Deribit
Deribit is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange founded in the Netherlands in 2016 by John Jansen and Marius Jansen, later relocating its base to Panama. It specializes in crypto options and futures — especially Bitcoin and Ether options, the product it was built around — and serves mostly professional and institutional traders rather than beginners. In 2025 Deribit was acquired by Coinbase in a deal worth roughly $2.9 billion, which closed in August 2025. This profile covers the exchange, its products and its safety record as a reference, not a recommendation.
- Founded
- 2016 in the Netherlands by John Jansen and Marius Jansen; later based in Panama2016 · source
- Products
- Crypto derivatives: options and futures, focused on Bitcoin and Ether, plus perpetuals
- Custody model
- Custodial; states it keeps about 99% of assets in cold storage, with a small share in hot wallets
- Acquisition
- Acquired by Coinbase for roughly $2.9B ($700M cash plus 11M Coinbase shares); announced May 2025, closed 14 August 20252025-08 · source
What is Deribit?
Deribit is a centralized cryptocurrency derivatives exchange founded in 2016. Its focus is options and futures rather than simple spot buying: it is widely known as a venue for Bitcoin and Ether options, the market it was built around, and it also offers futures and perpetual contracts. The user base skews toward professional and institutional traders, and the platform is designed for people who already understand derivatives.
Deribit was started in the Netherlands by John Jansen and Marius Jansen and later moved its operating base to Panama. As a custodial exchange, it holds the crypto you deposit to trade and to post as margin. In 2025 it was acquired by Coinbase (see below), folding a large crypto options business into a US-listed company.
Is Deribit safe?
Deribit has a long track record as a derivatives venue and says it keeps the large majority of assets — around 99% — in offline cold storage, with only a small share in hot wallets for day-to-day withdrawals. Its most serious security event, a November 2022 hot-wallet hack of about $28 million, is instructive precisely because of how it ended: cold storage and customer funds were untouched, and Deribit covered the loss from its own reserves, so users did not bear it (see the incident record below).
Since August 2025 Deribit has been owned by Coinbase, a US public company, which changes its corporate backing though not the basic nature of the risks. As with any custodial derivatives platform, two exposures remain: it holds your keys, and it is a leveraged-trading venue where positions can be liquidated quickly when markets move. Add the usual account-level danger of phishing, and use a strong second factor.
Deribit and the Coinbase acquisition
In May 2025 Coinbase announced an agreement to acquire Deribit, and the deal closed on 14 August 2025 at a purchase price of roughly $2.9 billion, made up of about $700 million in cash and around 11 million Coinbase Class A shares. The acquisition brought one of the largest crypto options businesses under a US-listed parent and expanded Coinbase's derivatives and international footprint.
For a user, the practical meaning is that Deribit now sits inside Coinbase Global rather than operating as an independent company. That can affect regulatory standing, product integration and account handling over time; we note the ownership change as a fact and will update this section as the integration develops.
Incident record
On 1 November 2022 an attacker compromised Deribit's hot wallets and drained roughly $28 million in BTC, ETH and USDC. Deribit paused withdrawals, confirmed the breach the next day, and said cold-storage addresses, its Fireblocks integration and client assets were not affected. The entire loss was covered from Deribit's own balance-sheet reserves, separate from its insurance fund, so customer funds were made whole and no user bore the loss.
Compare with
Frequently asked
What is Deribit?+
Deribit is a centralized crypto derivatives exchange founded in the Netherlands in 2016 and later based in Panama. It specializes in options and futures — especially Bitcoin and Ether options — for mostly professional and institutional traders. It is custodial, and in 2025 it was acquired by Coinbase.
Is Deribit safe?+
Deribit has a long track record and says it holds about 99% of assets in cold storage. Its November 2022 hot-wallet hack of ~$28M did not touch cold storage or customer funds, and Deribit covered the loss from its own reserves. Since August 2025 it has been owned by Coinbase. The residual risks are custody, fast liquidations on a leveraged venue, and account phishing.
Did Deribit get hacked?+
Yes, in November 2022 attackers drained about $28 million from Deribit's hot wallets. Cold storage and client assets were not affected, and Deribit covered the entire loss from its own reserves, so customer funds were made whole and no user bore the loss.
Did Coinbase buy Deribit?+
Yes. Coinbase announced the acquisition of Deribit in May 2025 and closed it on 14 August 2025 for roughly $2.9 billion — about $700 million in cash plus around 11 million Coinbase shares. Deribit now operates within Coinbase Global rather than as an independent company.
What changed
- 2026-09-28Profile created: founding facts, the options/derivatives product, custody model, the 2025 Coinbase acquisition, and a safety picture including the November 2022 ~$28M hot-wallet hack that was covered from reserves with customer funds untouched (confirmed verdict).