DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What will it take to build a financial system billions of people can trust — and barely notice? That question framed a fireside chat at Paris Blockchain Week 2026 titled “Trust, Technology, and Transformation: Building the New Financial Platform for a Tokenized Economy,” where Bybit Co‑founder and CEO Ben Zhou described a future in which finance becomes more intelligent, accessible, and invisible.
Rather than debating price cycles or short‑term trends, Zhou cast the industry’s next phase as a redesign of core financial infrastructure driven by the convergence of artificial intelligence, programmable assets, and clearer regulation.
From Interfaces to Intelligence: Agentic Finance
Zhou challenged assumptions about how users will interact with financial services. He outlined the rise of AI agent accounts that let clients create sub‑accounts for AI to access market data, execute strategies, and interact on their behalf. “Agentic payments are becoming a major theme — and we’re just at the beginning,” he said.
Instead of manual navigation, users will increasingly delegate tasks to AI agents that interpret data, make decisions, and optimize outcomes in real time. Today those agents are mostly used for analytics and data access; tomorrow they may take on execution and payment flows. The implication: the user interface fades and intelligence runs in the background.
The Quiet Transformation of Finance
Zhou noted a subtler but more consequential shift than the public’s fixation on “crypto.” Traditional financial institutions are adopting blockchain not as a speculative arena but as infrastructure. Stablecoins are emerging as a practical bridge, enabling faster payments, more efficient settlement, and access to global liquidity. In many cases institutions are building on crypto rails while avoiding the “crypto” label — signaling that blockchain technologies are becoming foundational rather than alternative.
Trust Is the Real Product
For Zhou, the central constraint and opportunity is trust. He highlighted improving regulatory clarity as a catalyst for institutional participation: “The regulatory framework has become significantly clearer in recent years. Jurisdictions like the UAE are setting the pace by actively welcoming innovation and providing structured pathways for growth.”
As rules solidify across Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom, institutions follow — and the system matures. Regulatory certainty reduces friction, encourages integration, and helps embed tokenized infrastructure into existing financial ecosystems.
A System That Works Without Being Seen
Zhou framed the long‑term goal as enhancement rather than replacement: improving existing systems so financial services are more accessible, efficient, and intuitive worldwide. The desired end state is finance embedded so seamlessly into daily life that users no longer think about blockchains, wallets, or platforms — they simply rely on services that work. In that world, trust is built into the infrastructure, intelligence operates behind the scenes, and technology becomes invisible.
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About Bybit
Bybit is the world’s second‑largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 80 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit aims to create a simpler, open, and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a focus on Web3, Bybit partners with leading blockchain protocols to provide infrastructure and drive on‑chain innovation. Known for secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experiences, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges TradFi and DeFi to empower builders, creators, and enthusiasts. Discover decentralized finance at Bybit.com.
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