Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 13, 2026 (Chainwire) — Bybit Co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou has outlined the latest stage of the company's expansion from a crypto exchange into what it calls "The New Financial Platform," highlighting new products and collaborations across traditional and digital markets. The updates were presented during Bybit's latest biannual Keynote with Ben. The positioning reflects a broader convergence between crypto platforms, brokerages and fintech services as trading venues add traditional assets alongside digital ones.

Four Years of TradFi Expansion, With Stocks Now Live and mStocks Ahead

Four years after entering traditional finance with contracts for difference (CFDs) in 2022, Bybit has established itself as the largest crypto CFD platform, with trading volume reaching as much as $100 billion at its peak. On Oct. 12, the company moved further into traditional markets with the launch of stock trading for eligible users, providing access to more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs. Users can trade using USDC, with fractional shares and 24/5 access covering U.S. pre-market, regular and after-hours sessions. Pairing stablecoin settlement with extended-hours access reflects a broader industry move toward offering U.S. equities outside standard market hours, with availability tied to each user's eligibility.

Bybit is also developing mStocks in collaboration with Mantle, with a targeted launch in November. The tokenized stock product is designed to be backed 1:1 by real stocks, with plans to support round-the-clock conversion between eligible stocks and mStocks on Bybit, as well as decentralized exchange trading through automated market maker (AMM) liquidity pools on Mantle. Converted mStocks are also expected to be transferable into Bybit's Unified Trading Account (UTA) for use as trading collateral, subject to applicable terms and conditions. Tokenized equities are an emerging category at the intersection of crypto and traditional markets, making the November launch — and the planned conversion and collateral mechanics — a key milestone to watch.

Bybit launched IPO Express in June, giving eligible users access to selected IPO opportunities at the offering price through tokenized representations of the underlying securities. The service debuted with SpaceX and is designed to extend Bybit's reach beyond secondary-market trading into selected primary-market opportunities.

The latest developments build on Bybit's expansion into perpetuals, pre-market products, foreign exchange and options. Its TradFi offering now spans more than 600 products across equities, ETFs, indices, commodities and FX. TradFi perpetuals have recorded more than $180 billion in trading volume, while recent additions include Forex Perps and Perp Options, an industry-first options product built on TradFi perpetuals. Bybit is continuing to develop new perpetual products linked to AI computing and commodities, extending its range of instruments beyond conventional crypto markets.

Extending the Platform Into Payments

Beyond trading and investing, Bybit has expanded its payments infrastructure to help customers move funds with greater flexibility. Bybit Pay and Bybit Card support crypto and fiat transfers, merchant payments and everyday spending. The services now connect users with more than 5,000 merchants across more than 15 countries and support transfers to bank accounts and e-wallets, alongside QR payments and other payment services.bit has issued more than 4 million Bybit Cards, extending the platform's use beyond financial markets into payments and spending — a segment that has become increasingly competitive among both crypto platforms and fintech providers.

Security and Regulatory Infrastructure

The expansion has been accompanied by investment in security, compliance and technology infrastructure. In the first half of 2026, Bybit said it intercepted more than 30,000 suspicious withdrawal requests, protecting users from more than $700 million in potential losses. Safeguards of this kind take on added weight as platforms hold an increasingly diverse mix of crypto and traditional assets.

Bybit also secured five new licenses and regulatory approvals during 2026 across the European Union, the Cayman Islands, Indonesia, South Africa and El Salvador. These regulatory developments support the company's efforts to expand its presence across different markets, subject to local requirements. How quickly the new approvals translate into product availability in each region is among the open questions for the rollout.

The company launched Bybit AI in September as a conversational assistant spanning trading, account management and customer support, with further development planned around the platform's wider financial services.

"Bybit is all about giving you the speed and scale you need when you Make Your Move. We have brought trading, investing, payments and AI together, and we are continuing to add more markets and more ways to use them. We built the platform. Now it is about giving people the financial freedom to make their own move," said Ben Zhou, Co-founder and CEO of Bybit.

Building Beyond the Exchange

Four years after entering TradFi, Bybit now combines crypto markets with stocks and ETFs, derivatives, commodities, FX, selected pre-IPO access, payments and AI-powered services. The company's focus is increasingly on bringing these capabilities together within a single platform while continuing to expand market access, product depth and the infrastructure supporting them.

For Bybit, the development of The New Financial Platform represents the next stage of its growth beyond crypto and into a broader role across global financial markets. The full keynote is available on Bybit's website.

According to the company, Bybit serves more than 80 million users worldwide, bringing together investing, trading, payments and wealth-building in a single ecosystem that combines AI-powered technology, deep global liquidity, security and transparent operations.