Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit successfully hosted the BIG Series—Bybit Institutional Gala—in Abu Dhabi, bringing together global regulators, international banks, liquidity providers, professional trading institutions, and Bybit executives to discuss the institutional future of the digital asset market.
This grand event also marks Bybit's first comprehensive strategic showcase to the institutional market after obtaining the UAE SCA Full License (VAPO) and the MiCAR license covering the entire European Economic Area (EEA), signifying its official entry into the core of the global regulatory framework.
Compliance drives institutional confidence, while retail scale brings institutional certainty.
In his opening remarks, Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, emphasized that institutional clients are moving from “single-point execution” to “integrated infrastructure”, and Bybit’s greatest structural advantage comes from its vast global retail ecosystem.
• Bybit Card issuance surpasses 1.8 million, covering 13 regions.
• Pay's connections with bank-grade fiat currency channels continue to expand.
• Retail volume directly influences institutional depth, pricing, and transaction efficiency.
In addition, Bybit's wealth and asset management business accelerated its growth, with AUM increasing from $40 million in Q2 to $200 million in Q4 , reflecting the rapidly rising demand from institutions for professional and compliant asset management.
Ben pointed out:
“Institutions need certainty—certainty in liquidity, compliance, and execution performance. We are building the core infrastructure for global institutional digital finance.”
Compliance is becoming a new "trust product" for institutions.
In his keynote speech, Robert MacDonald, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Bybit, emphasized that compliance has become a key variable for institutions in selecting trading partners.
From predictable account opening processes and embedded risk controls in products to proactive collaboration with global regulators, compliance is becoming a new "competitive advantage" for reducing operational friction for institutions.
2026 New Institutional Product Line Fully Unveiled: Custody + RWA + Credit + Transaction Access
Yoyee Wang, Head of Business Development at Bybit, revealed two key upgrades for 2026 in her speech:
• The INS credit system fully integrates Bybit Custody and RWA income products.
Institutions can earn income from custody while maintaining asset independence and accessing credit lines, achieving a dual improvement in "capital efficiency + custody security".
The product continues to offer leverage up to 5x , as well as a 1000-sub-account structure .
• New Market Maker Gateway (MMGW) high-speed channel
The loopback latency for INS customers has been reduced from 30ms to 2.5ms (compared to 5ms for the current MMGW), providing a more stable and deterministic execution path for high-frequency and quantitative institutions.
Bybit also announced that INS loan notional size grew by 26% quarter-on-quarter, indicating strong institutional demand for highly transparent credit instruments.
Global regulators and banks join forces to discuss the future of capital markets
The cross-regional roundtable, moderated by Dimitrios Psarrakis, Head of Global Affairs at Bybit, invited prominent guests such as European regulatory officials and Jean-Marc Laventure, Senior Investor Services Executive for the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank, to discuss tokenization, global liquidity structures, and the development of 24/7 cross-border markets.
Paying tribute to outstanding contributions to the industry
At the end of the dinner, Bybit presented several awards to leading global institutions, market makers and technology partners in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the global digital finance ecosystem.
