Author: Frank, PANews

In the cyclical nature of cryptocurrencies, the standard for measuring the size of an exchange is often not its expansion speed when things are going well, but how well it stands firm when facing headwinds. Bybit's performance in 2025 not only demonstrated this resilience but also unexpectedly staged a "comeback against the trend."

On December 22, Bybit's 24-hour spot trading volume exceeded $9 billion, surpassing Binance to become the top cryptocurrency spot trading market share holder. Observing its recent trading volume curve, we can see that its daily trading volume has shown an explosive climb: starting from $2.2 billion on December 16, it broke through the $9 billion mark in just one week on December 22, with a single-week increase of more than 4 times.

This performance is not accidental, but rather a testament to Bybit's resilience after undergoing extreme stress testing. For Bybit, 2025 was an extremely turbulent year, marked by a "survival test" under the shadow of a $1.4 billion hack at the beginning of the year, followed by a dramatic V-shaped reversal as it ascended to the top as the "King of Spot Trading" at the end of the year.

How exactly did Bybit manage to rise against the odds during a market downturn? Reviewing the past year's journey not only allows us to rediscover this remarkably resilient giant, but also provides insight into the underlying logic behind the reshuffling of the crypto industry landscape.

From resilience to expansion, challengers transform into "defending giants".

When Bybit is mentioned, many early users still remember it as the derivatives upstart founded in 2018 by former forex veteran Ben Zhou, who entered the market with "ultimate trading experience" and "perpetual contracts". However, now in its seventh year, Bybit is no longer the challenger it once was, but has grown into a comprehensive platform covering spot, derivatives, Web3 and institutional business.

Bybit's transformation is directly reflected in the dramatic increase in its user base. In the past year, Bybit's global registered users surged from 50 million to over 79 million, representing a user growth of nearly 60% in just one year.

This leap in size not only means that Bybit has a wider user base, but also directly translates into its increasing pricing power in the market.

According to a report released by coinlaw.io in November, Bybit's average daily trading volume is approximately $6 billion, second only to Binance, ranking second in the market.

This growth has become increasingly evident since the beginning of December. On December 7th, Bybit's daily spot trading volume was approximately $1.4 billion, which surged to a peak of $9.1 billion by December 22nd, representing a 5.5-fold increase within the month and placing it at the top of all exchanges in terms of trading volume. More importantly, this growth occurred amidst a general market downturn, further demonstrating Bybit's resilience and competitiveness.

Beyond the booming retail market, institutional funds are also turning to Bybit. At a recent institutional event in Dubai, Ben Zhou revealed some striking data: the platform's institutional assets under management have grown from $40 million in the third quarter to $200 million in the fourth quarter. As of December 22nd, Bybit's exchange assets totaled $19.5 billion, ranking fourth among all exchanges.

With the rise of on-chain transactions, a large amount of funds have begun to shift, and many crypto exchanges have also started to deploy on-chain transactions. Bybit has also not stuck to centralized business, and by launching Bybit Alpha and incubating Byreal on the Solana chain, it has seized the opportunity to benefit from the overflow of on-chain funds.

Taking Byreal as an example, since its launch in October, it achieved a trading volume exceeding $1 billion in just 10 weeks. In early December, Byreal ranked fifth in DefiLlama's Solana DEX rankings based on 30-day fees and revenue.

Furthermore, Bybit's business lines have recently seen significant progress. Through a strategic partnership with Mantle Network, MNT has been expanded into a multi-functional asset, supporting fee discounts, RWA tokenization, institutional leverage, and high-yield staking. On the compliance front, Bybit has obtained the EU MiCA license and a full license in the UAE, and recently announced its return to the UK market. In derivatives, Bybit Card has launched real-time conversion payments and high-value cashback programs, integrating crypto into everyday consumption scenarios. These initiatives further strengthen Bybit's position as a comprehensive and compliant platform, bridging DeFi innovation with TradeFi funding inflows.

From its continuous expansion in user base to its peak spot market trading volume, and the explosive growth of its on-chain market and derivatives business, these figures paint a picture of Bybit as more than just a "distinctive exchange," but a behemoth already sitting at the top of the industry.

A $1.4 billion black swan event hits, Bybit stagees a liquidity miracle

However, for Bybit, this year was a pivotal year of life and death and rebirth.

In February of this year, Bybit's start was nothing short of "hell mode," as it unexpectedly suffered the largest single hack in crypto history, with a staggering $1.46 billion stolen. This massive black swan event did not break Bybit; instead, it demonstrated remarkable resilience with textbook-level crisis management.

According to a report released by research firm Kaiko, Bybit's recovery speed after the hack exceeded industry expectations. The report indicates that Bybit's Bitcoin liquidity recovered to approximately $13 million per day within 30 days of the security incident, completely erasing the liquidity gap caused by the attack.

Regarding exchange assets, following the hack, a large amount of funds withdrew from the exchange in a short period due to panic, causing Bybit's exchange assets to drop by $3 billion, from $16.9 billion to around $13 billion. However, within just one month, Bybit's funds returned to pre-attack levels. By March 25, Bybit's exchange assets had rebounded to over $15.3 billion. It successfully surpassed pre-attack levels in May and reached a record high of $29.3 billion in October.

When the crisis occurred, the sheer volume of losses raised serious concerns about Bybit's future. However, when the company stated it had sufficient funds to make repayments, expectations were perhaps slightly raised. More importantly, few are optimistic about Bybit's prospects this year, let alone its ability to return to the top of the industry or even reach the market's peak.

However, this ability to recover quickly under extreme pressure is rare in the crypto industry and has become a crucial verification case of Bybit's reliability. Behind this series of data lies the premium of Bybit's user trust, which has built a solid brand moat for the company. For traders, a platform that can withstand massive losses and maintain rigid redemption practices establishes a higher level of trust.

A sustained "warm offensive" translates into real economic growth.

Exploring the underlying reasons for Bybit's growth, in addition to the strengthened security foundation, the most significant driver behind its recent surge in activity amidst the current sluggish crypto market is its high-intensity incentive activities.

To celebrate its seventh anniversary, Bybit launched the "7UpBybit" campaign, with a total prize pool of $2.5 million. Users earn points by completing tasks and upgrading their avatars, among other new features, to share the winnings. On December 22nd, official Bybit data showed that $230,000 in rewards had been distributed within 24 hours. This incentive has directly contributed to Bybit becoming one of the most active exchanges in terms of user activity recently.

Deep collaborations with new projects (such as Airdrop+ exclusive trading rewards) have also brought significant incremental growth. For example, with NIGHT, launched on December 9th, Bybit introduced a dual Token Splash campaign with a total prize pool of 200 million NIGHT tokens (worth several million US dollars). New users who deposit funds can share 80 million tokens as rewards, with the first 32,000 users receiving an average of 2,500 tokens (worth approximately $250). The remaining 120 million tokens are awarded through trading volume exceeding $500, with the highest share reaching 200,000 NIGHT tokens (worth approximately $20,000). Such reward amounts have a significant incentive effect on ordinary retail investors; as of December 22nd, 64,000 users had participated in the campaign.

Meanwhile, such activities also significantly boosted Bybit's trading volume. On December 22, NIGHT's total trading volume across the network exceeded $9.2 billion, of which Bybit's single-day trading volume reached $7.1 billion, accounting for more than 77% of the total network trading volume, making it the main liquidity platform for NIGHT trading.

Of course, Bybit's recent ecosystem stimulus doesn't stop there. A series of promotions are also planned for Christmas, including rewards for spending with Bybit Card or Bybit Pay, and generous Bybit Earn rewards. These intensive spending campaigns, covering every aspect from trading and wealth management to payments, provide retail investors with much-needed financial support in a sluggish market. Strategically, when the market is at its most sluggish, most platforms choose to retreat and defend, making Bybit's substantial financial subsidies the most effective way to acquire customers.

Looking back on Bybit's seventh year, from the darkest moment at the beginning of the year to the triumphant return at the end, this is undoubtedly the most dramatic "Comeback Story" in the crypto industry, and a watershed moment in Bybit's development history.

This year's ups and downs have proven to the outside world that true giant status is not achieved through expansion in favorable circumstances, but through the courage to withstand pressure and the decisiveness to expand against the trend. Standing at the new starting point of 80 million users, Bybit is showing the market a new image that is more "resilient" and "innovative." This fluctuating data may be Bybit's most effective way of showing off.

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