Coinbase Seals Deribit Takeover as Crypto Derivatives Demand Explodes
Wall Street’s playing catch-up—again. Coinbase just locked down its acquisition of Deribit, the crypto derivatives powerhouse, as institutional traders pile into leveraged bets like never before.
The deal, rumored for months, finally crosses the finish line as Bitcoin options open interest smashes records. Because nothing says 'mature market' like degenerate gambling with 100x leverage.
Deribit’s dominance in options trading gives Coinbase instant firepower against CME and Binance. Now the question is whether regulators will let them actually use it—or if the SEC will drop another 'surprise' enforcement action right before expiry.
Crypto Derivatives Surging
Deribit is the world’s leading crypto options exchange by volume and open interest, according to Coinbase. There is currently around $60 billion in open interest on the platform for all contracts, which saw over $1 trillion traded in the previous year.
Open interest (OI) is the number or value of derivatives contracts that have yet to be settled or closed. Deribit also saw a record $185 billion in trading volume in July amid an institutional surge in crypto derivatives.
Total Bitcoin futures OI is around $83 billion, according to CoinGlass, which lists the CME and Binance as market leaders.
The $2.9 billion acquisition, which was announced in May, completes Coinbase’s derivatives product suite, which includes spot, futures, perpetuals, and options trading.
Coinbase also stated that it expects Deribit to incur approximately $10 million in additional expenses for technology, development, and general administrative costs.
The firm has acquired five companies so far this year, including Spindle, Roam, and Liquifi, as it aggressively expands its ambitions to become the “everything exchange.”
In June, Deribit accepted BlackRock’s industry-leading USD Institutional Digital Fund (BUIDL) as collateral, giving investors a stable and yield-generating alternative.
Coinbase Stock Up This Week
Coinbase shares did not react to the announcement as the market had already priced it in.
COIN ended the day flat, trading at around $325 after-hours, but has gained 4% over the past week as Bitcoin notched a new all-time high.
The stock has performed well this year, gaining 31% since the beginning of 2025 and 65% since this time last year. COIN hit an all-time high of $420 on July 18, which was the same week that BTC first topped $120,000.
