Episode 52 of The Crypto Beat was recorded with hosts Kelvin Sparks, Tim Copeland and Bybit CEO Ben Zhou.
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In episode 52 of the Crypto Beat, Kelvin Sparks and Tim Copeland were joined by Bybit CEO Ben Zhou to discuss how he bootstrapped a derivatives-focused exchange and grew Bybit into a one-stop crypto platform. Ben also reflects on managing a $1B hack with radical transparency, surviving brutal bear markets, and why he thinks RWAs and on-chain capital markets will be a defining theme going into 2026.
OUTLINE
00:00 – Introduction
02:05 – Derivatives-First Bybit
05:09 – Cards & User Acquisition
08:21 – Prediction Markets & Competition
11:33 – CEX vs On-Chain Perps
13:44 – Mantle, BitDAO & L2 Strategy
18:28 – Market Outlook & Liquidity
21:40 – Hiring, Culture & Layoffs
28:14 – Bootstrapping & Product Focus
30:41 – $1B Hack & Hard Lessons
36:46 – RWAs, Tokenized Stocks & 2026
Guest links:
Ben Zhou – https://x.com/benbybit
Bybit – https://x.com/Bybit_Official
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