Bitget secures financial services license for New Zealand expansion
The Seychelles-based exchange adds New Zealand to its growing list of regulated jurisdictions as it pushes deeper into traditional financial services.
Bitget has registered as a Financial Services Provider on New Zealand’s Financial Service Providers Register, adding another regulatory stamp to a collection that’s starting to look like a well-traveled passport.
The registration, announced on July 23, covers foreign currency exchange, domestic and cross-border money transfers, and asset custody. It also requires Bitget to join the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman dispute resolution scheme, giving customers in New Zealand a formal channel to escalate complaints.
What the license actually covers
The registration enables Bitget to offer services that straddle both digital and traditional finance, including forex services and tokenized real-world assets.
Just two days before the announcement, on July 21, the exchange launched a Quanto Perpetual Future product linked to traditional financial assets. It’s a derivative that lets traders get exposure to conventional markets while settling everything in crypto.
“Financial platforms need compliance structures that can support a wider mix of assets and services,” CEO Gracy Chen said on July 23.
The bigger licensing picture
New Zealand isn’t an isolated move. Bitget filed a MiCAR authorization application with Austria’s Financial Market Authority back on June 17, which would give the exchange a passport to operate across the European Union under the bloc’s comprehensive crypto regulatory framework.
Bitget, which has operated since 2018 out of Seychelles, is systematically collecting regulatory approvals in jurisdictions that institutional investors and compliance-conscious retail users actually care about.
The exchange reported nearly $70 billion in perpetual trading volume during Q2 2026.
What this means for investors
New Zealand users can now expect a wider range of services from Bitget, including forex and money transfer capabilities. The New Zealand registration also facilitates expansion into tokenized real-world assets, which aligns with increasing regulatory focus on the integration of crypto assets into traditional financial systems.