Deribit has received a Broker-Dealer Licence from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), allowing the Coinbase-owned crypto derivatives platform to route most spot orders to Coinbase Exchange for execution.
Deribit will remain the client-facing venue and retain its derivatives ecosystem, while Coinbase Exchange will provide main execution and liquidity for the upgraded spot product.
Coinbase Becomes Deribit's Main Spot Execution Venue
Deribit FZE received a VARA VASP licence for Exchange Services in January 2025. That permission allows the platform to offer spot trading under certain restrictions.
The new Broker-Dealer Licence adds a separate permission for the upgraded spot model, rather than replacing the existing exchange licence. Under the new structure, most spot orders placed through Deribit will be routed to Coinbase Exchange for execution.
Coinbase says this gives Deribit clients access to deeper spot liquidity and hundreds of additional assets listed on Coinbase Exchange, while keeping the Deribit interface and derivatives environment. Deribit’s own spot order book will remain in use for a small number of assets.
Coinbase Connects its Infrastructure to Deribit
Coinbase acquired Deribit in August 2025 for about $2.9 billion, comprising about $700 million in cash and 11 million Coinbase Class A shares.
At the time, Deribit was already one of the main crypto derivatives venues, with a business centred on options and futures. Coinbase said Deribit recorded more than $185 billion in trading volume in July 2025 and roughly $60 billion in open interest around the time of the acquisition.
Luuk Strijers, senior director and head of international derivatives at Coinbase, described the licence as the moment the acquisition "starts delivering directly" for clients as Coinbase can connect Deribit users to Coinbase Exchange liquidity without moving them onto the Coinbase interface.
- Former Westpac and Barclays Executive to Lead Deribit's Global Commercial Strategy
- Crypto Options Exchange Deribit Is Evaluating Buyout Offers
- Deribit to Migrate All Activities to Its Dubai-Licensed Entity
Coinbase said the upgraded spot offering will be available to retail, qualified and institutional investors. Deribit’s regulated derivatives business in Dubai remains limited to qualified and institutional investors under its existing VARA permissions.
Coinbase also said assets bought through the upgraded spot platform could later be used as collateral for derivatives trading on Deribit, but only after regulatory approval.
Under the new model, Deribit keeps the client interface, derivatives ecosystem and fallback spot order book, while Coinbase Exchange handles most execution for the expanded spot offering.
