Bybit CEO Ben Zhou: Compliance and Global Distribution Capabilities Are Becoming Core Competitiveness of Exchanges

BroadChain News, April 28 - According to Wu Blockchain, during a fireside chat at Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou pointed out that over the past three years, the competitive focus of cryptocurrency exchanges has shifted from trade execution and liquidity to compliance, license acquisition, and global distribution capabilities. He believes that with the rise of stablecoins, tokenized assets, smart contract payments, and 24/7 markets, crypto platforms are evolving from mere trading venues into financial infrastructure connecting global capital, assets, and users.

Ben Zhou compared the regulatory environments across different jurisdictions: the EU leads in tokenization, the UAE attracts numerous crypto enterprises with pragmatic regulation, the US remains a key variable for large-scale institutional adoption, and the UK is adopting a more constructive stance. He added that traditional financial institutions' interest in crypto is not directly exposed to crypto assets but rather leverages crypto rails for cross-border allocation, asset tokenization, portfolio diversification, and yield enhancement.

Regarding DeFi, Ben Zhou believes the sector is still in a regulatory "honeymoon period" but will face clearer rules like centralized exchanges in the future. On AI Agent payments, he observed strong interest, but the current focus remains on data access and analysis rather than large-scale trade execution. He emphasized that the core features of the next-generation financial platform are global connectivity, low barriers, and 24/7 availability, noting that Bybit has already obtained licenses in multiple regions, including Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and the EU.