#Cryptocurrency #Bybit #United Arab Emirates #Dubai #Financial Services

Bybit's Ambitious Vision for 2026 as 'The New Financial Platform'

In January 2026, Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, revealed its vision for the future, aiming to transform into 'The New Financial Platform'. This initiative sets a roadmap to enhance global financial infrastructure, providing modern banking, investment, and payment services to underserved populations worldwide. Featured at a half-yearly keynote by co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou, the platform seeks to establish itself as a comprehensive financial system that interlinks cryptocurrencies with traditional markets and real-world financial services.

Expanding Access to Financial Services

Bybit's strategic goal revolves around addressing the needs of the 1.4 billion individuals across the globe with limited access to banking services. Many people face obstacles such as geographic limitations or restrictive financial systems, which prevent them from receiving reliable banking services. Bybit’s infrastructure leverages blockchain technology to deliver accessible and borderless financial solutions that seamlessly integrate with regulated fiat systems.

Ben Zhou articulated Bybit's mission clearly, stating, "Finance should not be confined by geographical boundaries. We are building a financial infrastructure that connects crypto services with economic activities in the real world." The platform aims to eliminate discomforting barriers to modern financial systems, creating a system that is always accessible, efficient, and globally-oriented.

Introducing MyBank: A New Kind of Banking

One of the cornerstones of this ambitious strategy is MyBank, the new retail banking service set to launch in February 2026. MyBank plans to simplify the processes for large fiat deposits and withdrawals while facilitating everyday financial transactions in compliance with banking regulations. The service is crafted to address real-life challenges faced by users in emerging markets, like slow transfer speeds, limited access, high fees, and a scarcity of financial products.

By integrating cryptocurrency liquidity, MyBank aims to provide faster and more cost-effective capital usage for both individuals and businesses, offering a banking-level experience. Through MyBank, Bybit aims to reshape the banking landscape, providing tools that could empower users in less developed regions to engage with global financial services.

Strengthening Security with ByCustody

To foster trust in financial inclusion, Bybit has developed ByCustody, an institutional custody framework for managing assets exceeding $5 billion. This security architecture supports stringent asset segregation, enabling institutions and high-net-worth individuals to work with traditional financial safeguards while gaining access to digital markets. With growing institutional interest, over 2,000 organizations are currently leveraging Bybit's infrastructure, reflecting a 100% increase in demand for hybrid financial platforms that bridge traditional and digital asset ecosystems.

A Unified Financial Infrastructure

Currently, Bybit serves over 82 million users in 181 countries, facilitated through connections with nearly 2,000 local banks and more than 58 fiat gateways. Notably, Bybit offers services including:

• - Over 200,000 P2P traders worldwide
• - More than 2.7 million Bybit cards issued globally
• - Support for local fiat payments in over ten countries via Bybit Pay
• - Managing $7.1 billion in assets through Bybit Earn, yielding $110 million for users in 2025

Bybit has achieved a notable 16% market share in the global spot trading of XAUT (Tether Gold) as of January 29, 2026. The platform’s TradFi offering has evolved since its inception in 2022 to now include over 200 traditional finance instruments, with a plan to introduce 500 trading pairs, encompassing CFDs on stocks, forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrency markets. This creates a unified environment for users to manage diversified financial activities efficiently.

Navigating Compliance for Expansion

Bybit's developments align with evolving global regulatory frameworks by collaborating with licensed banking and custody partners. Enhanced onboarding standards, custody structures, and transaction monitoring systems are underway to meet regulatory expectations. The company maintains active partnerships with more than ten global banks and custodians, developing cohesive collateral systems where fiat currencies, traditional assets, and crypto holdings coexist securely.

Integrating AI into Financial Services

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is embedded further into Bybit’s strategy—not merely as an auxiliary feature, but as a fundamental component to enhance overall efficiency. Already, AI has boosted productivity in engineering functions by 30%. By 2026, Bybit plans to introduce its AI4SE initiative aimed at achieving a 50% improvement in productivity across the software lifecycle and deploying an AI agents network to support risk control, compliance, customer service, and data analysis.

As Zhou concluded, “This transformation is about mainstream finance. We are extending beyond niche crypto services to develop a new financial platform where cryptocurrencies are integral to real economic activities, enabling more efficient capital utilization for users across traditional and crypto markets.”

Conclusion

Bybit’s 2026 vision represents an ambitious forward movement in redefining financial accessibility and integrating modern financial practices within global markets. As it constructs this new platform, Bybit not only positions itself at the forefront of financial innovation but also strives to leave a significant impact on global financial equity. The future for Bybit appears promising as it bridges the gaps between cryptocurrency and traditional finance, raising the standards for inclusive financial services worldwide.