Ben Zhou details Bybits 2025 agenda with a focus on trust, liquidity and Web3

Bybit executives detailed how the exchange navigated a major security test, secured new licenses and set sights on a bigger Web3 presence.

Bybit‘s first-half 2025 “Keynote with Ben” laid out the exchange’s priorities for the months ahead, framed under the theme “Rewrite Your Success, Reshape the Standard.”

Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou opened the event with performance milestones, before senior executives took turns on stage to present updates on security, regulation, product rollouts and partnerships.

Zhou began by highlighting that Bybit has attracted 74 million users in six years, making one in eight crypto investors worldwide have a Bybit account. Supporting figures flashed on the screen: 3.5 million transactions per second, 200 billion daily orders (up 75% year-on-year), 99.99% uptime and sub-10 millisecond response times.

Zhou highlighted that crypto is no longer about speculation; its about real-world applications. Source: Bybit

He added that the platform has never gone offline for upgrades, relying instead on hot patches and rolling releases. This same focus on execution underpins the expansion of its Rapid Price Improvement (RPI) mechanism from spot to perpetual contracts, boosting liquidity by 150% and tightening spreads across both retail and VIP accounts.

Turning crisis into a benchmark

The February 2025 Lazarus Group hack was a key talking point. Zhou clarified that the $1.5 billion in Ethereum was stolen from a third-party custodian, not from Bybits systems. Even so, the exchange responded publicly and in real-time, releasing onchain evidence, commissioning nine independent audits and implementing over 50 new security measures.

Slides detailed the recovery process, which included a bounty program offering 10% rewards on returned funds, freezing over 5% of stolen assets and actively tracking nearly a third of the funds. All of Bybits wallet systems have now been audited.

Compliance as strategy

Zhou then shifted to regulation, announcing that Bybit had secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) license, making it one of the few exchanges authorized to operate across all 29 EEA countries. The launch of Bybit.eu brings local onboarding, fiat payment rails and plans to introduce MiFID-licensed derivatives within six months.

Physical expansion is underway, with new offices in Poland, Portugal and Spain, with additional locations to follow in France, Germany, Italy and Romania. In the UAE, the firm has received in-principle approval from Abu Dhabis SCA, while in India, FIU registration opens the door to fully regulated operations.

Mantle 2.0 and the Web3 bridge

One of the keynotes major announcements was Mantle 2.0. As long-time backers of the Mantle ecosystem, Bybit executives — head of spot and Web3 Emily Bao and co-CEO Helen Liu — will serve as advisers to the upgrade. The aim is to integrate institutional-grade infrastructure with decentralized finance (DeFi) in a way that aligns liquidity, infrastructure and governance.

Emily Bao, head of spot and Web3, took the stage to share Bybits 2025 product line. Source: Bybit

One of the liveliest moments came when Bao took the stage to outline 2025 product launches and enhancements:

• bbSOL:A Solana liquid staking token backed by a centralized exchange with leverage staking offering.
• TradeGPT: The model has further developed, utilizing onchain activity, market sentiment and social signals to deliver AI-powered trading insights.
• Megadrop:A twist on token launches, letting users subscribe to fixed-term savings, earn points and claim tokens before listing.
• Listing Billboard:A post-listing disclosure framework that forces listed projects to publish ongoing performance data.
• Tokenized Stocks:Apple, Tesla, Coinbase and more, tradable as spot pairs.

Bao also outlined “On-Chain Bybit,” aiming to integrate DeFi trading, liquidity mining and yield products directly within exchange accounts, without the need for a separate wallet setup.

Liquidity and real-world payments

After taking the stage, Bybits head of derivatives Shunyet Jan outlined trading-side upgrades, including expanding RPI to perpetuals, tripling the BTC and ETH order book depth compared to competitors and launching TradFi. It is a multi-asset platform within the Bybit app that offers gold, indices, commodities, forex and stock CFDs, all of which are tradable against USDT.

From there, Emre Davide, product marketing lead, presented the payments business. The Bybit Card boasts over 2 million users, with a 68% increase in transaction volume and cashback rates of up to 10%.

Visa and Mastercard support is in place, a VIP dual-card option is coming, and a Tomorrowland Brasil tie-in offers exclusive perks. Bybit Pay has integrated nationwide QR code payment systems in Southeast Asia and LATAM, driving a 719% quarter-on-quarter jump in usage.

Emre Davide presented with a cup he bought using his Bybit Card. Source: Bybit

Bybits Private Wealth Management arm oversees more than $150 million in assets for high-net-worth and institutional clients, with bespoke strategies, direct relationship managers and an AML bot for faster compliance checks. Over 40 in-person VIP events were hosted in the first half of the year.

Additionally, the Bybit App 5.0 update introduces a Lite mode for new users, expanded customization options, a unified asset and transaction history, and a reorganized Earn section, categorized into Easy, On-chain and Advanced categories. A redesigned asset page and RFQ trading for institutions are as follows.

Social initiatives

Zhou closed with the Blockchain for Good Alliance and other social responsibility programs, noting upcoming events from Cannes to a UN awards ceremony and the Crypto Content Creator Campus in Lisbon. The message circled back to the theme: “From first-time users to institutional investors, crypto should be usable, secure and powerful enough for everyone. Together, were rewriting the rules.”