This episode features a fireside chat at Paris Blockchain Week 2026 between Brian McGleenon, Global Head of News at BeInCrypto, and Ben Zhou, Co-Founder and CEO of Bybit.
The conversation focuses on the accelerating convergence of crypto and the global financial system. Ben argues that exchanges used to compete mainly on execution and liquidity, but over the past three years the real edge has shifted to compliance, licensing, and global distribution. As stablecoins, tokenized assets, smart contract-based payments, and 24/7 markets gain traction, crypto platforms are evolving from trading venues into financial infrastructure connecting capital, assets, and users worldwide.
For traditional financial institutions, the appeal is not necessarily direct crypto exposure. It is the ability to use crypto rails for cross-border allocation, asset tokenization, portfolio diversification, and yield enhancement.
Ben also compares the regulatory landscape across jurisdictions. In his view, the EU is ahead in tokenization, the UAE has attracted a large number of crypto firms through a more pragmatic regulatory approach, and the US remains the key variable for large-scale institutional adoption. The UK, meanwhile, appears to be taking a more constructive stance.
On DeFi, Ben says the sector is still in a regulatory “honeymoon phase,” but will likely face clearer rules over time, much like centralized exchanges did. On AI Agent payments, he sees strong interest, but believes the space remains largely focused on data access and analytics rather than large-scale transaction execution.
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Crypto Is Moving Beyond Trading Toward Global Financial Connectivity
Brian: For years, the industry has been talking about when crypto would truly integrate into global finance. By 2026, we are no longer waiting for that moment. We are already building it. Ben, how do you see the changes taking shape this year and over the next few years? Compared with the vision exchanges used to talk about in the past, what is genuinely different this time?
Ben Zhou: If you look back at 2014 through 2018 or 2019, the crypto industry was still in its wild-growth phase. Many exchanges did not even have KYC, and the entire market was centered around trading. Their main function was simply to let users trade tokens and other assets.
But over the past three years, the industry’s focus has shifted. It is no longer about who can launch products faster or acquire users faster. Now it is about who can operate more compliantly and who can secure licenses faster.
And it is not just Bybit. A lot of platforms are evolving into one-stop financial platforms. The reason is simple: the market is starting to see crypto for what it really is — a technology layer that can connect global finance. It can break down the geographic and regulatory barriers that once kept financial systems fragmented, and help reconnect a financial world that has long been split apart.
Today, one of the key things regulators value in a crypto exchange is its ability to distribute products globally. Bybit has already secured licenses in multiple countries and regions, including Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and the EU.
That means a high-quality financial product created in France could, through crypto and tokenization, reach users around the world far more efficiently instead of being limited to a local or regional market.
So the defining features of the next generation of financial platforms are clear: global connectivity, lower barriers, and 24/7 availability.
Traditional Finance Is Being Forced to Move Faster on Stablecoins, Agent Payments, and RWAs
Brian: Competition is clearly heating up. In the future, the real winners may be just a handful of one-stop platforms. The challenge is that traditional finance has evolved over hundreds of years and still tends to move on a weekly cycle, while crypto moves in seconds.
Do you think the traditional system is actually ready to absorb innovations like stablecoins, agent payments, and RWA tokenization? Or have major banks and legacy institutions already realized they cannot build this on their own and need to work with crypto-native innovators instead?
Ben Zhou: The current trend is that more and more traditional financial players are starting to work with global exchanges like Bybit. There have also been recent reports of institutions investing in OKX. We have been in talks with potential partners ourselves. There are not many exchanges that truly have global distribution, and that is exactly the value traditional institutions care about.
Take tokenized U.S. equities as an example. Right now, the more mature and relatively compliant route is to first place U.S. assets into an EU regulatory framework for tokenization, and then use platforms like Bybit for global distribution. That has also put U.S. regulators and exchanges on alert. The reason the market is choosing this path first is simple: the EU is moving faster on equity tokenization and RWAs. Now the U.S. wants to build its own version as well.
The latest trend is that Nasdaq is also looking at 24/7 trading and launching its own tokenized trading venue to compete. So at this point, it is not just exchanges competing. Regulatory systems and even countries are competing too.
To your question, I think it is only a matter of time. In the end, everyone will have to evolve toward this new technology stack, because it is faster, more efficient, and simply better.
“Distribution” Is Becoming the Core Infrastructure Value of Crypto Platforms
Brian: If agent payments are being done today through smart contracts and blockchain networks, then refusing to use them is a bit like a company in the 1990s insisting on mailing paper letters instead of using email. The efficiency gap is already obvious.
You just mentioned that distribution is incredibly important, and that everyone wants to own that layer. Can you unpack that a bit more? Are traditional financial institutions looking at crypto-native firms and realizing that you already control the next generation of users and the global distribution network? How are they working with crypto platforms like Bybit today? How does that relationship actually get built?
Ben Zhou: When we speak with these institutions, the key word is really infrastructure. Exchanges like Bybit are already connected to more than 2,000 local banks. Whether in Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, or South Korea, we have local liquidity, local banking rails, and in many of these markets we also hold licenses.
So when a high-quality asset wants to be tokenized as an RWA — say tokenized gold or tokenized U.S. Treasuries — and then distributed into markets like Brazil, they come to us.
A very typical example is Brazil, where we have a strong presence. We were in touch with a local family office there. They wanted to allocate into RWA products through Bybit, and we also helped connect them with Standard Chartered Hong Kong. I asked why they wanted to structure it this way. Their answer was simple: under the old system, they could only buy physical gold in Brazil. But now they want exposure to gold assets in Hong Kong so they can diversify portfolio risk. At the same time, through the RWA products we offer, they can also earn yield. For them, putting around 5% of their portfolio into this kind of asset made perfect sense. So in reality, they are using crypto technology, but not because they want to “invest in crypto.”
That is exactly how crypto is changing. It is no longer just about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and native tokens. More and more, this infrastructure is carrying real-world assets, and the technology stack is now mature enough to support that. At the moment, the EU and Hong Kong are relatively ahead in this area, and the U.S. is also moving in quickly.
What is really interesting is that we do not even need to “sell crypto.” What we are offering is access to real-world assets — and the power of global distribution.
Traditional Finance Still Rejects the “Crypto” Label, but Embraces the Underlying Tech
Brian: So what you are really offering is not just crypto assets themselves, but the infrastructure and technical architecture behind them. Is it fair to say that, for many traditional financial institutions, the word “crypto” still carries a negative stigma? They do not want to admit they are involved in crypto, but they are willing to adopt the innovation coming out of the industry.
Ben Zhou: That is basically the case. When we talk to traditional financial institutions, the moment “crypto” comes up, the first things they usually think of are volatility and risk. So what they care about now is much more about stablecoins, compliance capabilities, licensing, and how both sides can work together within a regulated framework.
Since last year, we have already been in discussions with many institutions like this. One major reason is that global regulatory frameworks have become much more mature over the past two years. The EU in particular has built a more complete regulatory regime, and other regions are moving in the same direction. Once these structures can pass their internal compliance reviews, they become much more open to exploring partnerships. And at that stage, even Bitcoin starts to enter the conversation.
The Global Regulatory Landscape Is Splitting: The EU Leads, the UAE Stays Open, the U.S. Waits for Clarity, and the UK Is Actively Courting Crypto Firms
Brian: Speaking of diversification and portfolio allocation, let’s stay on compliance and look at different jurisdictions. How would you compare the major regulatory frameworks around the world? The EU has been relatively proactive, the UAE is also quite open, and the U.S. still seems to be waiting for a clearer direction. How do you see the strengths and weaknesses of the main regulatory hubs globally?
Ben Zhou: I think the EU is clearly in the first tier right now, especially when it comes to tokenization. It is ahead of the curve. The EU wants to use crypto technology to reinvigorate its capital markets, and that is one of the biggest strengths of its regulatory approach.
The UAE has taken a more step-by-step path. It started by testing things inside specific economic zones, such as under VARA and ADGM, and is only now moving more gradually toward the federal level. Early on it was relatively cautious, but now it seems ready to push a broader crypto regulatory framework more aggressively. At the same time, the UAE has steadily built a reputation as a crypto-friendly market, which is why so many crypto companies, trading firms, and industry professionals are clustering there.
The U.S. is still the strongest market when it comes to innovation, but its biggest issue right now is the lack of regulatory clarity. Institutions like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan still have a hard time directly holding crypto assets on their own books, because there is still no definitive answer on how assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum should be classified. Once the regulatory framework becomes truly clear, institutional capital in the U.S. could enter at scale. Until then, they have not really started in a meaningful way.
The UK is also actively trying to attract companies and is in ongoing discussions with the FCA. In the past, the UK was relatively conservative on crypto, licenses were hard to get, and the scope of permitted business was limited. But the tone has clearly shifted. Given the FCA’s strong reputation, and the fact that the UK is a key market for institutional clients, it is definitely a jurisdiction worth watching closely.
DeFi Remains in a Regulatory Blind Spot, and the Near-Term Focus Is Still on Trading
Brian: The UK market is becoming increasingly institutional. So how does DeFi get regulated? Centralized platforms have clear legal entities and jurisdictions. DeFi is much more fragmented, more anonymous, and much harder to pin down.
Ben Zhou: Right now, including in the EU, DeFi is still not a regulatory priority, and globally there is still no clear definition. But that is only a matter of time. A lot of projects call themselves DeFi, but are not truly decentralized at all, so there is still a lot of room for regulatory arbitrage.
DeFi today feels a bit like exchanges in the early days before full KYC became standard. It is still in that “honeymoon phase.” Eventually, regulators will have to solve the definition issue first — starting with what actually qualifies as real DeFi. Before that happens, the area most likely to come under scrutiny first is still the trading layer, especially around KYC, sanctioned funds, and tax compliance. Centralized exchanges are already being regulated to something close to banking standards, while DeFi still operates with a very visible regulatory gap.
Brian: So would you say the next regulatory gray area could be agent payments?
Ben Zhou: I do not see it that way. AI and agent payments are more like innovation at the tooling layer. Underneath, they still rely on existing infrastructure, so I would not call them a brand-new regulatory vacuum. Bybit has already launched AI agent accounts, where users can plug into the system for data analysis and even trading. But for now, most of it is still about using APIs to pull data. We have not really seen large-scale autonomous trading take off yet.