Fireside: Bybit's Ben Zhou

At Breakpoint 2025, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou took the stage for a revealing fireside chat that painted a picture of how one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges is evolving—from a product-focused startup to a compliance-driven gateway for billions of potential new crypto users. The conversation also unveiled details about Barrio, Bybit's new decentralized exchange built on Solana, and explored the fascinating tension between centralized and decentralized trading infrastructure.

Summary

The cryptocurrency exchange landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Ben Zhou, who leads Bybit—one of the industry's largest trading platforms—candidly discussed how his priorities have shifted dramatically over the past two years. Where the early years of Bybit (launched in 2018) were defined by product innovation and building, the focus has now pivoted squarely to licensing and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

This shift reflects a broader industry maturation. Bybit has secured licenses in Abu Dhabi (where this conversation took place), obtained the MiCA license for Europe, and is actively pursuing regulatory approval across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are all preparing to onboard their populations into crypto, and Zhou sees the exchange's role as the critical bridge between traditional banking systems and the crypto ecosystem.

The conversation also explored Bybit's incubation of Barrio, a decentralized exchange on Solana, raising interesting questions about how a centralized exchange navigates launching a DEX that, by nature, must operate independently to be credible. Both Zhou and the Solana Foundation representative acknowledged the delicate balance—Barrio must ultimately earn its reputation through product excellence, not simply through its association with Bybit.

Perhaps most notably, Zhou characterized the relationship between centralized and decentralized exchanges not as competition but as complementary infrastructure serving users at different stages of their crypto journey. Centralized exchanges onboard the "crypto curious," provide curated experiences, and then effectively "ship them off" to DEXs once they become more confident and native to the ecosystem.

Key Points:

Bybit's Compliance-First Strategy

The past two years have fundamentally changed Bybit's operational focus. Where the exchange once prioritized product innovation and features, it now dedicates significant resources to regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. Zhou mentioned spending half his time meeting with regulators worldwide, including recent conversations with Indonesia's OJK about licensing frameworks.

The exchange has secured crucial licenses including UAE's Abu Dhabi license, Europe's MiCA license, and licenses in Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and South Africa. This regulatory foundation enables Bybit to connect with local banking systems—such as First Abu Dhabi Bank in the UAE—allowing customers to deposit local currency directly and begin their crypto journey. Zhou sees this as essential infrastructure for onboarding the massive population of people who haven't yet entered the crypto space.

The Barrio Launch and DEX Independence

Bybit's launch of Barrio, a decentralized exchange on Solana, represents an intriguing experiment in how centralized exchanges can participate in the decentralized ecosystem. Zhou acknowledged the inherent tension: the team wants Barrio to be seen as a legitimate, independent DEX rather than simply a subsidiary of a centralized exchange.

The Barrio team is deliberately trying to attract projects in a decentralized manner, not leveraging Bybit's resources as a requirement. Zhou noted that Barrio's primary competitive advantage is liquidity—they're already seeing orders routed to Barrio because of competitive spreads. The next focus areas include tokenized stocks and real-world assets (RWAs), which both Bybit and Barrio see as the future of the industry.

Why Bybit Abandoned Its Wallet Project

In a candid admission, Zhou explained why Bybit halted development of its own wallet after two years of investment. Despite significant resources, the team didn't see stickiness in the wallet market. Users don't choose wallets for their own sake—they choose them based on what capabilities they unlock, such as airdrops or access to specific protocols.

Zhou used Hyperliquid as an example: if a platform only supports one wallet, users will simply adopt that wallet without loyalty considerations. This lack of competitive moat in the wallet space led Bybit to redirect resources toward DEX development, where liquidity creates genuine network effects and defensibility.

The Evolving CEX-DEX Relationship

Zhou presented a nuanced view of how centralized and decentralized exchanges coexist. Rather than competitors, he sees them as serving different segments of the user journey. Centralized exchanges excel at onboarding newcomers—every button placement is carefully designed for intuitive use. Once users become confident, they naturally progress to the more open, exploratory world of decentralized applications.

The trend of liquidity migrating from centralized to decentralized platforms—both for spot and derivatives trading—is expected to continue. However, Zhou emphasized that centralized exchanges will continue capturing the "uncrypto people," a market even larger than the current crypto user base.

Scalability Concerns for Mass Adoption

Both speakers acknowledged that scaling remains a critical challenge. Zhou directly questioned whether Solana could handle billions of users if Bybit successfully onboards massive new populations into crypto. The October 11 cloud outage that affected multiple centralized exchanges highlighted the vulnerability of centralized infrastructure, motivating Bybit to implement multi-disaster recovery strategies.

The Solana representative noted that decentralized infrastructure proved resilient during that same event, potentially shifting how people perceive the trade-offs between centralized and decentralized systems. The question of unified liquidity versus permissionless asset issuance—illustrated by the fragmentation of multiple Bitcoin wrappers on-chain—remains an ongoing design challenge for the ecosystem.

Facts + Figures

• Bybit was launched in 2018 and is now one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally

• The exchange holds licenses in Abu Dhabi, Europe (MiCA), Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and South Africa

• Bybit's biggest growth regions in 2024 were Latin America, CIS (former Soviet states), and Africa

• The Bybit Card has been described as a "huge success" for the platform

• Barrio, Bybit's Solana-based DEX, is already receiving order flow due to competitive liquidity and spreads

• The Solana Policy Institute employs approximately six people focused on US regulatory engagement in Washington DC

• Bybit developed a wallet project for two years before abandoning it due to lack of user stickiness

• Both Bybit and Barrio are prioritizing tokenized stocks and RWAs as future growth areas

• Zhou spends approximately half his time meeting with regulators worldwide

• The October 11 cloud outage served as a stress test for both centralized and decentralized infrastructure

Top Quotes

"The exchange space since we launched in 2018—I think the first three years we were focused on building product, doing innovation. It's really good fun time. And I think for the last two years, it's really about licensing."

"The role of the exchange now is really how do we connect to the local banks and become the place for people, the massive people that haven't been onboarded into crypto."

"The relationship between a CEX to a DEX, I think, is not really competition. It's part of the journey as being an infrastructure."

"I think people are definitely more confident in exploring DEXs—once they have been trained, they've been shipped off into the area, because I think it offers more freedom, more privacy, obviously, and definitely more choices."

"Our job is to steal the uncrypto people, which is even bigger. I think the world is still—the next question is, can we really handle them in the billions?"

"A product where people ever only see Barrio as Bybit's Solana DEX project—then it hasn't really done its job. It has to earn its way out of that."

"For me, I just see huge investment, but I don't see stickiness" – on why Bybit abandoned its wallet project

"We focus on so much on user experience. On a CEX exchange, every single button is designed by a purpose."

Questions Answered

How is Bybit adapting to the changing regulatory environment in crypto?

Bybit has dramatically shifted its focus over the past two years from product innovation to regulatory compliance. CEO Ben Zhou now spends approximately half his time meeting with regulators across different jurisdictions. The exchange has secured licenses in Abu Dhabi, Europe (through MiCA), Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and South Africa. This regulatory infrastructure enables Bybit to connect with local banking systems, allowing users to deposit fiat currency directly and enter the crypto ecosystem through a compliant gateway.

What is Barrio and how does it relate to Bybit?

Barrio is a decentralized exchange built on Solana that was incubated by Bybit. The team behind Barrio is working to establish it as an independent project rather than simply a subsidiary of the centralized exchange. Barrio's primary competitive advantage is liquidity—it already receives order flow due to competitive spreads. The project is focusing on tokenized stocks and real-world assets as key growth areas. While Bybit's incubation provides initial credibility, the Barrio team understands they must earn independent reputation through product excellence over time.

Why did Bybit decide to build a DEX instead of a wallet?

After investing two years in wallet development, Bybit abandoned the project due to lack of user stickiness. Zhou observed that users don't choose wallets for their inherent qualities—they choose them based on what capabilities they unlock, such as airdrops or access to specific platforms. If a protocol only supports one wallet, users simply adopt that wallet without loyalty. By contrast, a DEX offers genuine competitive moats through liquidity and spreads, making it a more defensible product category for Bybit to invest in.

How does Bybit view competition with decentralized exchanges?

Bybit doesn't view DEXs as competitors but rather as complementary infrastructure serving users at different stages of their crypto journey. Centralized exchanges excel at onboarding newcomers with carefully designed user experiences where every button placement serves a purpose. Once users gain confidence, they naturally progress to DEXs, which offer more freedom, privacy, and choices. Zhou acknowledges that liquidity is migrating toward decentralized platforms, but believes centralized exchanges will continue capturing the much larger market of people not yet in crypto.

What are the biggest challenges for onboarding the next billion crypto users?

Both speakers identified scalability as a critical concern. Zhou directly questioned whether existing blockchain infrastructure, including Solana, could handle billions of users if centralized exchanges successfully onboard massive new populations. The October 11 cloud outage highlighted vulnerabilities in centralized infrastructure, prompting Bybit to implement multi-disaster recovery strategies. The question of how to unify fragmented liquidity while maintaining permissionless asset issuance also remains an ongoing design challenge that affects user experience at scale.

How does the Solana Foundation approach regulation differently from exchanges?

The Solana Foundation established the Solana Policy Institute with approximately six people focused on US regulatory engagement. Unlike exchanges seeking licenses to operate businesses, the foundation cares about different issues—such as whether developers might face prosecution for writing code. When engaging with countries, the foundation focuses less on specific regulations and more on policy discussions around talent formation, capital formation, and "internet capital markets." The goal is helping countries grow their economies alongside the ecosystem rather than simply obtaining regulatory approval.