Is This the End of the Era of Pure Crypto Exchanges?

Crypto exchanges were originally built primarily around one job: letting users buy, sell and trade digital assets. That model is changing as exchanges increasingly explore payments, stablecoins, tokenised real-world assets, custody and other financial services. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has argued that exchanges are evolving into broader financial infrastructure providers, with liquidity, distribution and access becoming increasingly important. The shift also comes as compliance requirements increase and institutional participation grows. If exchanges become platforms offering everything from trading to payments and tokenised assets, does the traditional idea of a “crypto exchange” eventually disappear?