DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 15, 2026 — At Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Bybit co‑founder and CEO Ben Zhou sketched a vision for a financial system built on trust, intelligence, and seamless infrastructure. His session, framed around ‘Trust, Technology, and Transformation,’ argued that the next phase of finance will be a redesign of plumbing and logic rather than another cycle of markets and short‑term trends.
Zhou said three forces will drive that redesign: artificial intelligence, programmable assets, and clearer regulation. Together they will let finance operate more intelligently and more quietly, moving from visible interfaces to embedded services that users barely notice.
Agentic finance: AI replacing interfaces
One of the clearest near‑term shifts Zhou highlighted is the rise of agentic finance — AI systems that act on behalf of users. Bybit has started experimenting with AI agent accounts that create sub‑accounts where agents can access market data, execute strategies, and manage payments. Zhou described this as the beginning of ‘agentic payments,’ where routine interactions are delegated to software that interprets data and optimizes outcomes in real time.
The implication is that the traditional user interface may fade: instead of clicking through menus, people will hand tasks to intelligent agents that monitor markets, settle transactions, and adjust behavior without constant human attention. Today those agents are primarily analytic; tomorrow they could redefine how orders are executed and how payments flow.
A quiet institutional shift
Zhou noted that much of the industry transformation is happening quietly inside established institutions. Instead of jumping in via speculation, banks and large financial firms are adopting blockchain as infrastructure — using stablecoins and crypto rails for faster payments, more efficient settlement, and broader liquidity access. Often these organizations adopt the technology without embracing the ‘crypto’ label, signaling that distributed ledgers are being integrated into mainstream finance rather than operating purely as an alternative ecosystem.
Trust as product
For Zhou, technology alone isn’t enough; trust is the real product. He pointed to improving regulatory clarity around the world as a critical enabler. Jurisdictions such as the UAE are actively courting innovation and creating structured frameworks, while Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom are also moving toward clearer rules. That clarity turns regulation from a barrier into a catalyst: as rules firm up, institutional participation rises and the system matures.
Building a system you don’t notice
Zhou closed by reframing the ultimate objective. The goal is not to replace today’s financial architecture but to enhance it so services become more accessible, efficient, and intuitive. In the envisioned future, users no longer think about blockchains, wallets, or exchanges — financial services are embedded into everyday life, trust is built into the infrastructure, and intelligence runs unobtrusively in the background.
About Bybit
Bybit, founded in 2018, is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, serving tens of millions of users globally. The company focuses on Web3 infrastructure, secure custody, diverse marketplaces, and tools that bridge traditional finance and decentralized systems. Bybit positions itself as a builder of open, equal ecosystems that enable creators, developers, and institutions to access on‑chain innovation.
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