Bybit CEO Says the Era of the Pure Crypto Exchange Is Ending
Key Takeaways
- •Bybit’s campaign positions the exchange as a platform covering crypto and traditional markets, while its related products were available before the rebrand.
- •BitMEX has stopped trading after 11 years, and CoinEx is winding down amid lower volumes and higher compliance costs.
- •BitMart is exploring restructuring after announcing plans to close, leaving the possibility of resumed operations unresolved.
- •Coinbase is adding stocks and prediction markets alongside crypto under its “Everything Exchange” strategy.
- •The developments reflect a broader consolidation trend across the crypto exchange industry.
Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou says the era of the “pure crypto exchange” is drawing to a close, as customers increasingly seek stocks, gold and payment services alongside digital assets. Zhou shared the assessment with Cointelegraph on Thursday.
“The people who trade crypto also want stocks, gold, forex, indices, and derivatives,” Zhou said. “They want to pay, save, and grow their wealth in the same place.”
His remarks accompanied the launch of “Make Your Move,” a global brand campaign that repositions Bybit as a “new financial platform” spanning crypto and traditional markets, rather than a crypto-only venue. Zhou co-founded the exchange in 2018. The company’s derivatives tied to stocks, gold and indexes, as well as forex, were already available ahead of the campaign; those products give traders price exposure to traditional markets without ownership of the underlying assets. In other words, the multi-asset capability predates the rebrand; the campaign gives it a public identity.
Shakeout Among Crypto Exchanges
Bybit’s repositioning comes as several established crypto exchanges wind down. BitMEX ended trading on Wednesday after 11 years of operation, while CoinEx announced a wind-down this month, citing falling trading volumes and rising compliance costs. BitMart, which announced plans to close in July, is now exploring a restructuring that could allow some operations to resume.
Meanwhile, rival Coinbase is broadening rather than retrenching: under its “Everything Exchange” strategy, the US-based platform is adding stocks and prediction markets — venues for trading on the outcomes of real-world events — alongside crypto. Read side by side, Bybit and Coinbase are converging on the same multi-asset model even as peers shut down.
“The next generation of financial platforms won’t be built around a single asset class,” Zhou said.
In his view, the platforms that define the next phase will let users trade, pay, save and build wealth without switching between providers. BitMart’s restructuring — and whether it allows operations to resume — remains the shakeout’s most immediate open question.
The churn fits a broader trend: Cointelegraph has reported, citing an ARK analyst, that crypto is entering its biggest consolidation phase in history.
