Bybit Keynote with Ben H2 2026: Unlocking a world of financial opportunities

From real stock ownership to AI-powered financial tools, Bybit brings more opportunities together through one connected platform.

What if access to global financial markets no longer depended on where you lived or how many financial platforms you needed to manage your money? That question lies at the heart of Bybit's next chapter.

During the H2 2026 Keynote, Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou re-introduced the company's Brand 6.0 evolution under the message Make Your Move, outlining a vision to make global financial opportunities more accessible through an increasingly connected ecosystem.

Key Takeaways:

• Ben Zhou's H2 2026 Keynote outlined Bybit's vision for broader financial access through one connected platform.

• The keynote highlighted broader TradFi access and real US stock ownership, with mStocks set to go live by November 2026.

• Bybit AI, Bybit Pay and Bybit Card help connect product discovery, trading and everyday spending, extending the platform's role beyond market access.

Ben illustrated this ambition with a comparison between users in different parts of the world:

"A client from Nigeria or from Indonesia should have the same set of financial choices as someone living in New York or London."

For Ben, opportunity is not simply a branded message. It is the guiding principle behind Bybit's product strategy. Whether the company introduces a new token, expands access to traditional financial markets or develops AI-powered tools, the defining question is what each development enables users to do. Bybit's mission is to build a world where every person has access to every financial opportunity on earth. Achieving that vision means moving beyond individual products and connecting more financial activities through a single platform.

Beyond crypto: Expanding access to global markets

As stablecoin adoption accelerates and traditional financial assets increasingly move on-chain, the boundaries between traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto are becoming less distinct. For Bybit, this represents an opportunity to expand beyond the conventional role of a cryptocurrency exchange.

Ben highlighted four years of development across Bybit's TradFi ecosystem, from TradFi CFDs (contracts for difference) introduced in 2022 to TradFi Perpetual contracts launched in March 2026 and pre-market offerings introduced in June. The roadmap has grown to more than 600 offerings across traditional financial markets, including stocks, commodities, foreign exchange and indices.

Adoption has followed. Since the launch of TradFi Perpetuals in March 2026, those instruments alone have generated more than $180 billion in trading volume, with over 325,000 users participating across 192 markets.

Recent developments also include Perp Options and Bybit Odds, a derivative product designed to make expressing market views more accessible. Available through the Bybit app and website, Bybit Odds allows users to take positions on price directions, targets or ranges over periods from five minutes to seven days, with starting amounts as low as $5.

The growing TradFi ecosystem also connects with familiar Bybit products. Supported TradFi perpetual contracts are available through Copy Trading and Futures Grid Bots, while Dual Asset has expanded to include selected TradFi pairs. Together, these developments give users more ways to participate in global markets without navigating multiple disconnected trading environments.

Bybit Stocks: Bringing real ownership into the ecosystem

Beyond derivatives, one of the keynote's major announcements marked a further step in Bybit's expansion into traditional finance. Ben confirmed the recent launch of Bybit Stocks, enabling eligible users to hold and trade real US shares directly through the platform. With access to more than 1,000 US stocks and ETFs, the offering introduces real share ownership alongside Bybit's existing crypto and derivatives products, with zero-commission trading and partner institutions providing share custody.

In practice, this means a user who already trades crypto derivatives on Bybit can now hold US stocks within the same account, without opening a separate brokerage.

Ben also outlined the next stage of development, including planned securities lending and borrowing, transfers from external brokers and the ability to use stock holdings as collateral.

Another initiative, mStocks, is being developed with Mantle to connect real shares with tokenized representations backed on a one-to-one basis. Under the planned model, users could convert eligible shares into stock-backed tokens for use as trading collateral in Bybit's Unified Trading Account or in supported on-chain markets through Mantle, then convert eligible tokens back into real shares. Ben then announced that mStocks would be live by November 2026.

Bybit AI: Turning information into actionable opportunities

More financial products create more possibilities, but they also introduce complexity. As Bybit's ecosystem expands, users need efficient ways to discover relevant opportunities, navigate available services and act on financial information. Bybit AI is designed to address that challenge.

Ben explained that the AI assistant had already been live for a little over two months. Its initial version connects with services across Bybit, helping users access personalized account information, product guidance and trading-related assistance through natural language. During the keynote, two practical demonstrations illustrated how that experience works.

The first focused on the Rewards Hub. By asking which rewards tasks were available that day, users could discover relevant campaigns and better understand their eligibility, including benefits available to VIP clients. Instead of manually searching through multiple promotion pages, users could turn a straightforward question into a more personalized view of available opportunities.

The second demonstration focused on trading information. Bybit AI was asked to retrieve and compare funding rates across the top 10 crypto assets, a task that would otherwise require switching between multiple trading interfaces. The demonstration then explored order placement, including the possibility of placing multiple orders through AI-assisted workflows. Before execution, the system checks relevant account information and requires user confirmation for each trade, keeping the user involved in the final decision.

Together, these examples show how AI can help bridge the gap between discovering financial information and taking the next step.

Looking ahead, Ben outlined plans to extend Bybit AI beyond the platform's internal ecosystem. Future versions are intended to connect with external services such as Telegram, WhatsApp and third-party market data feeds, potentially enabling users to respond to information and signals from a wider range of sources. The longer-term ambition is for Bybit AI to develop toward a personalized financial assistant capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated financial workflows. These external integrations and advanced capabilities remain part of the roadmap, distinct from the services already available through the initial version.

One platform, more connected financial experiences

The expansion of TradFi, stock ownership and AI capabilities forms part of a larger vision. During the keynote, Ben questioned why users need separate applications for banking, stock trading, crypto and payments when these activities could increasingly be connected through one financial platform.

That vision extends beyond investing and trading into everyday financial activities. Through Bybit Pay and Bybit Card, the company connects digital assets with real-world payment experiences. Ben highlighted QR payment capabilities in supported markets, including Brazil, Argentina and Vietnam, alongside crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto services in selected regions. He also noted that Bybit had issued more than five million cards globally, illustrating the growing role of payment products within its wider ecosystem.

Ben described centralized exchanges as infrastructure for onboarding users and connecting crypto with everyday life:

"We are the bridge connecting real world to crypto."

Building trust as opportunities expand

Making financial services more accessible also requires a foundation of security and trust. During the keynote, Ben shared specific measures that have shaped Bybit's current security posture. The company reported intercepting more than $700 million in potential losses, blocking over 30,000 risky withdrawal attempts and maintaining 100% on-chain transaction monitoring.

Ben described the redesigned cold wallet process as an example. Access is separated across roles: one person opens the physical vault, another signs transactions, and every action is recorded for independent audit. If the first layer of defense is compromised, a second layer takes over. If that fails, a third layer provides additional coverage. The objective, Ben explained, is a zero-trust architecture where every layer is held accountable independently.

The keynote also highlighted regulatory progress. In August 2026, Bybit Payments GmbH obtained an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence in Europe, supporting the expansion of its payment and card services in the region. Bybit has pursued additional licences across other jurisdictions, with further applications in progress. As the platform expands, Ben emphasized that Bybit's security architecture will continue to evolve alongside its product ecosystem.

WSOT 2026: Where the community competes

The keynote concluded with the announcement of the World Series of Trading (WSOT) 2026, scheduled from October 29 to December 2 with a 10 million USDT prize pool. For the first time, the competition will extend beyond crypto to include stocks, RWAs and TradFi instruments, reflecting the broader direction outlined throughout the keynote. Bybit AI will also be integrated into the competition experience, giving participants access to AI-assisted tools during the event.

Looking ahead: Making financial opportunity accessible

A user in Nigeria should have the chance to explore financial choices comparable to those available to someone in New York. A trader should be able to discover relevant information without navigating numerous disconnected interfaces. And a stockholder should have more flexibility in how their assets interact with other financial products.

As Bybit enters its Brand 6.0 era, Make Your Move captures this ambition to connect more financial possibilities with the people who want to pursue them. The future of finance is not simply about offering more products. It is about making more opportunities accessible through one connected platform.

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