$2.9 billion sets a record for the largest acquisition in crypto history: Why did Deribit choose to withdraw?

Authors: flowie, Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editors: TB, ChainCatcher

Recently, Coinbase announced its acquisition of the crypto options exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion, which includes $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock. This deal breaks the previous record set by Kraken's $1.5 billion acquisition, making it the largest acquisition in crypto history.

As the largest crypto options exchange by market share, Deribit saw Bitcoin options trading volume and Ethereum options trading volume reach 80% and 90%, respectively, during the bull market of 2024. Why is it choosing to exit at this time? How will the landscape of the crypto derivatives market be reshaped after Coinbase's expensive acquisition of Deribit?

The Development Legend of Deribit, the King of Options

Deribit was registered in the Netherlands in 2016, co-founded by brothers John Jansen and Marius Jansen.

The idea of starting a crypto options exchange stemmed from the practical needs of Marius, the younger brother, who was among the earliest Bitcoin investors and needed to hedge risks. However, at that time, the derivatives market in crypto was still blank, so he sought the help of his older brother John, who had a professional background in options trading. John has been involved in options trading since 1998 and previously worked as a trader at the Amsterdam Options Exchange; he is currently the CEO of Deribit.

In its early days, Deribit focused on Bitcoin options and futures trading, filling a gap in the cryptocurrency derivatives market at that time. In 2017, Deribit launched Bitcoin perpetual contracts, becoming one of the first exchanges to offer such products.

After 2018, the futures trading market began to grow, with Huobi and Binance also entering the futures market. Despite facing competition, Deribit, which entered the market early in 2019, became the world's largest Bitcoin options exchange due to its professional options experience and low fees, maintaining a dominant position in this market. By early 2020, Deribit's market share in Bitcoin options had reached as high as 86%.

Subsequently, Deribit raised over $140 million through three rounds of financing to accelerate its expansion. QCP Capital, Three Arrows Capital, 10T Holdings, and Akuna Capital were among the investors behind it.

Although Deribit's user base mainly consists of demanding professional investors and institutional users, it has maintained a good reputation in pursuit of growth, with very few negative incidents.

In the bull market of 2024, Deribit once again experienced significant growth, with its annual trading volume surpassing $1.1 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 95%. Among this, options trading volume grew by 99%, while spot trading volume achieved an astonishing growth of 810%. The platform's daily trading volume once exceeded $1.9 billion, and the total open interest reached a historical high of $48 billion on November 28, 2024.

Deribit has also continued to solidify its dominant position in the crypto options market, with its Bitcoin options trading volume accounting for over 80% of the total market trading volume, and Ethereum options trading volume reaching as high as 90%.

Deribit's business spans across 160 countries and regions worldwide, and after obtaining a license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in 2024, it has found new growth opportunities.

Why Did Deribit Choose to "Exit at the Peak"?

Throughout Deribit's growth, it has faced two key issues: compliance challenges and growth bottlenecks.

In 2020, to avoid the EU's strict KYC requirements, Deribit moved its operational base to Panama. In 2023, in response to regulatory pressures, Deribit further relocated to Dubai. In February of this year, due to sanctions imposed by the EU, Deribit had to announce its exit from the Russian market.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers has repeatedly stated that as global regulatory frameworks continue to strengthen, many crypto trading platforms will exit the market due to high operational costs or direct shutdowns by regulatory authorities, and Deribit itself faces similar challenges.

In addition to compliance issues, how to break through the ceiling may be an even bigger challenge for Deribit.

Deribit has extremely limited growth space in the crypto options market and faces the risk of being eaten away, as other centralized exchanges (CEX) are continuously expanding their derivatives trading functions. Competitors like BitMEX, OKX, and Bybit are strengthening their derivatives offerings, and Kraken has also acquired NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. These competitors attract a large number of users by offering high-leverage trading, user-friendly interfaces, and low trading fees. Additionally, the rise of decentralized exchanges (DEX) also poses certain competitive pressure.

Aside from maintaining its position in the crypto options market, Deribit's horizontal expansion in pursuit of growth is not an easy task either. The entire crypto industry currently lacks new liquidity, and major players like Binance and OKX are facing internal competition and growth dilemmas across various sectors. Under regulatory pressure and internal competition, this may mean that Deribit has to spend higher operational costs for uncertain growth.

In this context, choosing to leverage a merger may be a step for Deribit to transition from maintaining to breaking through.

Although Deribit possesses leading technology and market share in the crypto options field, its product line remains relatively singular. A merger with Coinbase could create synergies in spot, futures, and options, building a more comprehensive derivatives ecosystem.

For Coinbase, Deribit could bring approximately $30 billion in open interest and over $1 trillion in trading volume, significantly enhancing its competitiveness in derivatives; for Deribit, leveraging Coinbase's global user base and compliance advantages, especially its deep layout in the U.S. market, would aid its internationalization.

This acquisition also occurs at a critical juncture of policy shifts: with Trump returning to the White House and promoting crypto-friendly policies, the market's demand for compliant platforms has significantly increased. In this context, Deribit's choice to exit at this time may be a wise decision to leverage the situation and move towards the next growth curve.

How Will Coinbase Reshape the Crypto Derivatives Landscape?

Since 2014, Coinbase has completed at least 21 acquisition deals, and this acquisition of Deribit is its largest transaction in history. This not only marks a strategic upgrade for Coinbase but also highlights the accelerating trend of mergers and acquisitions in the crypto derivatives market.

In addition to Deribit, many derivatives platforms are also "selling themselves." On February 28, CoinDesk reported that BitMEX, a long-established crypto derivatives platform founded by Arthur Hayes, is also seeking a sale. Additionally, the crypto derivatives startup Arbelos Markets has been sold to the crypto brokerage FalconX.

The rapidly growing and maturing crypto derivatives market has become a battleground for leading players. In 2024, the global average daily trading volume of crypto derivatives has exceeded $100 billion, with monthly trading volume surpassing $3 trillion.

In 2024, Coinbase has also been actively expanding its derivatives business, adding over 90 new assets to its international exchange to drive growth in its derivatives trading volume. According to a report by CCData, Coinbase's market share in derivatives grew by 3.89% in 2024.

However, compared to building from scratch, mergers and acquisitions can also be a quick and effective way. By acquiring Deribit, Coinbase can rapidly enhance the scale and competitiveness of its derivatives business, allowing it to compete with global derivatives giants like Binance and Bybit.

This acquisition may have far-reaching implications for the landscape of the crypto derivatives market. As market concentration increases, other cryptocurrency exchanges may face strategic adjustments, and even a wave of industry consolidation may occur. Meanwhile, smaller exchanges will face greater competitive pressure and may even be marginalized.

Traditional financial institutions have long entered the crypto market through ETFs and derivatives, and the strong alliance between Coinbase and Deribit will undoubtedly attract more institutional investors, further promoting the integration and intersection of traditional finance and the crypto market.

However, whether Coinbase can maintain Deribit's specialized product style and high standards to serve this market well remains to be seen.

The Crypto Industry Welcomes a Wave of Mergers and Acquisitions

According to RootData, there have been 48 mergers and acquisitions in the crypto space from 2025 to the present, averaging nearly 10 crypto acquisitions per month.

In total, there were 105 M&A events in 2024, setting a historical record, a 36.3% increase from 77 in 2023.

In terms of acquisition amounts, there have been 9 acquisitions exceeding $100 million in 2024 so far, with acquisition amounts consistently breaking new highs. Just before Deribit was acquired for $5 billion, Kraken acquired the U.S. futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in March 2025.

Acquisitions over $100 million from 2024 to present

As the cryptocurrency market matures, the trend of industry consolidation is evident, with only a few platforms able to ultimately stand out.

In the competitive market, giants quickly expand their products and services through acquisitions. For the acquired projects, in the context of inverted valuations between primary and secondary markets, mergers and acquisitions can be a perfect exit strategy compared to issuing tokens.