. |
| Internal transfer or UTA movement | Account ledger and balance type | Check whether the audit aggregates the relevant account structure. |
| Wrong audit round | Root hash, report date and proof date | Use one consistent round for every comparison. |
| Copied data was altered | JSON structure, hashes and encoding | Copy the original data again without manual edits. |
| Cached or stale page | Displayed timestamp and official report link | Reload through the official page and verify the latest available round. |
Do not post full audit data publicly while troubleshooting. Use official support, preserve the round and timestamp, and redact information that could expose your account. A support agent should never need your password, two-factor authentication seed or wallet private key.
7. What Proof of Reserves does not prove
- Real-time solvency: balances and liabilities can change immediately after the snapshot.
- Complete liabilities: the result is only as complete as the accounts, products, entities and obligations included in the stated scope.
- Unencumbered assets: an on-chain balance does not by itself reveal every lien, loan, hedge, collateral pledge or off-chain claim.
- Withdrawal liquidity: a published ratio does not guarantee that every user can withdraw every supported asset at once or on demand.
- Future continuity: operational, cyber, key-management, counterparty, banking and legal events can occur after verification.
- Price stability: a 100% token-unit ratio does not protect the market value of BTC, ETH, stablecoins or any other asset.
- Government protection: PoR is not deposit insurance and does not establish the same rights as a regulated bank deposit.
- Individual recovery: asset tracing, insolvency priority and access depend on contracts, entities and applicable law.
These limitations do not make PoR meaningless. They define the question it can answer: whether specified in-scope liabilities and wallet assets were supported by the stated evidence at a stated time. The correct conclusion is bounded confidence, not “proof of safety.”
8. A practical verification checklist
- I opened the current PoR page through a verified Bybit domain or app.
- I recorded the report number, snapshot date, auditor and covered-token list.
- I checked my audit data for the same round and reconstructed my snapshot balance.
- I verified the Merkle path in the platform and, if needed, with the official open-source tool.
- I compared the published root with the root used by my proof.
- I downloaded the Proof of Funds evidence and checked announced addresses and transaction hashes.
- I treated every reserve ratio as a dated token-specific figure, not a permanent platform-wide percentage.
- I read the scope and limitations instead of relying only on a marketing summary.
- I tested normal deposit, internal transfer and withdrawal procedures with an amount appropriate to my risk tolerance.
- I use strong unique credentials, phishing-resistant security where available and withdrawal protections.
- I keep only the custodial balance needed for my own plan and understand the risks of self-custody before moving assets.
If you decide to reduce exchange custody, first verify the correct network, address, memo or tag, fee, minimum and processing status. A self-custody mistake can be irreversible. The Bybit deposit, withdrawal and internal-transfer guide covers those checks.
9. BYBITDC does not change Proof of Reserves
If you independently decide to create an eligible Bybit account, referral code BYBITDC is available through the official route: open the official Bybit registration screen with BYBITDC. Before submitting, confirm that the code appears and read the fee, campaign, product-access, KYC and regional-eligibility terms shown to your account.
A referral code does not improve a reserve ratio, alter the audit scope, make assets insured, guarantee withdrawals or remove custody risk. Any signup benefit and its duration must be verified separately in the live registration and account screens. Proof of Reserves should be evaluated the same way whether or not a referral relationship exists.
Frequently asked questions
Does a reserve ratio above 100% mean Bybit is completely safe?
No. It means the in-scope wallet assets exceeded the in-scope user liabilities for that token under the stated snapshot and method. It does not eliminate market, liquidity, custody, cyber, operational, legal or counterparty risk.
Why can my current balance differ from my audit balance?
The audit is a snapshot. Deposits, withdrawals, trades, fees, interest and internal transfers after that time change the current balance. Reconstruct the balance at the audit timestamp before reporting a discrepancy.
What if Bybit shows no audit record for my account?
Bybit says there may be no record when the account was created after the snapshot or the token was not audited. Check the account, asset, covered-token list and round, then review a later report or contact official support if the data still appears inconsistent.
Is a Merkle proof the same as checking Bybit’s wallets?
No. The Merkle proof addresses inclusion on the user-liability side. Announced addresses, ownership transactions and explorer balances address the asset side. A meaningful review checks both and confirms that they belong to the same report.
Can I verify Bybit Proof of Reserves without coding?
Yes. The platform provides an account verification flow and public reserve information. The open-source verifier is an additional independent check for users comfortable with local tools; it is not a reason to run unknown third-party scripts.
Does BYBITDC provide extra reserve protection?
No. BYBITDC is a referral code, not insurance or an audit mechanism. It does not change wallet ownership, liabilities, reserve ratios, withdrawal priority or the risks of holding assets with a centralized exchange.
Official Bybit sources
- How to Verify the Assets in Your Account
- How to Verify Bybit Ownership of Wallet Addresses and Their Balances
- Bybit Reserve Ratio
- Bybit User Verification
- Official Bybit Merkle Proof repository
- Bybit Adds 10 Tokens to Proof of Reserves Reporting — July 30, 2026
- What Is Proof of Reserves?
- Bybit Risk Disclosure Statement (PDF)
Source review date: August 26, 2026. Bybit can change audit rounds, methodology, covered tokens, account scope, wallet addresses, reserve ratios, verification tools and product availability. Recheck the latest official report and your logged-in audit data before relying on any figure.
Affiliate disclosure: BYDITT is an independent educational and affiliate website, not Bybit.com. BYDITT may receive compensation from eligible registrations or activity through BYBITDC. That relationship does not change the PoR data, audit scope, reserve ratio, custody arrangement, withdrawal status or account eligibility.
Risk disclosure: Centralized-exchange use involves market, liquidity, stablecoin, custody, counterparty, cyber, key-management, operational, legal, regulatory and conflict-of-interest risks. Proof of Reserves is dated and scope-limited; it does not guarantee solvency, withdrawals, asset recovery, platform continuity or profit. Self-custody has separate irreversible-loss risks. Virtual assets can lose some or all of their value. Nothing here is investment, legal, tax, security or financial advice.
