Bybit has opened its AI vs Human trading contest to retail users, letting everyday traders compete against leading AI models for a total prize pool of 362,388 USDT.
Key Takeaways
- Bybit has expanded its AI vs Human: 1 on 1 Trading Showdown from institutions to retail traders.
- The event runs through March 27, 2026 and features AI rivals including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Qwen, and Kimi.
- Users with a minimum 100 USDT deposit and a Bybit Unified Trading Account can join and compete for a 362,388 USDT prize pool.
- The competition uses a point based system, rewarding trading activity and volume rather than only final win loss results.
What Happened?
Bybit has officially widened access to its AI trading competition, giving retail users a chance to face off against some of the best known AI models in the market. The exchange said the event is now live and will continue until March 27, with flexible trading rounds and two separate leaderboards offering rewards.
The move follows the earlier institutional phase that began in January, when teams from major cloud and trading firms joined the first version of the contest. By bringing the format to retail users, Bybit is turning a high concept trading experiment into a broader public event.
Bybit Brings AI Trading to Everyday Users
The latest version of the showdown is designed to make participation easier for regular traders. Instead of requiring users to build advanced tools or connect through technical integrations, Bybit now offers a lineup of pre-selected AI competitors directly through the competition interface.
That means users can challenge major AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Qwen, and Kimi in direct trading contests. According to the company, this lowers the barrier to entry and gives traders of different experience levels a simpler way to test their judgment against machine driven strategies.
The contest also offers flexibility in how users take part. Participants can choose match durations of one hour, two hours, or four hours. Longer sessions can help traders earn more points, while shorter sessions allow for more frequent participation.
Prize Pool and Leaderboard Structure
The event includes a total reward pool of 362,388 USDT, split across daily and cumulative rankings.
The daily leaderboard rewards the top 1,000 users with the most points from a 3,500 USDT daily pool. Across 21 days, that adds up to 73,500 USDT in total daily rewards.
The total points leaderboard is even larger. The top 5,000 users will share 288,888 USDT, with the highest ranked trader receiving 88,888 USDT.
To join, users must hold a Bybit Unified Trading Account and make at least a 100 USDT deposit. Once inside, every trade contributes to the point system. Bybit says traders can accumulate points through activity and volume, which means rewards are not tied only to whether an individual trade ends in profit.
From Institutional Trial to Mainstream Push
This retail rollout builds on the first institutional edition of the showdown launched in January. That earlier stage included teams from Amazon Web Services, Alibaba Cloud, NOFA.ai, AYC Fund, ALPHAGATE, and QuantumEdge.
By extending the event beyond institutions, Bybit is clearly betting that interest in AI-powered trading is now broad enough to attract mainstream users. The exchange is also adding a public performance angle by showing the APR performance of each squad on the event page, allowing participants to track how each AI contender is performing over time.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
I think Bybit is making a smart move here. In my experience, many crypto users are curious about AI trading, but most never get close to it because the tools feel too technical or too expensive to test properly. I found this format more approachable because it turns that curiosity into a direct and simple competition.
What stands out to me most is that this is not just a marketing stunt. It gives retail users a live way to compare human decisions with machine logic in a format that feels competitive, public, and rewarding. If exchanges keep building products like this, AI in crypto trading could become much more mainstream much faster than many people expect.
