Ben Zhou is the co-founder and CEO of Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange offering spot and derivatives trading. He co-founded the business in 2018.
Career and exchange leadership
Before Bybit, Zhou served as Greater China general manager at XM. The exchange later expanded its products to include spot markets and other financial services.
In November 2026, Zhou spoke at Hong Kong FinTech Week about connecting traditional and digital markets. Bybit's account of his remarks identifies security, risk management, regulatory compliance, custody and liquidity as priorities alongside asset tokenization and AI.
Legal challenges and security events
Like many large centralized exchanges, Bybit has faced legal and reputational challenges. In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, the FTX bankruptcy estate brought claims against Bybit and related entities over withdrawals and token transactions that occurred around the time of FTX’s insolvency. The dispute was resolved via a financial settlement, allowing Bybit to move forward while reinforcing the importance of counterparty risk management and on-chain transparency across centralized platforms.
In February 2025, Bybit experienced a major security breach in which attackers stole a large amount of ether from the exchange’s wallets. Zhou publicly acknowledged the incident, committed to maintaining a 1:1 backing of user assets, and worked with partners to replenish reserves and restore services. The episode drew significant attention as one of the largest single hacks in crypto history and prompted renewed scrutiny of custody practices, third-party integrations, and incident response procedures.
