The battle for derivatives and volume leadership
Bybit and Binance are the two largest derivatives-focused exchanges by open interest. Their hiring competition in 2026 is one of the most watched signals for the derivatives market outlook.
Binance is hiring across every function — but the rate is decelerating compared to 2024 peaks. Compliance and legal remain dominant (a response to global regulatory pressure), but engineering and product headcount growth has slowed. This is a consolidation, not a retreat.
Bybit, by contrast, is in full acceleration mode: engineering up 34% YoY, product up 29%, and a new push into institutional services that mirrors Binance's playbook from 2021-2022. They are explicitly trying to take market share from Binance in the institutional derivatives segment.
The signal: Bybit is the aggressive challenger. The hiring data suggests they will meaningfully close the gap in derivatives open interest by end of 2026.
Signal Scores, week-over-week hiring velocity, department trends, and predictions. Updated every week across 67 companies.
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