Coinbase has announced its plans to acquire Deribit, the world's leading crypto options exchange, for approximately $2.9 billion. The deal, revealed on May 8, 2025, is composed of $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The acquisition is projected to close by the end of 2025, pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
This acquisition marks a significant step for Coinbase in expanding its cryptocurrency derivatives offerings and establishing itself as a premier global platform in this sector. Deribit is recognized as the leading platform for Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading, with an annual trading volume exceeding $1.2 trillion. The exchange currently holds approximately $30 billion in open interest.
According to Coinbase, acquiring Deribit will create the most comprehensive institutional derivatives platform. Deribit's options platform will complement Coinbase's existing US futures and international perpetual futures businesses, rounding out its derivatives services. The company aims to provide traders with seamless access to spot, futures, perpetual futures, and options trading within a single, capital-efficient platform.
The acquisition will also give Coinbase a leading position in crypto derivatives in terms of open interest and options volume. Deribit facilitated over $1 trillion in trading volume the previous year across key markets outside the U.S., demonstrating strong demand from institutional and advanced traders. Coinbase believes that crypto options are poised for substantial growth, similar to the equity options boom of the 1990s, and this acquisition positions the company to capitalize on that growth.
Furthermore, the acquisition is expected to enhance Coinbase's profitability and add diversity and durability to its trading revenues. Options trading revenues are typically less cyclical than spot trading, which can help stabilize Coinbase's financial performance.
Following the completion of the deal, Deribit's founders, John and Marius Jansen, will step down from the firm. Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers expressed enthusiasm about joining forces with Coinbase to usher in a new era in global crypto derivatives. He stated that the acquisition would accelerate the foundation Deribit has built and provide traders with more opportunities across spot, futures, perpetuals, and options, all under the trusted Coinbase brand.
This acquisition follows Coinbase's earlier acquisition of FairX in 2022, which was later rebranded as Coinbase Derivatives Exchange. This gave Coinbase a CFTC-regulated platform for offering crypto derivatives in the U.S.
The integration of Deribit's technology with Coinbase's products is expected to enable more efficient onboarding, enhanced fiat rails, and improved capital efficiency across the entire trading lifecycle. The deal also reflects a broader trend in the crypto industry towards derivatives, which generate higher fees than spot trading.
The acquisition has been viewed positively, with Coinbase's stock rising more than 5% following the announcement. Analysts believe the deal will give Coinbase a dominant position in the high-growth derivatives space, ahead of anticipated growth in institutional adoption of digital assets.
