Bybit's Ben Zhou says exchange will seek US broker partner to rival Robinhood

Key points

• CEO Ben Zhou said Bybit would look to partner with a company such as Interactive Brokers that already has a US client base.
• Bybit has more than 80 million registered users across over 180 countries and regions.
• Zhou said state-by-state licensing would take two to three years, and he would rather wait for the CLARITY Act or clearer federal rules.

Bybit plans to enter the US through a partnership with an established local broker, its chief executive Ben Zhou told CoinDesk, as the exchange looks to take on the reach of firms such as Robinhood. Zhou said teaming up with a local company is Bybit's standard approach when entering new markets, and named Interactive Brokers as an example of the kind of partner it would consider.

Zhou argued that a partner with an existing US client base is the better route at this stage. The alternative, pursued by firms such as Coinbase, is to gather money transfer licences state by state, ending with New York's Bit Licence, a process he said would take two to three years. He said he would rather wait for the CLARITY Act to pass or for a clearer picture of federal oversight, possibly with the SEC as a single regulator.

UK ambitions

Bybit, the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has more than 80 million registered users across over 180 countries and regions. It has been collecting licences globally to offer regulated products, and in Europe plans an everything app with derivatives and tokenised stocks as early as the first quarter of next year. Zhou said Bybit's absence from the US so far leaves it with a clear record there, and that it can wait for the right moment rather than rush in.

He described the US as important but saturated and highly competitive.

What to watch: Bybit is still deciding where to base a London office as it weighs entering the UK market.

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