Bybit Says HNW Clients Earned Around 20% in 2025 Despite Tough Markets
What Did Bybit’s Private Wealth Clients Earn in 2025?
High-net-worth clients using Bybit’s Private Wealth Management (PWM) services recorded returns of roughly 20% over 2025, according to the platform’s annual PWM report. The performance came during a year marked by restrictive monetary policy, uneven crypto adoption by institutions, and repeated bouts of market volatility.
Bybit said its top-performing private fund delivered a 20.3% annualized return, driven largely by USDT-based yield strategies rather than directional exposure to crypto prices. The platform framed the results as evidence that wealthy investors increasingly favor structured and risk-managed approaches instead of outright bets on market direction.
The figures come from Bybit’s PWM division, which targets affluent clients with , portfolio construction, and access to private funds. Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency platform by trading volume, giving it a large internal liquidity base to run relative-value and arbitrage strategies.
Investor Takeaway
Why Did Delta-Neutral Strategies Hold Up During Drawdowns?
According to Bybit’s report, the Delta Neutral Arbitrage Strategy was a key contributor to performance during periods of stress. Delta-neutral approaches are designed to remove exposure to overall market moves by offsetting long and short positions, instead earning returns from pricing inefficiencies, funding rates, or basis spreads.
Bybit said the strategy showed strong counter-cyclical behavior during sharp market declines, when outright crypto prices fell but volatility and dislocations across derivatives markets increased. Those conditions tend to favor arbitrage-focused setups, which can profit from widening spreads rather than price appreciation.
In 2025, crypto markets faced repeated drawdowns tied to macro pressures and regulatory uncertainty. In that environment, strategies linked to yield generation and relative pricing tended to behave diversely from spot holdings, which remained sensitive to risk-off moves.
The results mirror a broader shift within digital-asset markets, where hedge funds and proprietary desks have leaned more heavily on market-neutral approaches as volatility persists and long-only exposure becomes harder to manage.
What Does This Say About HNW Demand in Crypto?
Bybit’s data points to a change in how affluent investors approach crypto markets. Instead of treating digital assets primarily as speculative bets, many HNW clients now view them as part of a wider portfolio that includes income-generating strategies and downside controls.
Private wealth divisions across platforms and crypto-native firms have expanded in recent years, offering services that resemble traditional prime brokerage and . These include professional asset allocation, dedicated relationship management, and access to private or structured products rather than retail-style trading tools.
For platforms, PWM services also assist stabilize revenue. Arbitrage and yield strategies often generate more consistent activity than retail spot trading, which tends to spike only during bull markets. That dynamic has encouraged platforms to deepen offerings for sophisticated clients.
Investor Takeaway
How Is Bybit Looking at 2026?
Bybit’s report noted expectations for in the year ahead, including shifts in liquidity, regulation, and institutional participation. While the firm did not provide forecasts, it suggested that private portfolios are being adjusted with flexibility in mind later than a year dominated by defensive positioning.
“As we enter 2026, we’re positioning client portfolios to benefit from an anticipated return of market liquidity,” said Jerry Li, Head of Financial Products & Wealth Management at Bybit. “The disciplined approach that served our clients well during 2025’s challenging environment positions us to capture upside as macro conditions potentially improve.”
Whether those conditions materialize remains uncertain, particularly as global monetary policy and crypto regulation continue to diverge across regions. Still, the 2025 performance underscores how professionalized strategies have become a central part of , especially for clients viewking steadier outcomes in volatile markets.
The broader takeaway from Bybit’s report is less about one year’s returns and more about how crypto portfolios are being built. For high-net-worth investors, the focus appears to be shifting away from speculation and toward structured exposure that behaves diversely across market cycles.
