Sponsored Content
Disclaimer. This content is part of a paid partnership. The text below is a sponsored article that is not part of Cointelegraph.com editorial content. The material is written by our advertorial team and has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance, it may not reflect the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.com. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company. Disclosure.
The transition of digital assets into the financial mainstream has been a central narrative for years. However, 2025 marked a definitive turning point as adoption rates climbed and regulatory frameworks solidified across major global jurisdictions.
The industry landscape in 2025 was defined by an expansion of crypto utility beyond simple speculation. Ben Zhou, the CEO of Bybit, highlighted the elevated levels by sharing the latest metrics in a recent session of “Keynote with Ben.” The session covered how crypto fared in 2025, key trends of the year and Bybit’s expanded footprint.
Crypto goes mainstream — and regulated
In the keynote, Zhou said 2025 can be best described as “a year of adoption” for crypto. According to data presented by Zhou, the number of crypto owners had grown by a 16% throughout the year. That brings the global crypto ownership rate to 8.7%.
The trend was visible in traditional finance (TradFi) as well. The number of TradFi firms onboarding crypto has doubled in 2025. Meanwhile, stablecoins were heavily used for payments, and have settled double the volume of major traditional payment networks over 12 months.
Data shows crypto adoption is especially pronounced in highly unbanked regions. Zhou believes crypto is preferred in these regions as it provides easy participation in finance, and drops geopolitical barriers to access:
“There’s still 1.4 billion people in the world that is unbanked, it’s quite crazy to think about. However, with crypto, global users anywhere, anytime now can participate in this new financial market as long as they have internet and a smartphone.”
2025 has also seen many countries around the world passing legislation for crypto, such as the US, which enacted the GENIUS Act in July 2025. The US joined jurisdictions, like Singapore, the UAE and the EU, which already have a crypto framework in place.
With regulations improving, the number of countries issuing VASP licenses has jumped by over 30% in 2025, according to Zhou. Bybit also received a MiCA license from Austria in May 2025. The platform obtained or applied for a license across all continents of the world, complying to regulations in all jurisdictions it operates in. Bybit currently serves around 82 million users across 181 countries and regions.
🎙 #KeynoteWithBen is LIVE!
— Bybit (@Bybit_Official) January 29, 2026
A new financial era begins. See what’s next for Bybit traders in 2026.
Watch Now: https://t.co/EIbHFpodeB https://t.co/4hgA9zosD8
A year of growth
2025 has been a full-on year for Bybit. The mission of being an all-in-one platform guided the exchange throughout the year, which released new products, grew its footprint while powering a wide range of use cases.
After receiving greenlight from Austrian regulators, Bybit launched its crypto debit card in the European Economic Area. The card enables users to pay with crypto for everyday purchases, such as groceries, online subscriptions or a simple coffee.
Zhou explained that the card recorded over $1 billion of volume in 2025, while settling around 32 million transactions. Meanwhile, Bybit Pay, the other pillar of Bybit’s fiat-to-crypto infrastructure, facilitated $360 million in payments.
To attract traders seeking to cash in on TradFi, Bybit has been developing a product since 2022. The product, Bybit TradFi, was fully integrated in 2025, supporting over 200 traditional pairs. Bybit TradFi has seen a strong interest from traders, setting a daily volume record of $100 billion.
Bybit has also been connecting TradFi institutions to blockchain through its real-world asset (RWA) tokenization solution, close collaboration with banks and custodians, and ByCustody.
ByCustody is a custody solution developed for institutional and high-net-worth clients. The solution provides secure custody through multiparty computation (MPC) while offering loan options. Bybit plans to extend the feature to VIP clients soon.
Beyond an exchange
According to Zhou, the crypto exchange will kick off this year with another major product release, MyBank. Planned to land the market in February, MyBank will offer retail banking services to Bybit users that completed the KYC check.
Zhou explained that MyBank accounts will have an IBAN as “Bybit works with a few banking partners for this product.” After receiving fiat, users can seamlessly convert to crypto without leaving the app.
Started as a financial tool, crypto is increasingly applied across varying industries. Positioning for this shift, Bybit aims to go beyond being an exchange and evolve into a comprehensive financial platform. “We will use crypto as the underlying core infrastructure to truly connect everyone globally,” Zhou concludes.
Disclaimer.This content is part of a paid partnership. The text below is a sponsored article that is not part of Cointelegraph.com editorial content. The material is written by our advertorial team and has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance, it may not reflect the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.com. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company. Disclosure.
