Bybit CEO Ben Zhou Signals a New Era of Regulated Institutional Finance Following Full VAPO and MiCAR Approvals

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At the BIG Series – Bybit Institutional Gala, Bybit Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou delivered a landmark address outlining Bybit's strategic path into a fully regulated institutional era. Speaking before global regulators, banks, and market leaders, Zhou detailed how Bybit's full UAE Virtual Asset Platform Operator (VAPO) license is reshaping the exchange's global positioning and setting new standards for governance, infrastructure resilience, and institutional-grade market access.

This new license places Bybit under one of the world's most robust regulatory regimes, enabling the exchange to offer a complete institutional product stack from a rigorously supervised UAE hub.

Vision Rooted in Trust, Scale, and Regulatory Alignment

Zhou opened by emphasizing that institutional adoption is accelerating toward firms that can demonstrate both operational scale and regulatory certainty — and Bybit is now positioned to lead that shift.

"Bybit's growth this year reflects a market seeking reliability," Zhou stated.

"Asset inflows rose from USD 1.3 billion in Q3 to USD 2.88 billion in Q4, while our wealth management AUM expanded fivefold from USD 40 million to USD 200 million. Institutions want partners who can scale with discipline, transparency, and governance — and Bybit is delivering exactly that."

Zhou noted that Bybit's strengthened regulatory status marks an inflection point for the industry.

"The UAE's VAPO license gives institutions what they have been waiting for — a regulatory environment where innovation is supported by rigorous oversight," he added. "It anchors our compliance-first strategy and sets a model for how global digital finance will mature."

From Retail Strength to Institutional Certainty

Zhou highlighted that Bybit's institutional advantage is built on the strength of its global retail ecosystem — now spanning card, Pay, and fiat integration across 13 regions. This scale enables one of the deepest liquidity pools in the industry, providing measurable execution benefits to institutional desks.

He also pointed to accelerated collaboration with major financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East, reinforcing Bybit's role as a high-reliability execution venue for professional market participants.

TradFi and Crypto: A Single Market Within Five Years

Looking ahead, Zhou outlined his long-term view of the industry. Rather than parallel financial systems, he predicts a unified capital market driven by shared infrastructure standards, integrated workflows, and interoperable liquidity.

"In the next five years, TradFi and crypto will not be two separate worlds," Zhou said. "We are moving toward a single, globally connected ecosystem built on institutional-grade liquidity, custody, and infrastructure — and Bybit is building the operational backbone for that future."

Commitment to a Safer, High-Performance Institutional Market

Zhou closed his keynote by underscoring Bybit's commitment to create the market's most trusted institutional trading ecosystem — anchored in transparency, execution speed, and clear regulatory standards.

With its expanded regulatory footprint, deepening institutional partnerships, and rapidly scaling liquidity, Bybit is well positioned as a foundational pillar of the global digital asset market heading into an era of rapid institutional adoption in 2026.

#Bybit / #CryptoArk 

About Bybit

Bybit is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 70 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press
For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com
For updates, please follow: Bybit's Communities and Social Media

Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | Youtube

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At the BIG Series – Bybit Institutional Gala, Bybit Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou delivered a landmark address outlining Bybit's strategic path into a fully regulated institutional era. Speaking before global regulators, banks, and market leaders, Zhou detailed how Bybit's full UAE Virtual Asset Platform Operator (VAPO) license is reshaping the exchange's global positioning and setting new standards for governance, infrastructure resilience, and institutional-grade market access.

This new license places Bybit under one of the world's most robust regulatory regimes, enabling the exchange to offer a complete institutional product stack from a rigorously supervised UAE hub.

Vision Rooted in Trust, Scale, and Regulatory Alignment

Zhou opened by emphasizing that institutional adoption is accelerating toward firms that can demonstrate both operational scale and regulatory certainty — and Bybit is now positioned to lead that shift.

"Bybit's growth this year reflects a market seeking reliability," Zhou stated.

"Asset inflows rose from USD 1.3 billion in Q3 to USD 2.88 billion in Q4, while our wealth management AUM expanded fivefold from USD 40 million to USD 200 million. Institutions want partners who can scale with discipline, transparency, and governance — and Bybit is delivering exactly that."

Zhou noted that Bybit's strengthened regulatory status marks an inflection point for the industry.

"The UAE's VAPO license gives institutions what they have been waiting for — a regulatory environment where innovation is supported by rigorous oversight," he added. "It anchors our compliance-first strategy and sets a model for how global digital finance will mature."

From Retail Strength to Institutional Certainty

Zhou highlighted that Bybit's institutional advantage is built on the strength of its global retail ecosystem — now spanning card, Pay, and fiat integration across 13 regions. This scale enables one of the deepest liquidity pools in the industry, providing measurable execution benefits to institutional desks.

He also pointed to accelerated collaboration with major financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East, reinforcing Bybit's role as a high-reliability execution venue for professional market participants.

TradFi and Crypto: A Single Market Within Five Years

Looking ahead, Zhou outlined his long-term view of the industry. Rather than parallel financial systems, he predicts a unified capital market driven by shared infrastructure standards, integrated workflows, and interoperable liquidity.

"In the next five years, TradFi and crypto will not be two separate worlds," Zhou said. "We are moving toward a single, globally connected ecosystem built on institutional-grade liquidity, custody, and infrastructure — and Bybit is building the operational backbone for that future."

Commitment to a Safer, High-Performance Institutional Market

Zhou closed his keynote by underscoring Bybit's commitment to create the market's most trusted institutional trading ecosystem — anchored in transparency, execution speed, and clear regulatory standards.

With its expanded regulatory footprint, deepening institutional partnerships, and rapidly scaling liquidity, Bybit is well positioned as a foundational pillar of the global digital asset market heading into an era of rapid institutional adoption in 2026.

#Bybit / #CryptoArk 

About Bybit

Bybit is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 70 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press
For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com
For updates, please follow: Bybit's Communities and Social Media

Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | Youtube

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou Signals a New Era of Regulated Institutional Finance Following Full VAPO and MiCAR Approvals

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, today announced the launch of its Stock Index Perpetual Contracts, with the first batch of contracts scheduled for listing, including Tesla Index Perpetual Contract (TSLAUSDT) and MicroStrategy Index Perpetual Contract (MSTRUSDT). As traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto infrastructure continue to converge, the new product combines 24/7 trading, micro-contract entry from 1 USDT, and a risk control framework built on institutional-grade pricing, session-aware mark pricing, and EMA-based transition smoothing, offering eligible global users a more continuous, flexible, and risk-conscious tool for cross-asset allocation, while further expanding KuCoin's cross-market derivatives infrastructure under its Trust-First strategy.

As global markets become more interconnected and increasingly event-driven, portfolio management is shifting from single-market participation toward continuous risk management across time zones and asset classes. In traditional equity markets, liquidity conditions can change sharply around market open and close, creating short-term pricing dislocations and increasing the risk of technical liquidations. KuCoin's Stock Index Perpetual Contracts are designed to address that structural limitation by bringing equity-linked derivatives into a crypto-native, always-on trading environment.

Key features include:

• 24/7 Trading Access – Continuous access to equity-linked contracts beyond traditional market hours.
• Micro-Contract Entry – Positions start from as little as 1 USDT, making participation more accessible to global users.
• Institutional-Grade Pricing Framework – Use of institutional-grade reference pricing mechanisms and session-aware mark pricing designed to better reflect underlying market conditions and reduce traders' exposure to volatility across varying liquidity conditions.
• EMA-Based Transition Smoothing – A pricing design intended to reduce abrupt dislocations around market open and close.

BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin, said: "Global capital markets are moving toward a new phase defined by liquidity, real-time risk management, and seamless access. We believe next-generation financial infrastructure must go beyond asset tokenization. It must also provide more reliable pricing, more continuous market access, and more disciplined risk controls. The launch of our Stock Index Perpetual Contracts reflects KuCoin's long-term commitment to supporting the convergence of TradFi and Crypto through infrastructure built on trust."

We will continue refining the product framework, including potential enhancements to pricing methodologies, risk management systems, and liquidity mechanisms, with the objective of supporting stable market operations and user protection. This launch not only expands KuCoin's derivatives offering, but also reflects the core principle of its Trust-First strategy: long-term value in market innovation depends not only on broader asset access, but on the strength of the infrastructure and risk controls that support it.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform trusted by over 40 million users across 200+ countries and regions. The platform delivers innovative digital-asset services, offering access to 1,000+ listed tokens, spot and futures trading, institutional wealth management, and a Web3 wallet.

Recognized by Forbes and Hurun, KuCoin holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certifications, underscoring its commitment to top-tier security. With AUSTRAC registration in Australia and a MiCA license in Austria, KuCoin continues expanding its regulated footprint under CEO BC Wong, building a reliable and trusted digital-asset ecosystem.

Learn more: https://www.kucoin.com/

*Important Notice:

• These contracts are synthetic derivative products designed to track the price movements of certain publicly available equity benchmarks. They are stablecoin-settled perpetual derivative contracts and do not represent ownership of any stocks or securities, and no shares will be delivered.
• Access to these products may not be available in certain jurisdictions and may be restricted based on applicable laws and platform compliance requirements. Trading derivatives involves significant risk, including the potential loss of your entire margin. If you have any questions, please seek independent advice. Before trading, please review the Terms of Use, Futures Services Terms, and Risk Disclosure Statements (as updated from time to time).

 

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, today announced the launch of its Stock Index Perpetual Contracts, with the first batch of contracts scheduled for listing, including Tesla Index Perpetual Contract (TSLAUSDT) and MicroStrategy Index Perpetual Contract (MSTRUSDT). As traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto infrastructure continue to converge, the new product combines 24/7 trading, micro-contract entry from 1 USDT, and a risk control framework built on institutional-grade pricing, session-aware mark pricing, and EMA-based transition smoothing, offering eligible global users a more continuous, flexible, and risk-conscious tool for cross-asset allocation, while further expanding KuCoin's cross-market derivatives infrastructure under its Trust-First strategy.

As global markets become more interconnected and increasingly event-driven, portfolio management is shifting from single-market participation toward continuous risk management across time zones and asset classes. In traditional equity markets, liquidity conditions can change sharply around market open and close, creating short-term pricing dislocations and increasing the risk of technical liquidations. KuCoin's Stock Index Perpetual Contracts are designed to address that structural limitation by bringing equity-linked derivatives into a crypto-native, always-on trading environment.

Key features include:

• 24/7 Trading Access – Continuous access to equity-linked contracts beyond traditional market hours.
• Micro-Contract Entry – Positions start from as little as 1 USDT, making participation more accessible to global users.
• Institutional-Grade Pricing Framework – Use of institutional-grade reference pricing mechanisms and session-aware mark pricing designed to better reflect underlying market conditions and reduce traders' exposure to volatility across varying liquidity conditions.
• EMA-Based Transition Smoothing – A pricing design intended to reduce abrupt dislocations around market open and close.

BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin, said: "Global capital markets are moving toward a new phase defined by liquidity, real-time risk management, and seamless access. We believe next-generation financial infrastructure must go beyond asset tokenization. It must also provide more reliable pricing, more continuous market access, and more disciplined risk controls. The launch of our Stock Index Perpetual Contracts reflects KuCoin's long-term commitment to supporting the convergence of TradFi and Crypto through infrastructure built on trust."

We will continue refining the product framework, including potential enhancements to pricing methodologies, risk management systems, and liquidity mechanisms, with the objective of supporting stable market operations and user protection. This launch not only expands KuCoin's derivatives offering, but also reflects the core principle of its Trust-First strategy: long-term value in market innovation depends not only on broader asset access, but on the strength of the infrastructure and risk controls that support it.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform trusted by over 40 million users across 200+ countries and regions. The platform delivers innovative digital-asset services, offering access to 1,000+ listed tokens, spot and futures trading, institutional wealth management, and a Web3 wallet.

Recognized by Forbes and Hurun, KuCoin holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certifications, underscoring its commitment to top-tier security. With AUSTRAC registration in Australia and a MiCA license in Austria, KuCoin continues expanding its regulated footprint under CEO BC Wong, building a reliable and trusted digital-asset ecosystem.

Learn more: https://www.kucoin.com/

*Important Notice:

• These contracts are synthetic derivative products designed to track the price movements of certain publicly available equity benchmarks. They are stablecoin-settled perpetual derivative contracts and do not represent ownership of any stocks or securities, and no shares will be delivered.
• Access to these products may not be available in certain jurisdictions and may be restricted based on applicable laws and platform compliance requirements. Trading derivatives involves significant risk, including the potential loss of your entire margin. If you have any questions, please seek independent advice. Before trading, please review the Terms of Use, Futures Services Terms, and Risk Disclosure Statements (as updated from time to time).

 

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

KuCoin Launches Stock Index Perpetual Contracts, Expanding 24/7 Cross-Asset Access