New Report Reveals AI Arms Race at 3 Major Exchanges

OKX, Bybit, and Bitget are reportedly requiring all employees to use AI tools daily, according to a WuBlockchain report. Some exchanges now track token consumption as a performance metric. The report marks one of the clearest signals yet that major centralized exchanges are treating AI not as optional but as core operating infrastructure. OKX, Bybit, and Bitget Reportedly Mandate AI Tools for All Employees As CEXs Join the Fray Based on the report, OKX purchased Anthropics Claude Enterprise edition for all employees. Meanwhile, Bybit, under CEO Ben Zhous direction, made both Claude and OpenClaw available company-wide. At the same time, Bitget went further, requiring employees to meet minimum daily AI usage thresholds within a quarterly review cycle. The most striking detail involves coding workflows. Allegedly, some exchanges now require over 90% of their code to be written with AI assistance. At least one ranks individual token consumption as a key performance indicator, effectively incentivizing employees to maximize their use of large language models. CEXs are internally enhancing their employees' use of AI.WuBlockchain has exclusively learned that OKX purchased Claude Enterprise Edition for all employees; Bybit, driven by CEO Ben, made Claude and Open Claw available to all employees; Bitget requires employees to meet pic.twitter.com/3Lt5BdOSSz Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 22, 2026 \ Neither, Bitget, Bybit, nor OKX immediately responded to BeInCryptos request for comment. Nevertheless, the approach mirrors practices already documented at major tech firms. Companies including Meta and OpenAI run internal leaderboards for AI token usage, and generous token budgets have become a recruiting perk at some Silicon Valley employers. Productivity Gains Driving the Push The mandates align with measurable results these platforms have already reported. Bybits AI4SE initiative improved engineering productivity by 30%, with a stated target of 50% efficiency gains across the full software development lifecycle. Bitget separately reduced hiring timelines by 38% through AI-powered recruitment. A recent Gate whitepaper on crypto industry employment noted that AIs impact reached the sector faster than most expected. Crypto.com cut 12% of its workforce in Q1 2026, while remaining staff faced rising expectations to integrate AI into daily output. We are joining the list of companies integrating enterprise-wide AI. Companies that do not make this pivot immediately will fail. Companies that move slowly will be left behind. Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top-performers will achieve a level of Kris (@kris) March 19, 2026 Anthropic, which builds Claude, now counts over 1,000 business customers paying more than $1 million annually for its enterprise AI services. What This Means for the Industry The shift reflects a broader trend across tech and fintech. JetBrains survey data from April 2026 shows 84% of professional developers now use AI coding tools daily. However, crypto exchanges appear to be moving faster than most industries, tying AI fluency directly to performance reviews and career advancement. At Paris Blockchain Week earlier this month, Zhou framed AI not as a consumer feature but as core operating infrastructure for financial platforms. He described a future where finance becomes more intelligent, more accessible, and eventually invisible. Subscribe to our YouTubechannel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights Whether token consumption proves to be a meaningful productivity metric or simply a volume incentive remains an open question. Critics argue the approach rewards volume over value, while supporters point to measurable drops in development time and shipping speed. These three exchanges are betting that mandatory crypto exchange AI adoption will translate into faster product cycles and leaner engineering teams. How quickly competitors follow may determine whether this becomes an industry standard or an outlier experiment.