Bybit, the world's second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, today unveiled its 2026 transformation into "The New Financial Platform" during a keynote by co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou. The vision expands the company beyond exchange origins toward a unified ecosystem that connects crypto, traditional markets, and real-world financial services, targeting the 1.4 billion underbanked globally.
MyBank Retail Banking Layer Set for February Launch
A centerpiece of the strategy is MyBank, a new retail banking layer expected to go live in February 2026. It offers dedicated accounts designed to simplify large-value fiat on- and off-ramps while enabling everyday cross-border transactions under a compliance framework. The service addresses specific pain points in emerging markets: slow transfers, limited access, high fees, and narrow product ranges. By merging crypto liquidity with banking rails, MyBank aims to deliver faster, cost-efficient capital movement for individuals and businesses, with a bank-grade experience.
ByCustody Holds $5B, Institutional Clients Double
Trust underpins financial inclusion. Bybit's custody arm, ByCustody, now manages over $5 billion in assets across more than 30 professional asset managers. The architecture ensures secure segregation of client assets, letting institutions and private wealth clients operate with traditional financial safeguards while accessing digital markets. Over 2,000 institutions now use Bybit's infrastructure — a 100% year-over-year increase — reflecting surging demand for hybrid platforms bridging TradFi and DeFi.
TradFi Expansion: 500 Trading Pairs Planned
Evolved from the industry's first TradFi product by a crypto exchange in 2022, Bybit TradFi now integrates more than 200 instruments. The platform plans to launch 500 trading pairs in Q1, including stock CFDs, forex, commodities, and indices alongside crypto markets, enabling users to manage diversified portfolios in a single environment. Bybit serves over 82 million users across 181 countries, with connectivity to nearly 2,000 local banks, 58+ fiat gateways, over 200,000 P2P merchants worldwide, and 2.7 million Bybit Cards issued. Bybit Earn holds $7.1 billion in AUM, generating $110 million in yield for users in 2025. As of January 29, Bybit led XAUT spot trading with a 16% market share.
AI Embedded as Core Infrastructure
Artificial intelligence is deployed as a system-wide efficiency engine, not an add-on. AI has already improved engineering productivity by 30%. In 2026, Bybit will roll out AI4SE (aiming for 50% efficiency gains across the software lifecycle), a company-wide AI agent network for risk control, compliance, customer service, and analytics, plus an upgraded TradeGPT personal assistant. The company works with over 10 global banks and custodians to build a unified collateral system where fiat, traditional assets, and crypto coexist securely. Zhou stated: "This transformation is about mainstream finance. We are moving beyond niche crypto services to build a new financial platform where crypto becomes a core part of real-world financial activity."