Bybit CEO Ben Year-End Keynote: 1010 Review and 2026 Roadmap

In this keynote address, Bybit CEO Ben reviews the rapid development of the global crypto industry in 2025 and systematically outlines Bybit’s strategic transition from a “crypto exchange” to a “comprehensive financial platform.” He notes that clearer regulatory frameworks, increasing institutional participation, and the growth of stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA) are collectively driving crypto assets into a broader mainstream financial system.

During the speech, Ben also reflects in detail on the market turmoil of October 10 (10.10), analyzing its impact on market liquidity and trading infrastructure. He revisits key issues exposed by the event, including liquidation mechanisms, mark price accuracy, auto-deleveraging (ADL), and overall system stability, and introduces a series of upgrades and improvements Bybit implemented afterward across risk management, market surveillance, and core infrastructure.

Looking ahead to the coming year, Ben further outlines Bybit’s product and strategic roadmap, including continued expansion of global compliance and licensing, enhancements to fiat on- and off-ramp and payment networks, the launch of retail banking accounts and more comprehensive wealth management offerings, the introduction of RWA-based yield solutions, and deeper integration of AI across trading, risk control, and user experience. Overall, Bybit aims to position itself as a long-term infrastructure builder, bridging traditional finance and crypto while improving global access to and efficiency of financial services.

Below is the transcript of Bybit CEO Ben’s keynote. The audio transcript was generated by GPT, so there may be some inaccuracies. Please listen to the full podcast on:

YouTube：https://youtu.be/rocixYoTYFg

Spotify：https://open.spotify.com/episode/7llBMs2zeUGKeov8CgWxE0?si=KjfZGLUuTE6G0DKHZfcPlQ

2025: Crypto Adoption Accelerates Across Markets

Ben: Looking back at 2025, it’s been a truly progressive year for crypto. If I had to summarize the year in one word, it would be adoption. We’ve seen crypto adoption expanding across boundaries and across all fronts in 2025. This includes countries formally adopting crypto through regulatory frameworks, regulators issuing new laws and legislation around crypto, and the legalization of crypto usage and stablecoins. At the same time, institutions have continued onboarding crypto and real-world assets (RWA), alongside growing participation from retail users globally.

First, I want to share some of the key numbers that capture what happened in 2025. Overall, crypto ownership grew at an annual rate of about 16%, and the global adoption rate reached close to 9%, meaning roughly 9% of the world’s population now owns crypto. In addition, the number of unique wallets increased by around 25%, which is quite impressive. These figures clearly point to 2025 as a major year for crypto adoption, with wallet scale expanding significantly across the ecosystem.

Regulation, ETFs, and Stablecoins Signal Mainstream Adoption

Ben: When we talk about adoption, we also have to look at regulators and how many countries are actively embracing crypto. This year, we’ve seen around a 30% increase in the number of countries issuing crypto-related licenses and regulatory frameworks. One of the most significant developments has been Europe’s MiCA framework, which came into effect in 2025 and now applies across the entire EU. I’m very proud to say that Bybit is one of the first global exchanges to obtain an EU license and is fully operational under this framework.

On the ETF side, we’ve seen an 88% increase in approved crypto ETFs in 2025 alone. This clearly demonstrates that crypto adoption is extending deeply into traditional financial markets. In terms of overall market size, the total crypto market capitalization grew by about 40% year-on-year. At the same time, on-chain settlement volumes have exceeded those of traditional networks like Visa and Mastercard, largely driven by the adoption of crypto stablecoins.

Looking specifically at stablecoins, their total market capitalization increased by around 50% in 2025. The United States has led this trend with the passage of the GENIUS Act, followed by other regions such as Hong Kong, the UAE, Australia, and Singapore, all of which have introduced their own crypto regulatory frameworks. This growth in stablecoins is particularly encouraging, as we see them as a core piece of infrastructure for onboarding new users. In parallel, more and more traditional finance firms are entering the crypto space-companies like Vanguard, BlackRock, and JPMorgan are actively adopting crypto, with institutions and asset managers continuing to double down on this sector.

Crypto as the Infrastructure of a New Global Financial System

Ben: Building on the summary of crypto adoption, I hope you can see that the pace of adoption is accelerating at a financial scale. Regulators, institutions, and retail users across countries are all embracing this technology, largely because it addresses many of the structural challenges in today’s financial system. Crypto, in our view, represents the core infrastructure of a new financial system.

At Bybit, we operate in more than 180 countries, and we are witnessing this shift happen in real time. The current financial system is highly fragmented-people in different parts of the world have very different levels of access and choices when it comes to financial infrastructure. Even today, there are still around 1.4 billion unbanked people globally, which is quite astonishing. With crypto, however, users anywhere in the world can participate in this new financial market as long as they have an internet connection and a smartphone. Through the Bybit app alone, users can access banking-style products, payment cards, wealth management services, and even structured products with just a few taps. In this sense, crypto effectively removes geopolitical barriers and opens up a truly global, open financial market.

If you compare traditional finance with crypto, the difference in efficiency is clear. Crypto operates 24/7-it never stops. For example, making a cross-border remittance using crypto typically takes less than two minutes, regardless of where you are sending funds. In contrast, the traditional SWIFT system can take days to process the same transaction, and at a much higher cost.

With this trend in mind, we strongly believe in the transformative power of crypto and its potential to improve how the world works financially. This technology has the ability to connect billions of people into a single, more efficient, and more transparent global marketplace.

From Exchange to Financial Platform: Bybit’s Long-Term Vision

Ben: Even today, we are still at a very early stage, as the global adoption rate of crypto is only around 8%. There is still a lot of work ahead of us. Bybit’s vision is to become a catalyst for broader adoption by bridging the traditional world with this new financial market, primarily through building the infrastructure needed to onboard more and more users.

That’s why we don’t see ourselves as just an exchange. We want to become a new financial platform, and this reflects what we believe is the true spirit of crypto. We aim to use crypto as the core underlying infrastructure to genuinely connect people around the world, providing banking, payments, wealth management, and financial services on a 24/7 basis in a much more efficient and unified way. This is our goal-to become a new financial platform. And with that, I’d like to show you a video.

Compliance as the Foundation of a Global Financial Platform

Ben: We want to become a new financial platform, and this is not just a slogan. It’s something we have been actively working toward for many years. The first and most critical requirement of being a true financial platform is thinking long term-and that starts with compliance. Operating in a compliant manner is core to Bybit’s long-term vision. We have always taken compliance seriously, and we have never had issues with global regulators. We ensure that we operate in compliance across every region where we are active.

Today, Bybit has onboarded more than 82 million users across 181 countries. We hold licenses in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and we are continuing to apply for and secure additional licenses globally as part of our ongoing expansion strategy.

Global Licensing Progress and Infrastructure Expansion

Ben: Some of our key achievements since mid-2025 include obtaining the MiCA license, which we received through Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA), one of the most respected and stringent regulators globally. We are also the only exchange that has secured federal-level regulatory approvals in the UAE. As you can see, our licensing coverage now spans most major global regions. Promoting crypto adoption through regulatory compliance and licensing has been one of our core expansion strategies.

Looking ahead, our licensing roadmap continues to expand. As we grow, we plan to enter more countries, with several additional jurisdictions already included in our pipeline. As a financial platform, building a truly global infrastructure is essential. The Bybit team has been working relentlessly toward this goal since 2021, with the mission of connecting people around the world through our infrastructure.

Today, we are connected to more than 200 countries, meaning that users in these regions have access to local fiat on- and off-ramps, integrated payment gateways, and issued Bybit Cards. We are connected to nearly 2,000 local banks and support more than 80 fiat gateways globally. As a result, when people think of Bybit today, they no longer see it as just an exchange. Since last year, the Bybit Card has become one of our most popular products worldwide, with close to 3 million cards issued globally.

Users can now link their crypto directly to a debit card to pay for everyday expenses such as coffee, groceries, and online subscriptions, while also enjoying discounts and cashback rewards. Bybit Pay is another product that has gained strong traction, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and other developing markets. We are connected to more than 10 local payment networks, including Pix in Brazil and M-Pesa in Kenya.

Connecting Users and Institutions: Payments, RWA, and Institutional Custody

Ben: Fiat cards and Bybit Pay are what we consider the core infrastructure for onboarding and connecting global users. Through this infrastructure, users can rely on Bybit for fiat on- and off-ramps, while also using their crypto for everyday transactions. However, our role is not only about connecting users-we also see it as our responsibility to connect traditional finance players to this new and exciting financial system.

Traditional finance institutions face a different set of challenges when they consider entering the crypto space. We need to ensure the right licenses are in place, and we also need to provide the right tools for onboarding, such as custody solutions and access to real-world assets (RWA). This is why RWA has been a major focus for us. We are likely one of the exchanges that has integrated the widest range of RWAs. We work with partners such as UBS, QNB, and DMGFT to onboard RWAs, whether they are T-bill–based or even gold-backed assets. Beyond RWAs, these institutions also require robust custody solutions, which is why we have integrated with leading global custodians such as ClearLoop and Fireblocks.

Over the past year alone, we have also onboarded many asset management firms. Bybit has built one of the strongest institutional infrastructures to support these firms. One of their key requirements is off-exchange solutions, and beyond that, the ability to access loans on top of assets held in off-exchange custody. This is something we have been actively developing. With that, I’d like to introduce a product that has been requested by many institutions. Let’s take a look at the video.

Video: Bybit Custody is Bybit’s institutional-grade custody solution designed for high-net-worth and institutional clients. It provides institutional-grade asset protection, management, and scalability, powered by MPC security with no single point of failure. Assets are segregated using dedicated on-chain addresses and secured through multi-tier withdrawal approval controls. With off-exchange settlement, clients can trade on Bybit while assets remain securely in custody. The solution integrates uniquely with the Bybit ecosystem and will soon be available for VIP and private wealth management clients, offering seamless access to trading, lending, and yield. It enables real-world assets to be used as secure, tradable collateral, optimizing capital efficiency for large AUM clients and their digital assets, and unlocking up to 25x leverage through institutional and UTA loans.

Ben: If you enjoyed the video, it was introducing Bybit Custody, which we have already launched. Many institutions are already using this product today. One of its key advantages is the ability to obtain off-exchange loans on top of assets held under off-exchange custody solutions. At the same time, we are rolling this out to our VIP clients, so all VIP users will also be able to access this product. They can even configure multi-signature controls to ensure their assets are fully protected.

Bridging TradFi and Crypto: Trading Traditional Markets on Bybit

Ben: On the topic of bridging traditional finance and crypto, connecting existing crypto users back to TradFi is also something we’ve been actively working on. Otherwise, the flow would become a one-way street. Crypto users don’t just want exposure to digital assets-they also want to trade traditional products such as gold, forex, and commodity indices. Recently in particular, we’ve seen strong interest in gold and silver, as these markets have been performing very well.

We’ve been addressing this demand since around 2022. As you can see from the chart, we were the first platform to offer an MT4 solution for clients to trade CFD products. By continuously improving this offering over the past year, we have now fully launched it and integrated it directly into both our app and web platforms. Today, users can trade traditional financial products directly through the Bybit TradeFi interface.

Under Bybit TradeFi, we currently support more than 200 traditional trading pairs with zero commission. On average, daily trading volume on this product reaches around 30 to 40 billion. This has become a major product line, allowing users to trade instruments such as China A50, Nikkei 225, NASDAQ, gold, silver, forex, and many others.

Wealth Accumulation and Private Banking-Style Services on Bybit

Ben: Another key area we want to focus on is wealth accumulation-how we help our clients earn, without requiring them to trade all the time. Once users hold crypto, they should be able to generate returns through Bybit Earn. Our goal is to provide the same level of private banking services to clients who previously could not access them globally. Through Bybit Earn, whether you are in Nigeria, Brazil, or India, a single app allows us to serve you as if you were a private banking client. We offer a comprehensive suite of products, ranging from flexible to fixed-term options, from structured products to anchor-style yields.

So far, our clients have entrusted more than $7 billion in assets to the Bybit Earn program for wealth generation. Among these, flexible savings is one of the most popular products, allowing users to earn yield on idle balances. Even for card users, when funds are not being spent, balances are automatically placed into flexible savings, where users can earn up to 12% APY.

At the same time, we launched the ByUSD program, which allows users to use their entire Earn or wealth management portfolio as collateral for trading. This means you don’t have to miss market opportunities while your assets are earning yield. In 2025 alone, more than $110 million has been committed to this program by over 3 million users globally. In addition, we were the first platform to launch a private wealth management program back in February last year, and it has been extremely well received by our VIP clients.

What this product offers is a fully tailored solution based on your deposit size and investment preferences. For example, if you hold $200,000 in stablecoins, $200,000 in Bitcoin, and $200,000 in Ethereum, you might prefer to deploy your stablecoins into a market-neutral strategy such as funding rate arbitrage, while allocating your Bitcoin to a more aggressive strategy. You may also want your stablecoins to remain flexible after six months, while other assets can be locked for a year.

Based on these needs, we take everything into account, bundle it together, and present a single, customized investment portfolio. All you need to do is open the app, review the maximum drawdown, expected yield, and risk profile, and then simply click to deploy.

Through our private wealth management product, clients can truly enjoy a banking-grade private management experience-something that is a first in the industry. As we continue to grow, our ambition is to keep delivering this level of banking-style wealth management services to clients around the world.

Launching Retail Banking Accounts and Advancing RWA Integration

Ben: Even with everything I’ve mentioned so far, there was still one important piece missing-and I think many of you already know what it is. A lot of clients have been asking whether we can offer a retail banking product. What this really means is whether users can have direct access to a bank account within Bybit. In many regions today, moving funds between a personal bank account and a crypto exchange is still not easy, and users often face friction at different points. So we asked ourselves a simple question: can we provide a retail banking account to users immediately after they complete KYC and onboarding? And now, that solution is here. Let me show you a video.

Video: A new era of finance is taking shape. MyBank, powered by Bybit, gives you a personal IBAN that lets you send and receive funds across banks in multiple currencies, starting with USD. You can receive your salary, pay your bills, and trade crypto-all in one place. MyBank, built for what’s next.

Ben: Very exciting, everyone. So what does this product actually mean? It means that once you complete KYC and onboarding with Bybit, you immediately receive your own personal bank account. This account is under your own name, with your own IBAN or account number, allowing you to receive fiat funds, transfer fiat in and out to third parties, and even pay bills directly.

With this product, many of the challenges users face today will be eliminated. You’ll be able to deposit fiat into Bybit directly from a bank account that is under your own name. From the bank’s perspective, it’s simply a transfer to your own account. At the same time, you can use this account for real-life payments, such as buying a car or paying rent for an apartment.

There’s no hassle involved. We are currently working with several banking partners on this product, and we plan to launch the service in February. I should actually show you what the product looks like-but I forgot to pull up the slides. Please stay tuned. There will be a very exciting and major announcement coming in February.

Now, I see that some questions are coming in from the audience. Let’s take a few. The first question is about RWA. Has RWA become a hot topic in the industry, and has Bybit taken any concrete actions in this area? As I mentioned earlier, RWA is a major strategic focus for us. I believe Bybit is probably one of the exchanges that has integrated the largest number of RWAs, particularly through partnerships with banking partners such as QNB and DMGFT. We will continue to push forward in this direction, onboarding more RWAs so that users can mint and trade these assets directly on Bybit.

Building a Financial Platform Step by Step: Bybit’s Product-Driven Philosophy

Ben: Alright, very good. Let’s come back to the bigger picture. So far, I’ve shown how Bybit has consistently pursued these directions in order to become a next-generation financial platform. Our ambition is to become a true catalyst for accelerating crypto adoption and, ultimately, to help transform the financial world.

So how do we make this happen? If you ask me, the answer is simple but not easy: by building the platform step by step. There is no shortcut. It requires consistent, day-to-day execution and long-term commitment. The Bybit team is a product-driven team, and we approach our work with humility and a very human mindset. Our focus is on solving real-life problems for our clients and delivering real value, so that we can filter out much of the noise in this industry. Our core values are simple: listen, care, and improve.

Listening to Users and Simplifying the Product Experience

Ben: We love meeting our clients around the world, wherever they are. We have an open office policy-any client can meet us at our Crypto Ark offices. Here are some photos from our meetups. In 2025 alone, we conducted hundreds of events globally to meet our users in person. We also held 94 VIP client meetups specifically to collect feedback on how we can improve our products and services. Much of this feedback comes directly from face-to-face conversations, simply by listening.

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we’ve received is about simplicity: how can we make the Bybit product easier to use? Today, we offer a very wide range of products-from fiat services, payments, cards, and trading, to wealth management and TradFi products. For new users in particular, our app can sometimes feel overwhelming.

So we’ve taken several steps to simplify the experience. As you can see from the videos, we’ve made a number of changes to the main Bybit app to make it more intuitive. At the same time, we didn’t want to remove advanced functionality-we still provide customization options for users who need more sophisticated tools. Beyond improving the main app, we also launched a new product called Bybit Lite. Let me show you another video.

Ben: The logic behind Bybit Lite is simple. We bundle together the core features that new users are most likely to use and enjoy, such as fiat conversion, campaigns, and airdrops. This way, new users are not confronted with a feature-heavy interface on day one. At the same time, they can always switch freely between Lite and Pro modes whenever they’re ready.

We also looked closely at which features users most wanted to be simplified. By analyzing customer support chat logs and user feedback, we found that many users enjoy participating in airdrops, megadrops, and token distribution events, but often feel confused about where to claim rewards, how much they are eligible for, and what the rules are. To address this, we launched a new feature called SpotX. Let’s take a look.

Automating Support and Balancing Simplicity with Advanced Features

Video: The same questions come up again and again. Customers get confused, and human support cannot always scale in real time. When you’re unsure, the SpotX Task Bot knows. SpotX Task Bot is a real-time automated assistant powered by Bybit Bot. It instantly checks your SpotX participation status, task progress, and reward eligibility. Users can review past SpotX events, select specific campaigns, and view their results. The bot is now resolving 85.05% of user queries, a significant improvement compared to last quarter, delivering instant and accurate answers-SpotX tasks with instant clarity and zero waiting.

Ben: On one hand, we need to make our products simpler. On the other hand, we also need to make them more advanced-or rather, more enriched-so that sophisticated users and professional clients with highly customized needs are well served. Balancing simplicity for new users with depth and flexibility for advanced users is another key area we’ve been focusing on.

Advanced Trading Tools, Algo Orders, and Options Expansion

Ben: One of the major upgrades we rolled out over the past six months is the multi-chart feature. Now, both on the Bybit app and on the web, users can view multiple charts at the same time. This means you can monitor several price actions simultaneously, across different markets and instruments, all within one interface.

Another important upgrade is the rollout of more advanced order types, which we’ve introduced in different phases. These include algorithmic orders such as TWAP, Iceberg orders, and Chase Limit orders. These are more sophisticated tools, and many users may not initially be aware of them. However, once they discover and start using these features, they tend to really appreciate their value. To give everyone a clearer idea, I’d like to walk through a quick demo. Eric is standing by to show how these order types work, where to find them, and how to use them.

Video: Let me share my screen. Let’s start with the Chase Limit order. You can find it in the upper right corner. The first option you’ll see is Chase Limit. This function helps you place a limit order that always stays at the best bid or best ask. For example, if we place two orders, you can see that the system immediately adjusts to the best available price. If the market price moves and your order is no longer at the best bid or ask, the system will automatically modify the price to keep it optimal.

Ben: Exactly. This type of order is ideal if you want to execute quickly and don’t want to miss market movements. The Chase Limit order follows the market and continuously updates your bid or ask to the top of the order book. What about the next one?

Video: The next order type is TWAP. This function helps you split a large order across a defined time window-for example, one hour. You can specify the interval between each sub-order, and the system will handle the execution automatically.

Ben: TWAP is especially useful when you want to execute a large position without moving the market too aggressively. For instance, if you want to buy 100 Bitcoin, placing it all at once might be too disruptive. Instead, you can spread the order over 48 hours and execute a portion every hour. That’s a very practical use case. Let’s show one more.

Video Sure. We also offer Scaled Orders, which allow you to split an order while staying within a specified price range. You can distribute both price levels and order sizes evenly, or structure them in an increasing or decreasing pattern. If five orders aren’t enough, the system supports up to 50 orders.

Ben: Very good. Alright, let’s take a few questions from the audience. One user, Kareem, asked why TradFi products are important for crypto traders today. I think this goes back to the core idea of crypto. The beauty of crypto is that it’s meant to connect everything. In the past, if you wanted to trade stocks, you needed a stockbroker. If you wanted banking services, you needed a bank account. If you wanted to trade crypto, you had to open a crypto app. But crypto is supposed to bring all of this together. Now, with crypto and a single app, you can trade everything.

What really matters is not missing opportunities. For example, over the past few months, crypto markets have been relatively less volatile, while gold and silver have been quite volatile. With access to multiple markets in one place, you don’t have to miss those opportunities. That’s the key point.

Now, let’s move on to options. Since last year, Bybit has offered USDC-settled options. Based on strong user demand, we also launched USDT options, and they have been growing rapidly. At this point, I believe we are now the second-largest options market globally.

Options Innovation and Enhanced Risk Management Tools

Ben: In options trading, we’ve introduced several new features. One of them is RFQ, which allows institutions and even VIP clients to request quotes for large orders. In addition, users can place multi-leg strategies, meaning you can execute strategies that involve spot, futures, and options at the same time. We also provide a dynamic hedging mode, which enables users to hedge positions dynamically while benefiting from lower execution costs and reduced fees.

Beyond options, risk management has been another major focus for us this year. Bybit was actually the first exchange in the industry to introduce take-profit and stop-loss functionality, all the way back in 2018.

Since then, we’ve significantly enhanced these features. We now support partial take-profit and partial stop-loss, giving users more flexibility in managing positions. At the same time, we’ve introduced best bid and best offer execution for take-profit and stop-loss orders. This means that when these orders are triggered, they are executed in a way that minimizes slippage, rather than exiting the position all at once at market price. This is a feature many users have been asking for.

In addition, we are also introducing account-level take-profit and stop-loss functionality. For example, if your overall account reaches a 20% gain, you can automatically take profit; if it falls by 10%, you can automatically stop loss. This feature will be launching soon.

Market Volatility Lessons and Infrastructure-Focused Outlook

Ben: Next, I want to talk a bit about the industry-wide market crash that happened on October 11. We all witnessed this event, which pushed the market into a prolonged bearish and downward trend.

There were many reflections and improvements we made on our side as an exchange, as we looked closely at what we could do better. First of all, I think we were fortunate that Bybit remained very stable on that day. Our system handled extremely high load levels-our QPS, or queries per second, reached record highs. For example, overall web traffic exceeded one million requests per second, and we experienced no downtime. Everything was executed smoothly, and that’s something we are very proud of.

At the same time, we also asked ourselves how we could improve further. One of the biggest issues during that crash was large-scale liquidations, not only on Bybit but across many exchanges and platforms. We took a deep look at how we could improve our mark price mechanism, because mark price is the key reference that triggers liquidations. What we did was enhance the calculation model to filter out anomalous pricing across different data sources and index components. As you know, mark price is derived from multiple exchanges, and during the October 11 event, prices across venues became highly distorted.

We are now using a much more sophisticated mechanism to better capture the true price of a token. At the same time, we also saw a significant number of ADL events. ADL, or auto-deleveraging, can cause profitable positions to be reduced in order to cover losses elsewhere. To mitigate this, we introduced a new portfolio insurance pool, providing additional buffers across different categories of tokens.

Last but not least, we strengthened our market surveillance capabilities to better identify and prevent malicious behavior. Since that incident, we’ve observed coordinated attempts to attack exchanges-both centralized exchanges and DEXs-by exploiting mechanisms such as ADL or funding rates. In response, we’ve enhanced our monitoring systems and are working with strategic partners like Nasdaq and Solidus Labs to conduct real-time market surveillance.

Looking ahead, I’d like to talk about our outlook for the coming year. What are our plans, our direction, and our focus? As has always been the case, our core focus remains infrastructure. As I’ve shown throughout this presentation, infrastructure is the key to onboarding users. There is no easy shortcut-building connectivity is hard work, but it’s essential.

Localized Infrastructure, Payments, AI, and the Road Ahead

Ben: Banking routes need to be built country by country-whether we are entering Peru, Bolivia, the Nordic region, or other markets. At the same time, we need to connect with local KYC and AML infrastructure to ensure a smooth user experience. Our goal is to make Bybit’s infrastructure as localized as possible. This is a key objective for 2025–2026. We will continue to expand Bybit Pay, which has already proven to be a winning product in many developing countries. I believe we are one of the payment gateways connected to the largest number of partners, and we are continuing to add more countries, as you can see.

Looking ahead, a large portion of payments will be conducted via QR codes. Users love this-it’s simple and easy to use-so this is something we will continue to push. At the same time, the Bybit Card has been a highly demanded product. I just received news that our Georgia-issued card is now live, meaning users in the CIS region can use Georgia as the issuing bank to enjoy Bybit Card services. We are also continuing to work with more issuers to support private payments and integrations such as Google Pay and Android Pay. This is all coming very soon, which is very exciting.

Next is Earn and wealth management. I previously mentioned ByUSD, and at the same time, we want to make the product more robust by introducing RWA-related yield products, which are coming very soon. This will allow users to allocate assets into traditional instruments while still earning yield.

Another major focus for everyone recently is AI. AI has been extremely active across the industry, especially with discussions around agents. This is also a major focus for Bybit-not only for user-facing products, but also internally, in terms of improving efficiency and productivity. TradeGPT is something we will continue to develop. It has already been a key initiative at Bybit. In 2026, we plan to integrate trading functionality directly into TradeGPT. Currently, users cannot trade directly through it, but this will be introduced very soon. We will also enrich TradeGPT with smarter historical analysis, allowing it to analyze your trading history and provide personalized suggestions and ideas tailored to you.

AI coding is another area the entire team has been focusing on-not just developers, but management as well. For myself, using AI tools to improve efficiency is now a requirement. It’s simply better.

Next is Bybit Bot. This is something we launched about two years ago. A lot of automation can already be handled by Bybit Bot, especially in customer support. Bybit Bot is now connected to many systems, including AML, KYC, and deposits. When users have questions, they can simply ask the bot to check deposit status, P2P order status, and more. All of this has already been integrated.

Looking ahead to 2026, we want to further evolve TradeGPT into a true AI agent for users-one that provides deep automation within Bybit. You’ll be able to give customized requests, such as pulling last month’s debit card spending summary, analyzing major spending categories, or generating strategies like funding rate arbitrage between futures and spot markets. We see AI agents as personalized assistants that understand your needs and deliver customized features, so users don’t have to navigate the entire app on their own. This is another very exciting area we’re building toward.

So far, I’ve talked about AI initiatives and infrastructure. Next, I’d like to talk about our corporate social responsibility-our responsibility to give back. Let me show you a video.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Closing Remarks

Video: We’re building more than a crypto platform-we’re shaping communities. From rebuilding flood-hit areas in Eastern regions to supporting Sri Lanka during Cyclone Ditha through the Bybit Rising Fund. From empowering students across Kenya and Ethiopia, and supporting South African students through the Bybit–Tether Scholarship, to standing with families affected by typhoons. From supporting EU shelters through the Lost Cat Project with care kits and token-driven campaigns, to expanding our mission in Indonesia and accelerating crypto adoption in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.

Together with BGA and the UNDP, we launched the BGA Impact Fund for Global Good, and introduced Mazaverse, BGA’s first pilot joint fund, deploying $100,000 in grants to support high-potential projects. Because when it matters most, we stand with communities-building the future together.

Ben: Alright, this brings us to the end of my keynote. I hope you now have a clearer sense of Bybit’s mission. Once again, we are still at a very early stage, but also at a critical moment for the industry. We are extremely fortunate to be where we are today, and Bybit’s goal is to keep building-taking a long-term approach to creating a new financial platform for users around the world.

Audience Q&A: Tokenized Stocks, DEX Competition, Prediction Markets, and RWA Earn

Ben: Before I wrap up, let me take a few more questions from the audience. One of the questions is about tokenized stocks. What is my view on tokenized equities? How can the current liquidity challenges be addressed? And is there real market demand for tokenized stocks, or is it just false demand?

I think this is a very good and timely question. Recently, we’ve seen news that ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is launching an on-chain version of its marketplace. This clearly shows that the world is moving toward markets that can be traded 24/7. In that context, tokenized stocks are a very natural evolution. The broader direction is clear: the global financial system is moving toward a future where all tradable assets can be accessed and traded around the clock.

Of course, today there are still challenges. Liquidity in tokenized stocks is not yet very deep. However, we are gradually seeing the necessary infrastructure being built and more market participants entering the space. Bybit wants to be one of the leading players embracing this technology, offering tokenized stocks so users can trade them anytime, anywhere, on a 24/7 basis.

Let me take another question. Someone asked about the rapid rise of Hyperliquid, and whether it poses a challenge to centralized exchanges. Personally, I don’t see it as a direct challenge.

As I’ve shared throughout this keynote, Bybit is no longer just an exchange. We are focused on building infrastructure-connecting and bridging Web2 and Web3. This is a role that decentralized exchanges alone cannot fully replace. More and more people are starting to see crypto exchanges as comprehensive financial platforms, not just places to trade, but also to earn, manage assets, and conduct a wide range of financial activities-especially for unbanked users. So I don’t see this as direct competition. On the contrary, it’s great to see DEXs thriving, and we’re also happy to connect and collaborate with them globally.

Another question is whether Bybit plans to integrate a prediction market. This is indeed a popular request. At this stage, we do not plan to launch a prediction market ourselves. If we ever offer such a product, it would likely be through partnerships with existing providers. The main challenge for a global exchange like Bybit is compliance. We need to ensure that any prediction market product is legal and compliant across all the regions we serve. This is probably why you haven’t seen many global exchanges offering this feature yet. Hopefully, a compliant model will emerge in the future.

The final question is about the next major step in Bybit’s wealth management offerings. I believe the next big step will be RWA-based Earn products. Currently, most Earn programs are built on crypto assets-whether stablecoins, on-chain yields, or structured yield products. RWA Earn, on the other hand, allows users to earn yields from traditional assets. This means users can rely on instruments like gold or Treasury bills for more predictable returns, while still holding crypto within the ecosystem. I think this is a very exciting direction, and it’s something we’ll be launching very soon.

Closing Remarks

Ben: Alright, I think it’s really great to see all of you. This brings us to the end of my end-of-year keynote. As always, I do this every six months, and I’ll see you again in another six months. Thank you very much.