Ben Zhou
Ben Zhou is the Co-founder and CEO of Bybit, a centralized exchange platform (CEX) with over 100 listed cryptocurrencies, more than 100 crypto derivative contracts, and a user base exceeded 5 million registered users. [1] [2]
Education & Early Life
Ben Zhou was born in Hangzhou, China, in 1990, and relocated to New Zealand with his family at the age of 11. According to Zhou, his parents instilled values of diligence and perseverance, while also fostering his interest in baseball, which he pursued throughout his schooling, including college.
Zhou attended Earlham College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 2010.
Despite initial difficulties adjusting to different cultures, he later pursued further studies in the United States before returning to China after completing his education. [3] [4]
Crypto Journey
Ben Zhou's interest in cryptocurrencies began in 2016 when he was introduced to blockchain technology by a friend. Recognizing the potential of this emerging digital realm, Zhou delved into research and began trading cryptocurrencies. [2] [1] [3]
Observing the rapid growth of the crypto industry in 2017, Zhou identified a lack of awareness among users regarding its intricacies. To address this gap, he initially started a YouTube channel with the aim of educating viewers about cryptocurrency. Additionally to YouTube, he used WeChat to spread information, where he gained around 20k followers. [2] [1] [3]
Career
As the Co-founder and CEO of Bybit, a centralized exchange platform (CEX) with over 100 listed cryptocurrencies, more than 100 crypto derivative contracts, and over 5 million registered users, Ben Zhou leads the direction and operations of the cryptocurrency exchange since 2018.
Prior to this role, Zhou embarked on his career in China after completing college, serving as the Greater China region manager at XM, an international forex brokerage company, for seven years. [3] [4] [2] [1]
ByBit
Bybit, founded by Ben Zhou, aims to enhance the standards of crypto derivative exchanges and enhance trading experiences.
Ben Zhou, leveraging his experience in the forex trading industry, identified inefficiencies in the crypto derivatives market and sought to address them through Bybit.
According to Zhou, one key focus was on improving order execution and reducing order rejections to ensure efficient fulfillment of traders' basic needs.
Additionally, Bybit intends to prioritize customer service, offering clients direct access to support representatives online and fostering transparency by allowing clients to connect with the team via social media platforms. By organizing offline meetups and seminars, Zhou claims Bybit establishes closer connections with its clients.
“I wanted to make an exchange where clients are able to find our customer support at any time of the day and talk to them directly online.”
Furthermore, Ben Zhou expresses the importance of providing educational resources to traders launched the Bybit Academy, offering webinars and seminars covering topics such as margin trading, risk management, technical analysis, and fundamental analysis. [1]
Bybit's recent activities
On June 19, 2024, Bybit listed BIAO, a memecoin on the Base blockchain. Ben Zhou announced this on his X (formerly Twitter) account and included a quote from his tweet:
I asked for it, and you delivered. The BIAO community has shown up in full force, and I’m excited to welcome them to the Bybit family. The BIAO token will be listed on Bybit on June 19 at 10 AM UTC. Get ready! #BIAOonBybit
Bybit Hack and Recovery Efforts
On February 21, 2025, Bybit experienced a significant security breach, resulting in the theft of approximately $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in Ether (ETH). The attack is linked to the Lazarus Group, a cybercriminal organization believed to be state-backed by North Korea.
The hackers exploited a vulnerability in the process of transferring funds from cold (offline) to warm (online) wallets. They reportedly altered the contract logic, split the stolen funds across 39 different wallets, and may have compromised private keys or used blind signature tactics to bypass security measures. The stolen assets included staked Ether, complicating recovery efforts.
Following the hack, Ben Zhou confirmed the incident and assured users that Bybit maintained 1:1 backing for all assets and remained solvent. Bybit quickly reported the breach to authorities and blockchain analytics firms. Withdrawal services were fully restored within 12 hours of the incident.
In the days following the attack, Bybit saw a $4 billion inflow, helping to offset the losses. Tether froze $181,000 in fraudulent USDt. Bybit also launched a bounty program, offering a 10% reward for information leading to the recovery of stolen funds.
By February 24, 2025, Bybit announced the recovery of $1.23 billion in ETH, covering the deficit caused by the hack. An additional $42.89 million in stolen funds were frozen through collaboration with other crypto firms.
Ben Zhou has continued to provide updates on the recovery efforts. As of April 21, 2025, approximately 68.57% of the hacked funds were traceable, 27.59% had become untraceable, and 3.84% had been frozen. A significant portion of the untraceable funds were moved through mixers like Wasabi and then transferred across chains using bridges to peer-to-peer and over-the-counter platforms. About 432,748 ETH (around $1.21 billion) was converted to Bitcoin (BTC) via Thorchain, with 67.25% of that amount (10,003 BTC) spread across numerous wallets.
The bounty program has received thousands of reports, with 70 deemed valid, and $2.18 million in USDt paid out to those who assisted in freezing assets. Bybit continues to seek assistance from bounty hunters to decode mixers and recover the remaining funds. [6] [5]
Bybit's 2025 Agenda and Future Roadmap
In his mid-year keynote in August 2025, Ben Zhou outlined Bybit's future roadmap under the theme "Rewrite Your Success, Reshape The Standard." The agenda focused on real-world applications, institutional-grade innovation, and deep ecosystem collaboration, with key pillars being trust, liquidity, and Web3. [8] [9] [10]
Trust Through Compliance and Security
Zhou emphasized a "compliance-first" strategy as a cornerstone for growth. In the first half of 2025, Bybit became fully compliant with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), authorizing it to operate across all 29 EEA countries, and also secured registration with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The company announced the launch of Bybit.eu and physical expansion with new offices in several European countries.
A key talking point was the response to the February 2025 hack. Zhou clarified that the funds were stolen from a third-party custodian, not Bybit's own systems. The exchange's response, which included completing nine independent security audits and implementing over 50 new security measures, was presented as a new industry benchmark for platform integrity and security. [8] [9] [10]
Enhanced Liquidity and Infrastructure
During the keynote, Zhou highlighted significant performance milestones, including reaching 74 million users, which equates to one in eight crypto investors worldwide. The platform's upgraded matching engine was reported to handle 3.5 million transactions per second and nearly 200 billion daily orders, a 75% year-on-year increase.
To enhance liquidity, Bybit expanded its Rapid Price Improvement (RPI) mechanism from spot to perpetual contracts, which reportedly boosted liquidity by 150% and tightened spreads. The exchange also launched TradFi, a multi-asset platform within the Bybit app offering traditional financial products like gold, indices, and stock CFDs against USDT. The company's Private Wealth Management arm also grew, surpassing $150 million in assets under management. [8] [9] [10]
Web3 Integration and Product Innovation
A major announcement was the deeper strategic collaboration with Mantle for Mantle 2.0, aiming to integrate institutional-grade infrastructure with decentralized finance (DeFi). Bybit executives, including co-CEO Helen Liu and Head of Spot and Web3 Emily Bao, were appointed as advisers to the project.
Several new products and enhancements were unveiled, including bbSOL, a Solana liquid staking token; an enhanced TradeGPT AI tool; Megadrop, a new token launch platform; a Listing Billboard for project transparency; and Tokenized Stocks. The keynote also introduced "On-Chain Bybit," an initiative to integrate DeFi trading and yield products directly within exchange accounts, and the Bybit App 5.0 update, which includes a "Lite mode" for new users. [8] [10]
