Centralized Crypto Exchange Bybit Integrates Decentralized Exchange ApeX Pro Onto Platform

Dubai-based centralized crypto exchange Bybit has integrated decentralized exchange ApeX Pro into its offering in an effort to give customers the opportunity to trade on both types of exchanges on one platform, Bybit said Thursday.

ApeX Pro is a permissionless, non-custodial, decentralized exchange (DEX) offering perpetual contracts using StarkWare's scalability engine, StarkEx. It’s being brought onto the Bybit platform via its Web3 wallet, which is a hybrid wallet – similar to MetaMask – that doesn’t store client personal details.

Centralized exchanges (CEX) have recently come under increased scrutiny after the once-trusted FTX turned out to have been a potential fraud that caused thousands of users to lose billions of dollars.

But the FTX meltdown isn’t the reason for Bybit’s integration of ApeX Pro, which had been “well under way before the saga,” Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou told CoinDesk.

“It’s part of our mission to become a trusted gateway to Web3 and this integration is an essential step on that path,” he said.

Earlier this week, Bybit announced it would cut another 30% of its workforce as it tries to refocus its operations amid “a deepening bear market.”

Because ApeX Pro and Bybit are separate entities, Bybit will not be involved in the operations of ApeX Pro and both teams are separate. “ApeX Pro is a self-sustaining decentralized platform and does not require additional resources from Bybit,” Zhou said.