Bybit's product head, Jerry Li, stated that the crypto market is splitting into two camps: one side consists of platforms that meet institutional-grade standards, while the other side is more speculative ecosystems.

As the crypto market gradually matures amidst increasing volatility and changing macro environments, the distinction between speculative activities and institutional-grade financial infrastructure is becoming increasingly clear.

In this conversation, Jerry Li, head of financial products and wealth management at Bybit, deeply analyzed how retail and institutional investors are reallocating capital, why yield-bearing products are gaining more attention, and what kind of platform can possess long-term viability.

From the rise of stablecoin strategies to the increasing importance of transparency, regulation, and risk management, Li painted a picture of the future: in the next phase of the crypto industry, it will only be a few trustworthy platforms that play a decisive role.

The Street: In the past few months, the cryptocurrency market has experienced frequent volatility. As Bybit's head of financial products and wealth management, can you explain how retail and institutional users are currently allocating funds?

The fund allocation methods for retail and institutions are completely different. Overall, traders and investors are changing their previous "all in or all out" practices and becoming more cautious. Institutional investors have not given up on cryptocurrency, and retail investors are still watching for on-chain yield opportunities.

This change occurs against a more complex backdrop. Gold prices sank during regional conflicts, yet BTC rose 26% during the 100 days following the outbreak of the conflict, with analysts suggesting that this indicates BTC has the properties of a safe-haven asset. Meanwhile, despite declines in the stock market, the situation is not considered a crisis.

These conditions have led to a diversification of fund flows, and market liquidity has also fluctuated. Our focus is on helping retail and institutional clients manage assets prudently, providing more yield products beyond traditional trading tools. For investors seeking stable returns, Bybit offers BYUSDT, Mantle Vault, and customized private wealth management solutions. We have also seen increasing enthusiasm from users for Bybit Earn, Bybit Futures, and tokenized products for gold, silver, and oil on Bybit TradFi.

The Street: There is currently a perspective that crypto investors are shifting towards fixed-income products, such as stablecoin yields and structured yield strategies. Have you seen this trend at Bybit? Is this shift significant compared to trading activities?

We have indeed observed this. It is during this period that Bybit launched BYUSDT, our own USDT-pegged token, allowing users to earn APR and use it as margin on Bybit. By the end of March, the managed assets in our Earn product, Mantle Vault (an on-chain stablecoin product combining yield and DeFi composability), doubled to 200 million USD.

This is also reflected in our product layout. We continue to expand our product lines to meet user demands for assets that lie at the intersection of traditional finance and on-chain opportunities. In March, we launched perpetual contracts for gold (XAU) and silver (XAG) with USDT trading pairs, with leverage of 75 times, and the CLUSDT contract (oil) with 50 times leverage.

The Street: "Yield" products in cryptocurrency have a poor reputation. Platforms like Celsius and Voyager once offered high yields but ultimately collapsed. What can reassure users today that Bybit's yield products are fundamentally different?

It is a good thing for users to remain vigilant. When seeing a 10% yield on stablecoins, an investor's first reaction should be to ask, "How can this be sustained long-term?" After experiencing multiple "collapses" in the crypto industry, users' skepticism is justified.

However, our model is indeed different. The yields on Bybit products come from verifiable sources. Take Mantle Vault as an example; the yields come from dynamic on-chain strategies. The base yields derive from staking rewards from Ethena and the supply mechanism from Aave, along with additional incentives from Bybit and Mantle (which are usually time-limited or come from fixed funding pools). We do not engage in black-box or self-circular schemes.

Moreover, after a severe test in February 2025, Bybit invested significant resources in operational safety and reserve transparency. Ultimately, the safety of yield products depends on the underlying infrastructure.

The Street: How do you view the balance between providing attractive yields and risk management? How do you draw that line internally?

Our principle is simple: sustainability always comes first, attractiveness comes second.

This may surprise many, but in fact, our yield rates are considered conservative within the cryptocurrency industry. Sustaining yields while keeping them high is typically impossible; there must be trade-offs.

Each week and each quarter, you might see Bybit launch products with extremely high yields, but these are limited-time offers. Our product designs have been conservative from the start, aiming for long-term sustainability.

Additionally, we diversify the sources of APR across different strategies, on-chain mechanisms, and the structured products of institutional partners, while also limiting the proportion of high-risk yields in the total managed assets.

The Street: Bybit started with derivatives and trading. Now, as you shift toward stability and capital protection, how can you prevent the core users who originally came for trading from leaving?

To put it simply: we are growing. Bybit has grown significantly over the years, now covering multiple areas such as crypto trading, TradFi trading, institutional solutions, wealth products, payments, and market research. However, we have not relaxed our investment in derivatives trading.

In 2025, our average daily trading volume in derivatives is approximately 29 billion USD, maintaining a top position among global derivatives exchanges. We continue to enhance the performance of our matching engine and the depth of liquidity.

The Street: Assuming we revisit this topic in a year, when the market recovers, which platforms do you believe will prove resilient and which will not? Where is the line between successful and unsuccessful platforms?

This year will be a watershed moment for the crypto market, distinguishing between institutional-grade infrastructure and other platforms. Looking ahead, there will be a few truly institutional-grade platforms, some specialized vertical players, and platforms that cannot keep up with the transition will be eliminated.

Change exists not only at the product level. I love this industry, and I believe Bybit's future is to become a new financial platform, serving those who are underserved by traditional financial services, people interested in cryptocurrency, and institutions that are ready.

Platforms that endure will exhibit the following characteristics: they will embrace regulation rather than oppose it; invest in bank-level security infrastructure; not rely solely on derivatives trading for revenue; and build user trust through continuous transparent actions.

Transparency is crucial. Platforms that establish trust through actual actions, open communication, and built-in transparency create a strong barrier for themselves. This will become the most critical distinguishing factor in competition.