Crypto’s meteoric rise has been nothing short of spectacular. From the start of 2020, Bitcoin has registered a rise of more than 193,639%, with this figure continuously growing despite market volatility. As crypto popularity grows, platforms used to accommodate it must grow too, expanding their facilities to deal with growing consumer demands. One of these companies looking to revolutionise the trading space for digital assets is Bybit.
Bybit is a cryptocurrency trading platform with more than two million registered users. Built on customer-centric values, the company endeavors to provide a professional, smart, intuitive and innovative online trading and cloud mining experience for retail and institutional clients around the world. Bybit is committed to creating a fair, transparent and efficient exchange environment, and offer 24/7 multi-lingual customer support to provide assistance in a timely manner.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit said, “Whether you call it a techno tour de force or the financial disrupter, the crypto economy has transcended human imagination, so powerful and advantageous that we will soon look back and question just how we ever operated without them.” The Fintech Times sat down with Bybit to discuss where they believed the future of crypto was heading and how they would have to improve and expand to keep up with competition and the constantly changing crypto marketplace.
What was the purpose of Bybit when it was created?
The market was already getting wild. But we had something different in mind when Bybit was launched in December 2018. We weren’t just creating another crypto exchange following the industry blueprint; we aspired to elevate the industry to provide the fairest, most transparent, and most robust crypto derivatives exchange, accessible to people all over the world.
We wanted to provide liquidity in times of opportunities, transparency in a fast-evolving sector, and reliability amidst volatility. These are all long term goals and I trust we have stood the test of time through the countless cycles in the past few years.
Bybit started in derivatives for the more crypto-savvy when times were really different in terms of public perception and market readiness. We are now expanding our range of products and services for every crypto lover, but our purpose remains guided by our community’s calling: to democratise finance through technology.
Why do you want to move beyond trades? Are you looking to create new products and services?
It’s a natural step in our journey. The crypto market experienced exponential growth these past 12 months. From the DeFi frenzy to the commencement of work on ETH 2.0, and even BTC’s price is hitting an all-time high.
Bybit has always been at the forefront of emerging trends as one of the top crypto derivatives platforms of choice. The passion for crypto is contagious and we could feel the pulse of the rapid growth of the community. We have recently announced our renewed proposition — to be the most reliable platform all crypto lovers can depend on.
That’s why rather than running the chase, we decided to set the pace. We doubled down on R&D to deliver industry leading innovations.
It has been an intense summer for us — we’ve revamped our trading platforms, rolled out new features in response to community feedback, launched spot trading for BTC, ETH, XRP and EOS — with zero maker fees and more trading pairs to come, and we are doing our best to meet popular demands for mining contracts in our new DeFi Center.
With a set of strengthened KYC policy we will be able to offer a wider range of more sophisticated products in more markets.
We also want to take trading to the next level for investors who believe in crypto through knowledge sharing. We want to create a space where expert traders, thought leaders or just savvy crypto enthusiasts can share and educate fellow traders in one space. In the long term, we want to create value for our traders beyond just trading, and we hope to create a community that is actively engaging and educating one another.
How do you plan on taking loyal customers with you on your journey?
I can’t begin to describe my appreciation for our community. The best thing about working in crypto is how close we get to be with our customers and supporters — there are no relationship managers, reporting lines and hierarchy.
I think if you truly are the biggest fans of your customers, they will see it. And trust the foundation of lasting relationships.
Bybit is really big on customer feedback and UX innovations. Our multilingual 24/7 customer support teams speak dozens of languages — and counting. They also take an active role in community building to make sure users have a direct line to our core teams. Our customer-facing teams probably work the closest to product and technical teams among organisations I’ve worked with or built. The flow informs a healthy loop of genuine customer feedback that helps us improve our platform exactly the way our users want it.
People trust their savings and aspirations with us on our platform. We try to make sure of two things: we will not leave our customers hanging in turbulent times, and we always stay close to our community of ambassadors and critics.
What do you think is a good example of financial services infrastructure? How do you expect DeFi and Cloud Mining to change in the future?
Crypto-enabled financial inclusion through DeFi protocols proves to be a viable alternative to traditional capital markets promises. The new possibility enables the individual, not just large players, to take control of their financial future.
Decentralised exchange protocols, also known as automated market makers, or AMMs, allow for trades to be settled in near real-time. In the case of an Ethereum-based project, we are talking about 13 seconds. Compare this with the two days (T+2) it takes to settle most liquid securities in mature capital markets. If AMM-like protocols could be adopted in traditional finance, the vast majority of capital tied up on the balance sheet today across banks and financial institutions could be released in the capital markets, turning an opportunity cost into economic gain.
We are also seeing the distribution of cloud mining power among average users. People can access flexible contracts with no hardware requirement at all, and get a return based on Ether mining products and from the appreciation of the underlying assets with Bybit Cloud Mining.
Flexibility, investment and stable returns had been an impossible triangle before technology and unprecedented computing power made cloud mining scalable.
Can you explain the difference between a cold wallet and a hot wallet?
We don’t take all our cash with us when we go out. We also don’t pay for coffee or purchases with our lives’ savings.
Risking oversimplifying the matter, think of them as your credit cards and debit account — a hot wallet is exposed to more elements as it’s connected to the internet. A cold wallet is “offline” and accessible by request.
It is important to think through your crypto goals and choose the type of wallet that fits your requirements best.
The former provides instant access and more trading options, while you’d probably want to keep assets somewhere safe if you are an investor who is keen on storing crypto long-term and values security above all other features.
Do you agree that 2021 is the Year of Crypto?
It has been an eventful first half of the year. Weeks in the crypto space seem like months, if not years or decades. We had all-time highs upon all-time highs; we also lived through the worst ever month for Bitcoin in both absolute and percentage terms in May.
Yet one thing is clear: Crypto has gone mainstream. Some of the world’s richest people cannot shut up about crypto. Celebrities are falling over one another to put on their laser eyes, either because they have become true believers, or because the level of fan engagement in crypto is just not seen anywhere else. Even a nation-state is talking about making Bitcoin its legal tender.
The beauty of being in this business is seeing all the early promises of blockchain and Bitcoin come true — and 2021 will be testament to the true value of crypto as they compete head to head with traditional investment instruments as an asset class.
The takeaway from the conversation with Bybit shows the cryptocurrency is undergoing a crazy change. With more people taking up trading, facilities must be improved to accomodate for the growing user base. Different users have different goals, be it long term investment or snap decision making, Bybit are tailoring their services to help all users feel they can use the platform to best suit their needs.Â
