Deribit Dubai licence now lets the platform send most spot orders to Coinbase Exchange under a new approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
The Coinbase-owned crypto derivatives venue said Deribit will stay as the client-facing platform. However, Coinbase Exchange will handle the main execution and liquidity for the upgraded spot product. Deribit will also keep its derivatives setup under the new model.
The new Broker-Dealer Licence adds to, rather than replaces, Deribit FZE’s existing VARA VASP licence for Exchange Services. Deribit received that earlier licence in January 2025. That approval allowed the firm to offer spot trading with certain limits.
Deribit Dubai Licence Adds Spot Model
Under the new structure, most spot orders placed through Deribit will go to Coinbase Exchange for execution. Meanwhile, Deribit’s own spot order book will remain active for a small number of assets.
Coinbase said the change gives Deribit clients deeper spot liquidity. It also said clients will gain access to hundreds of extra assets listed on Coinbase Exchange. However, users will still trade through the Deribit interface and remain within its derivatives environment.
Luuk Strijers, senior director and head of international derivatives at Coinbase, said the licence marks the point when the acquisition starts to deliver directly for clients. He said Coinbase can link Deribit users to Coinbase Exchange liquidity without moving them to the Coinbase interface.
Coinbase Acquisition and Client Access
Coinbase bought Deribit in August 2025 for about $2.9 billion. That deal included about $700 million in cash and 11 million Coinbase Class A shares.
At the time, Coinbase said Deribit had recorded more than $185 billion in trading volume in July 2025. It also said the platform had about $60 billion in open interest around the time of the deal. Deribit was already focused on options and futures when Coinbase acquired it.
Coinbase said the upgraded spot service will be open to retail, qualified and institutional investors. However, Deribit’s regulated derivatives business in Dubai remains limited to qualified and institutional investors under its current VARA permissions.
Additionally, Coinbase said assets bought through the upgraded spot platform may later serve as collateral for derivatives trading on Deribit, but only if regulators approve that step.
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Source: Finance Magnates
