Bybit, the world's second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, announced its 2026 transformation into 'The New Financial Platform,' a global financial ecosystem designed to expand access to modern banking, investment, and payments infrastructure for the world's underserved populations. The vision, unveiled by co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou, positions the company beyond its origins as a cryptocurrency exchange and into a unified financial platform connecting crypto, traditional markets, and real-world financial services. At the center of the strategy is empowering the 1.4 billion underbanked people globally by reducing barriers to participation in modern finance. A cornerstone is MyBank, Bybit's new retail banking layer targeting launch in February 2026, providing dedicated accounts that simplify large-value fiat on- and off-ramps while enabling everyday financial transactions across borders. Artificial intelligence is being deployed as core infrastructure across Bybit's operations, with AI adoption already improving engineering productivity by 30%.