DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 8, 2024 -- Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, shared his candid views on crypto compliance, sensible AI deployments, and new growth drivers at TOKEN2049. Sharing the main stage with panelists from other leading exchanges, Ben addressed the growing pains of mainstreaming exchanges, and how they are adapting to meet increasing regulatory requirements at the annual premier crypto event, attended by over 30,000 participants and amplifying leading voices in the blockchain and crypto economy.

Advance Compliance: A Necessary Luxury

"Compliance is not cheap, but the penalties are more expensive. And it comes with not just monetary but also other consequences," Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit remarked.

Steering the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Ben Zhou admitted Bybit was on the same learning curve as other major exchanges.

"We are not the first ones, and we have the opportunities to learn and adapt the business," he said about the rapid changes in the compliance landscape, acknowledging that all exchanges including Bybit are ramping up their compliance efforts.

Only a year ago, exchanges used to place an amount limit on compliance checks; but Bybit has been taking a prudent approach of standardizing compliance and safety checks on practically transaction of any amount, after witnessing "what had happened in the industry," he disclosed.

Compliance overhead has increased accordingly. "The operations are getting a lot heavier with a lot more manpower," he said, adding that third-party tools such as Chainalysis have been useful in improving due diligence and KYC, adding costs but also efficiency.

At the time of writing, a team of over 50 risk experts operate Bybit's AI-enhanced risk engine alongside a growing legal and compliance function comprising compliance officers of various specialities and in-house counsel.

Ben also took pride in crypto's contribution to improving compliance practices and raised the bar to make it harder for rogue actors to bypass sanctions. "In our industry, we have revolutionized how compliance has been done. For instance, someone trying to access our platform from a sanctioned address would be identified within minutes and the address would be blocked. The industry is revolutionizing the old ways of doing things in compliance," he said.  

Incorporating AI Tools and Finding Growth 

Bybit takes a "slightly different approach" to AI and recognizes the gap between the native interfaces and users' demands.

"We don't like to use APIs because retail users don't understand them. Instead, we think about the user experience when they interact with exchanges: we use AI to make it a little easier with automation," he explains.

In the fast-moving world of crypto, users seek not Wikipedia-style explanations of a newly listed token, but hard data and community feedback. Bybit uses AI as a co-pilot to produce a timely summary to break down data points and guide users doing their research to analysis, project background, and social noise. "Basically we look at which part of the process is mundane, and try to streamline it," he said of the way Bybit deploys AI.

Ben also revealed the geography of growth as crypto continues to serve as a driver for financial inclusion. He commented on the fast-growing TON ecosystem and play-to-earn games, drawing in diverse user groups from Africa, India to parts of Eastern Europe, mapping out a new trend of onboarding users from emerging economies.

Crypto offers an engaging way to empower these communities, he said, where traditional financial infrastructure may fall short for retail users.

Themed "Exchanges at the Helm: Driving Crypto from Niche to Mainstream", the panel was moderated by Michael Casey, Chairman of the Decentralized AI Society featuring prominent speakers including Ben Zhou at Bybit, Gracy Chen at Bitget, Vivien Lin at BingX, Sonia Shaw at Coin W and Alicia Kao at KuCoin.

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About Bybit

Bybit is one of the world's top three crypto exchanges by trading volume with 50 million users. Established in 2018, it offers a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find an ultra-fast matching engine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One's reigning Constructors' and Drivers' champions: the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.

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