- Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said that the next phase of the economy will be created by AI, tokenization and legal clarity instead of just thinking about prices.
- At the Paris Blockchain Week 2026, he said that financial platforms can become invisible if wisdom and trust move to the background.
Ben Zhou did not spend much time talking about the prices of tokens in Paris. That, in itself, was a sign.
Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Bybit’s co-founder and CEO used a fireside chat to outline a broader vision of where the industry is headed.
He said that the future of crypto cannot be defined only by the trading system, but by a deep rebuilding of the financial infrastructure around artificial intelligence, structured assets and clear rules.
Ben Zhou says that finance can stop looking like a platform altogether
One of Zhou’s hobbies was about appearance. In his opinion, users will not interact with financial platforms directly for a long time. Instead, they can rely on AI agents that can interpret data, execute strategies and manage financial operations in real time.
Bybitsaid, they have already introduced AI accounts that allow customers to create micro-accounts of AI systems to access market data, interact with markets and execute strategies. Zhou described enterprise payments as an emerging topic, saying that the industry is still in the early stages of this transformation.
It’s a bigger idea than it sounds at first. If social media interactions are increasingly moving from manual clicks to dedicated apps, then the visual platform is irrelevant. The wisdom behind it is very important.
Faith and rules are becoming the real thing
Zhou pointed out that the most beneficial changes in the economy are taking place quietly. Cultural institutions, he said, are not getting involved blockchain through the mind. They include it as infrastructure, especially through stablecoins and standard fixed methods.
In this arrangement, crypto will no longer be another means of income as a layer of creation.
He linked this change directly to the law. Governments such as the UAE, he said, are helping to create innovative solutions, while Europe, the US and the UK are clearly giving. This is important because organizations tend to follow the rules before following the news.
Zhou’s conclusion was most revealing. The goal, he said, is not to replace the existing currency, but to make it easier, more efficient and less visible in everyday life. In that future model, users don’t think about wallets, blockchains or platforms. The system just works.
