Jerry Li, product manager at Bybit, said the crypto market is splitting into two camps: one is platforms with institutional-grade standards, and the other is a more speculative ecosystem.
As the crypto market matures amid increased volatility and changing macroeconomic conditions, the distinction between speculative activity and institutional-grade financial infrastructure is becoming increasingly clear.
In this conversation, Jerry Li, Head of Financial Products and Wealth Management at Bybit, provided an in-depth analysis of how retail and institutional investors are reallocating capital, why yield-based products are gaining increasing attention, and what kind of platforms can achieve long-term viability.
From the rise of stablecoin strategies to the increasing importance of transparency, regulation, and risk management, Li paints a picture of the future: in the next phase of the crypto industry, only a few trustworthy platforms will truly play a decisive role.
The Street: The cryptocurrency market has been highly volatile over the past few months. As the Head of Financial Products and Wealth Management at Bybit, could you provide insights into how retail and institutional users are currently allocating their funds?
Retail and institutional investors have completely different approaches to asset allocation. However, overall, traders and investors are shifting away from their previous "all in or all out" strategies and becoming more cautious. Institutional investors haven't abandoned cryptocurrencies, and retail investors are still focusing on on-chain yield opportunities.
This change occurred against a more complex backdrop. Gold prices fell during the regional conflict, but Bitcoin (BTC) rose 26% in the 100 days following its outbreak, leading some analysts to believe that BTC exhibited safe-haven asset characteristics. Meanwhile, while the stock market experienced a decline, the situation was not yet considered a crisis.
These circumstances have led to more diversified fund flows and fluctuations in market liquidity. Our focus is on helping retail and institutional clients manage their assets securely, offering more yield-generating products beyond traditional trading instruments. For investors seeking stable returns, Bybit offers BYUSDT, Mantle Vault, and customized private wealth management solutions. We are also seeing increasing user enthusiasm for gold, silver, and crude oil tokenized products on Bybit Earn, Bybit Futures, and Bybit TradFi.
The Street: There's a view that crypto investors are shifting towards fixed-income products, such as stablecoin yields and structured yield strategies. Have you seen this trend on Bybit? How significant is this shift compared to trading activity?
Yes, I saw it. It was also during this period that Bybit launched BYUSDT, our own USDT-pegged token, from which users can earn APR yields and use it as margin on Bybit. By the end of March, the assets under management of our Earn product, Mantle Vault (an on-chain stablecoin product that combines yield and DeFi composability), had doubled to $200 million.
This is also reflected in our product portfolio. We are continuously expanding our product line to meet users' needs for assets that lie at the intersection of traditional finance and on-chain opportunities. In March, we launched perpetual contracts for the USDT trading pair XAU (gold) and XAG (silver) with a leverage of 75x, as well as CLUSDT (crude oil) contracts with a leverage of 50x.
The Street: Cryptocurrency yield products have a poor reputation. Platforms like Celsius and Voyager once offered high yields, but they all collapsed in the end. When users look at Bybit's yield products today, what can reassure them that our mechanism is fundamentally different?
It's good that users remain cautious. Upon seeing a 10% stablecoin yield, an investor's first reaction should be, "How can this be sustained long-term?" Having witnessed numerous collapses in the cryptocurrency industry, users' skepticism is understandable.
But our model is indeed different. Bybit's product returns have a clear and transparent source. Take Mantle Vault as an example: the returns come from dynamic on-chain strategies. The base returns come from Ethena's staking rewards, Aave's supply mechanism, plus additional incentives from Bybit and Mantle (these are usually time-limited or come from a fixed pool of funds). We don't play the black-box or self-circulating game.
Furthermore, following the severe test in February 2025, Bybit has invested heavily in operational security and reserve transparency. Ultimately, the security of yield products depends on the underlying infrastructure.
The Street: How do you view the balance between providing high returns and risk management? How do you internally define this line?
Our principle is simple: sustainability is always the top priority, and attractiveness is the second.
This may surprise many, but our returns are actually considered conservative in the cryptocurrency industry. It's usually impossible to consistently maintain high returns; trade-offs are necessary.
Every week or quarter, you might see Bybit launch products with extremely high yields, but those are only for a limited time. Our product design has been conservative from the beginning, with the goal of long-term sustainability.
In addition, we will diversify APR sources across different strategies, on-chain mechanisms, and structured products from institutional partners, and we will also limit the proportion of high-risk returns in total assets under management.
The Street: Bybit started with derivatives and trading. Now that it's shifting towards stability and capital protection, how can it prevent the loss of its core users who initially came to trade?
In short: We are growing. Bybit has grown a lot over the years and now covers multiple areas including crypto trading, TradeFi trading, institutional solutions, wealth products, payments, and market research. But we haven't relaxed our investment in derivatives trading.
In 2025, our average daily derivatives trading volume reached approximately $29 billion, maintaining our top position among global derivatives exchanges. We are also continuously improving the performance of our matching engine and liquidity depth.
The Street: Suppose we discuss this topic again a year from now, when the market recovers, which platforms do you think will stand the test and which will not? Where is the dividing line between successful and unsuccessful platforms?
This year will be a watershed moment for the crypto market, separating institutional-grade infrastructure from other platforms. Looking ahead, a few truly institutional-grade platforms, some specialized vertical players, and platforms that fail to keep up with the changes will be eliminated.
Change isn't just limited to the product level. I love this industry, and I believe Bybit's future lies in becoming a new financial platform that serves those underserved by traditional financial services, those interested in cryptocurrency, and well-prepared institutional clients.
Platforms that survive in the long run share these characteristics: they resolutely embrace regulation rather than confront it; they invest in bank-grade security infrastructure; they don't rely solely on derivatives trading for revenue; and they earn user trust through consistent and transparent actions.
Transparency is paramount. Platforms that build trust through concrete actions, open communication, and built-in transparency create an unshakeable barrier. This will become the most crucial differentiator in the competition.
