CryptoSlate recently had the opportunity to speak with Ben Chow, the CEO and co-founder of Bybit, a leading crypto derivatives exchange headquartered in Singapore. In this exclusive interview, Ben discusses his journey into the crypto space, the motivations behind launching Bybit, and his predictions for the industry's future.
Can you share your professional background and how you first ventured into the world of cryptocurrency?
Ben Chow (BZ): Before founding Bybit, I managed a proprietary trading firm specializing in foreign exchange for eight years. This experience provided me with deep insights into the core needs of traders. My serious interest in crypto ignited around mid-2016. I was captivated by the immense potential of the technology and the vast opportunities for development and growth within the crypto ecosystem. It was an industry in its relative infancy, poised to revolutionize data management, finance, and transactions in ways previously unimaginable. I immersed myself in learning about blockchain and cryptocurrency. I even started a YouTube channel, becoming a relatively small-scale Key Opinion Leader (KOL) with about 20,000 followers. My focus was on technical analysis, bridging the knowledge gap between Eastern and Western markets before launching Bybit in early 2018.
What was the primary motivation for you to establish Bybit?
BZ: Bybit’s inception was driven by my perception of the crypto landscape in 2016/2017. It was an exciting, fast-growing environment with unlimited potential. However, I also noticed glaring inefficiencies in how crypto exchanges operated. Honestly, I saw numerous gaps in the market and felt strongly that traders deserved better than what was available at the time. When my co-founders and I started Bybit in early 2018, our mission was to engineer a streamlined trading platform for all traders while ensuring an overall superior trading experience. The first problem I wanted to tackle was order execution or matching, as there were far too many order rejections or system overloads. When these occur, a client's fundamental trading needs are not met. We made it our priority to guarantee 99.99% platform uptime with zero overloads.
Secondly, I found that most exchanges were perceived as cold and almost robotic in their customer interactions, if they responded at all. Traders rarely got to engage with the people behind the platform. They lacked the human interaction that is the foundation of trust and relationships. Coming from the forex industry, I knew all too well that clients must always be the top priority. I wanted to create an exchange where clients could reach our customer support at any time, 24/7-365. I also wanted our users to be able to reach out to me directly on Twitter or Telegram to chat or provide valuable feedback.
Where is your team based, and why did you choose that location?
BZ: We are headquartered in Singapore, now widely recognized as the blockchain and crypto hub of Southeast Asia, with tech developers in China and local teams in Singapore and other regions. Singapore is consistently ranked as the world's best place to do business and has seen massive growth in the number of businesses adopting blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. It also helps that Singaporean regulators encourage innovation and are open to discussions on key industry issues by business experts. I appreciate that Singapore is well ahead of the game compared to other regulatory frameworks globally and is willing to embrace this modern industry and technology.
What are some of Bybit's notable achievements or milestones?
BZ: Bybit’s greatest achievement is, first and foremost, our team—the engine of our operation. We are building with an internationally diverse team that is highly adaptable and constantly improving. Our incredible company culture is such that all of our employees treat Bybit as their own, and vice-versa.
Another significant milestone was when our trading volume hit $1 billion and then $2 billion USD on consecutive days in late June 2019, after being operational as a platform for just over six months. And in September 2019, we hit the $4 billion trading volume mark in 24 hours.
What are the benefits of using Bybit as opposed to other derivatives trading platforms?
BZ: In the current ecosystem, I believe we have many players, but the standards have not yet been set. Traders overall are not getting the best trading experience compared to traditional markets. Our goal is to elevate and set the industry standard for the best execution, most responsive customer support, and an overall excellent trading experience.
What makes us stand out from our competitors in the current market is our iron-clad commitment to our principle of putting the trader first and providing a trusted platform to meet their needs. As I mentioned earlier, the constant overloads on exchanges are a major problem when you want to make a quick trade, especially considering how volatile the crypto markets are. That's why we made it a priority from day one to equip our platform with the capability of handling 100,000 Transactions Per Second (TPS), with an order taking only 10 microseconds.
Secondly, we provide unparalleled 24/7 live customer support in multiple languages, which is another thing that our competitors do not offer. Feedback from our traders is valued and helps us tremendously in improving the trading experience on our platform and implementing new features.
A recent example of a feature introduced based on feedback would be "Asset Switch," which allows our traders to add different cryptocurrencies to our platform seamlessly—for example, BTC to ETH—all with just a few clicks. This allows our traders to take advantage if there are any quick price changes in the market or to build up a position in another cryptocurrency if they wish.
What can you tell us about the Bybit product roadmap? What upcoming features are you most excited about launching?
BZ: Our highly anticipated Bybit app is currently being tested by a specially selected group of our users, and its official release is due to be announced very soon. We will also be offering a stablecoin settlement solution as well as linear perpetual contracts settled within the stablecoin. This is yet another feature that our traders have been requesting quite often, and it’s something our developers have been hard at work on for the past few months.
We have a host of other innovative features in the pipeline that I won’t go into too much detail about, but our users can expect features such as portfolio margin, hedging of positions, a host of educational content, and even a trollbox for traders to chat with each other on our platform.
We also have the Bybit Games – BTC Brawl 2019, a very exciting global team trading competition that will be kicking off very soon. We threw a launch party in Las Vegas that was a huge success, and I can’t wait to see what happens once the competition begins. Be sure to look out for announcements and updates on our social media channels!
What are the biggest challenges of building a crypto derivatives trading platform for crypto users?
BZ: In light of the black swan events of exchange hacking that shrouded the industry in 2018, I see that trust has become the biggest issue that trading platforms face. Traders have trust issues due to either fund security concerns or conflicts of interest with the exchange they trade on. As with anything in a nascent, less-regulated space, we know that it is a huge challenge to earn the trust of our clients if we are not transparent and accessible to them at all times.
Another notable challenge for Bybit or any other exchange is the volatility and unpredictability of the crypto industry. That's why we devote a huge amount of resources to building up our platform with the necessary security features while remaining reliable and free of overloads during a sudden market crash or boom.
What other projects and/or blockchain developments are you most excited about?
BZ: I am very excited about the prospect of major financial institutions releasing their own crypto wallets. It may take a long time, but I see J.P. Morgan's recent launch of their very own e-wallet that integrates their services into the digital asset world as a huge step in the right direction. This is especially true since their ultimate goal is to make the solution readily accessible to retail users. This means that cryptocurrencies could possibly be included in the future. Such a development would be a major game-changer as other major banks are bound to follow suit and launch their own version of such e-wallets. Having major banks develop blockchain-powered e-wallets would really help ease the trust issues that mainstream adopters have with our industry.
Do you have any blockchain and/or crypto predictions for 2020 and beyond?
BZ: The blockchain and crypto markets are very closely interlinked, and with the growing acceptance from both regulatory bodies and the public, I predict both will grow immensely in the not-too-distant future. Blockchain technology has changed my life in a way I never predicted, especially with the rapid growth of Bybit. Some may not see or realize it yet, but it’s positively impacting all our lives. The widespread adoption of blockchain technology has led to improved innovation and development across industries ranging from energy to financial services and healthcare.
This trend shows no sign of slowing down, and I am certain it will only accelerate in the coming years. As always, crypto remains a highly competitive market. I enjoy the constant competition as it reminds us to never rest on our laurels. However, we do not want to get too wrapped up in competing that we lose sight of our own goals. As Edward de Bono once said:
"Companies that solely focus on competition will die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive."
What are the biggest obstacles for the mainstream adoption of crypto?
BZ: I see that regulatory uncertainty and market volatility are two of the biggest obstacles that are hindering mainstream adoption. A significant number of large financial institutions are still hesitant, with some even lobbying against digital currencies as they remain firm believers in traditional fiat currencies that are regulated. We still have governments clamping down on exchanges and ICO projects, which hinders progress and instills further fear and uncertainty among the public. I believe that blockchain/crypto firms should work to educate and inform the public about the benefits and limitless possibilities of cryptocurrency.
Disclosure: Bybit is a sponsor of CryptoSlate. This is not a sponsored article.
