Bybit CEO Ben Zhou details next stage of push into broader financial services

Ben Zhou, Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, has laid out the next stage of the company’s evolution from crypto exchange to The New Financial Platform, spotlighting new products and collaborations across traditional and digital markets.

Bybit’s latest biannual “Keynote with Ben” session, titled “Make Your Move”, was where the announcements came. Ben spoke about the convergence of financial markets and how the firm plans to build for that shift. The event moved outside the usual studio format and played out before a live audience, with Ben joined by selected guests to discuss the changing financial landscape, new technologies and the products shaping Bybit’s next phase.

Four Years Into TradFi: Stocks Live, mStocks Coming

Bybit entered traditional finance four years ago with contracts for difference (CFDs) in 2022 and has since become the largest crypto CFD platform, with peak volume of as much as $100 billion. On Oct. 12, the exchange pushed further into traditional markets, launching stock trading for eligible customers and opening access to more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs. Trading can be done in USDC, with fractional shares and 24/5 access spanning U.S. pre-market, regular and after-hours sessions.

mStocks are being developed with Mantle, with a target launch in November. The tokenized stock product is meant to be backed 1:1 by actual stocks, and the plan calls for round-the-clock conversion between eligible equities and mStocks on Bybit, as well as decentralized exchange trading through automated market maker (AMM) liquidity pools on Mantle. Converted mStocks are expected to move into Bybit’s Unified Trading Account (UTA) and serve as trading collateral, in line with applicable terms and conditions.

IPO Express was launched in June, giving eligible users access to selected IPOs at the offering price through tokenized representations of the underlying securities. SpaceX was the launch partner for the service, which is designed to take Bybit beyond secondary-market trading and into selected primary-market opportunities.

The new launches build on Bybit’s existing work in perpetuals, pre-market products, foreign exchange and options. The TradFi lineup now covers more than 600 products, spanning equities, ETFs, indices, commodities and FX. TradFi perpetuals have generated more than $180 billion in trading volume, while the latest additions are Forex Perps and Perp Options, an options product built on TradFi perpetuals that marks an industry first.

More perpetual products tied to AI computing and commodities are in development, extending Bybit’s range beyond conventional crypto markets.

Payments Become Part of the Platform

Alongside trading and investing, Bybit has expanded its payments infrastructure to give customers more flexibility in moving funds. Bybit Pay and the Bybit Card support crypto and fiat transfers, merchant payments and everyday spending. The service links users to more than 5,000 merchants in 15+ countries and handles transfers to bank accounts and e-wallets, plus QR payments and other payment services. More than 4 million Bybit Cards have been issued, widening the platform’s role beyond financial markets into payments and daily spending.

Security and Regulatory Foundations

The expansion has been accompanied by investment in security, compliance and technology infrastructure.

During the first six months of 2026, Bybit said it intercepted more than 30,000 suspicious withdrawal requests, shielding users from more than $700 million in possible losses.

Bybit also gained five new licenses and regulatory approvals in 2026 across the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. These approvals support the company’s push into different markets, subject to local requirements.

Bybit AI was launched in September as a conversational assistant covering trading, account management and customer support, with further development planned around the platform’s wider financial services.

“Bybit is all about giving you the speed and scale you need when you Make Your Move. We have brought trading, investing, payments and AI together, and we are continuing to add more markets and more ways to use them. We built the platform. Now it is about giving people the financial freedom to make their own move,” said Ben Zhou, Co-founder and CEO of Bybit.

Steps Beyond the Exchange

Four years after entering TradFi, Bybit now blends crypto markets with stocks and ETFs, derivatives, commodities, FX, selected pre-IPO access, payments and AI-powered services. The company is increasingly focused on integrating those capabilities within a single platform while continuing to expand market access, product depth and the infrastructure behind them.

For Bybit, The New Financial Platform marks the next stage of growth beyond crypto and into a broader role across global financial markets.

About Bybit

Bybit describes itself as The New Financial Platform. More than 80 million users worldwide use the platform, which brings together investing, trading, payments and wealth-building in a single secure and intelligent ecosystem. The company says AI-powered technology, deep global liquidity, robust security and transparent operations are what make global finance more accessible, efficient and empowering.