Bybit CEO Ben Zhou: The Era of Pure Crypto Exchanges is Coming to an End
Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou told Cointelegraph that the era of pure cryptocurrency exchanges is ending. Traders are looking for a platform that allows them to trade cryptocurrencies alongside stocks, gold, forex, indices, and derivatives, all in one place for payment, savings, and value appreciation. He stated that the next generation of financial platforms will not be built around a single asset class.
This statement coincides with Bybit's global branding campaign "Make Your Move," repositioning the platform from a digital asset trading venue to a comprehensive financial gateway. The company has introduced derivatives linked to stocks, gold, and indices, as well as forex products, providing price exposure without transferring ownership of the underlying assets, while also offering payment, consumption, wealth management, and institutional services. The official figures state over 80 million registered users across 181 countries and regions.
At the same time, several pure trading platforms are shrinking. BitMEX ceased trading on Wednesday after 11 years of operation; CoinEx announced this month it would gradually shut down due to declining trading volume and rising compliance costs; BitMart announced its closure in July but is now exploring restructuring. Coinbase is advancing its "Everything Exchange," adding stocks and prediction markets beyond crypto.
Zhou described the demand as account stickiness: the same group of users wants to switch between risk assets and fiat tools within a single login, rather than moving assets between brokers, gold dealers, and exchanges. Bybit's solution is synthetic exposure, rather than holding stocks and gold bars in cold wallets. The branding campaign coincided with Bitget reporting a $351.6 million hot wallet theft and halting withdrawals on the same trading day, shifting the industry narrative from "who matches faster" to "who can support multiple assets and withdrawals simultaneously."
In market mechanics, what is sold is the remaining wallet share of crypto users, while what is bought is nominal exposure to stocks, gold, and forex. Fees have expanded from spot spreads to index contracts and overnight forex fees, with funds flowing internally from Bitcoin margin to gold and stock index perpetuals, eliminating the need to withdraw to traditional brokers. Beneficiaries are platforms and market makers that can use the same risk control engine to layer multiple assets, while smaller exchanges relying solely on altcoin spot trading fees are under pressure. Trading volume is concentrating in accounts that can provide one-stop margin services, thinning the order books of pure spot exchanges.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Ben Zhou continues to lead Bybit after the $1.5 billion cold wallet theft in February 2025, shifting the survival strategy from "crypto-native matching" to "user wallet share competition." At the Point Zero Forum, he mentioned that exchanges need to evolve from matching engines to payment, tokenization, and cross-border channels; this time, he simply included stocks, gold, and forex in the same sales pitch. Synthetic derivatives allow platforms to sell price exposure without needing to apply for securities brokerage licenses in various countries, thus reducing regulatory and custody costs.
The capital path is: crypto trading fees sustain customer acquisition, multi-asset contracts increase the average margin stay time, and payment and wealth management intercept withdrawals within the platform. The 80 million registered users are the denominator, while actual monetization comes from active traders willing to open stock and gold positions in their Bybit accounts. Coinbase is pursuing licensing and prediction markets, while Bybit is focusing on synthetic exposure and global retail, both competing for the same group of users who do not want to open a second app.
Similar migrations can be seen with Robinhood moving from stock commissions to crypto and prediction markets, eToro turning social trading into multi-asset, and Interactive Brokers covering global assets with a single account. The industry is in a phase of clearing and expanding: single contract or altcoin spot exchanges like BitMEX and CoinEx are exiting, while leading players are turning their product lists into super apps.
Structural judgment belongs to the reconstruction of the industry chain. The pricing power of exchanges has shifted from "depth of coin pairs" to "switchable asset menus within accounts." The mechanism is: users accept synthetic exposure to avoid one less withdrawal, while platforms use cross-collateralization of margins to improve capital efficiency. Pure crypto exchanges, having lost their unique differentiation, can only engage in price wars or shut down. Multi-asset offerings are not just value-added services; they replace competitors from other exchanges with brokers and gold dealers.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Users want one account, not one currency.
- Synthetic exposure can sell price but does not transfer ownership.
- Pure exchanges die from having too short a menu, not from matching too slowly.