Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Deribit
The offshore exchange that made crypto options a real market. John Jansen, a former options market maker on the Amsterdam exchange, launched Deribit in the Netherlands in 2016 to list bitcoin options at a time when almost no venue did (founding month reported as June 2016 — verify). It listed European-style, cash-settled options quoted and margined in the coin itself, added futures and perpetuals, and for most of the following decade held the large majority of crypto options open interest — more than 90% of bitcoin options market share in January 2023 (The Block data) and nearly 90% of bitcoin options open interest in late June 2025, when that open interest topped $40bn (The Block, reported; section 12). Deribit moved to Panama in Feb 2020 to escape the EU's fifth anti-money-laundering directive, survived the Three Arrows Capital default (it filed the BVI liquidation petition on 24 Jun 2022) and a ~$28m hot-wallet hack on 1 Nov 2022, rebuilt client trust after FTX with audits and proof of reserves, and moved its headquarters to Dubai under a conditional VARA licence (2 Apr 2024). Coinbase agreed to buy it on 8 May 2025 for a headline ~$2.9bn (~$700m cash plus 11m Class A shares) and closed on 14 Aug 2025 (Finance Shared facts). For a trader, Deribit matters as the venue where crypto volatility was first priced in size, where the crypto volatility index (DVOL, launched 31 Mar 2021) is computed, and as the clearest case in this knowledge base of an offshore venue whose options franchise is now being pulled onshore by US-listed IBIT options (from 19 Nov 2024). Coinbase as a listed business is told in Finance: Coinbase; this profile takes the trading angle.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2016, Netherlands (Deribit B.V.), by John Jansen with Marius Jansen (co-founder) (Deribit; press); one secondary profile gives June 2016 and Amsterdam; another gives 2014 — this file uses 2016, the date The Block and most sources give
- Headquarters
- Amsterdam (2016–20); Panama — DRB Panama Inc., effective 10 Feb 2020; Dubai — Deribit FZE, conditional VARA licence 2 Apr 2024, global activities migrated from 1 Jan 2025 (reported)
- Ownership / structure
- Private until Aug 2025 (raised ~$40m from existing investors at a ~$400m valuation in Sep 2022, The Block); since 14 Aug 2025 a subsidiary of Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN)
- Leadership
- John Jansen (founder; CEO to 2024); Luuk Strijers (chief commercial officer from 2019, CEO from Apr 2024); the Jansens left after the Coinbase closing (press)
- Products traders use
- Bitcoin and ether options (European, cash-settled; coin-margined, later also stablecoin-margined — verify dates); futures and perpetuals; block trades; the DVOL implied-volatility indices and DVOL futures (BTCDVOL, announced Mar 2023)
- Customers
- Institutions and professional traders outside the US (institutions ~80% of the client base, Zawya, reported); retail served through a Panama broker affiliate after the Dubai move (Deribit, Apr 2024); US persons excluded (from memory, verify current terms)
- Scale (dated)
- >$1tn of trading volume in the year before the deal (2024, The Block); open interest ~$30bn at the deal announcement (May 2025) and ~$60bn at closing, with >$185bn of volume and >$30m of transaction revenue in Jul 2025 (Coinbase statement via press, reported); "a consistent track record of generating positive Adjusted EBITDA" (Coinbase's Greg Tusar)
- Regulators
- None in the US (Deribit does not serve US persons); Dutch AML rules to 2020; Panama 2020–24; Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) from 2024; a VARA broker-dealer licence was reported in Aug 2026 (Markets Media, verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding the first dedicated crypto options exchange (2016); the Panama relocation (2020); DVOL (2021); the Three Arrows default (2022); the hot-wallet hack and post-FTX trust rebuild (2022–23); Dubai and VARA (2023–25); IBIT options and the onshore challenge (2024–26); the Coinbase acquisition (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2016
Founding the First Crypto Options Exchange
Founding or fund launch / new strategy, product or market
2020
Relocation to Panama and the Fifth AML Directive
Regulatory, enforcement or legal action / restructuring
2021
DVOL Crypto Volatility Index
Exchange listing, product or fee change (benchmark index; later futures on it)
2022
Hot Wallet Hack and Post FTX Trust Rebuild
Loss, drawdown or blow-up response / rogue trade or control failure (operational)
2022
Three Arrows Default and Liquidation Petition
Counterparty or clearing event / regulatory, enforcement or legal action (failure of a client)
2024
Dubai VARA Licence and Headquarters Move
Regulatory, enforcement or legal action (licensing) / restructuring
2024
IBIT Options and the Onshore Challenge
Market-structure bet (competitive response) / strategy pivot
2025
Coinbase Acquisition
Acquisition, merger or IPO (sale of the company)