Coinbase agreed to pay $2.9 billion to buy bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) options platform Deribit, according to a press release, marking its official push into the highly profitable crypto derivatives market in the U.S.
The crypto exchange, alongside competitor Kraken, had been in talks to buy Deribit for months, with Bloomberg reporting that options giant could be valued at $4 billion to $5 billion.
Kraken, instead, purchased U.S. futures platform Ninja Trader for $1.5 billion, allowing the exchange to compete with Coinbase in offering futures and derivatives in the U.S.
Coinbase’s acquisition comes after what has been a busy year in crypto dealmaking as companies are positioning themselves in what U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to become the “crypto capital of the world.”
The deal with Deribit includes $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, according to the companies, making it one of the largest deals in the industry and “[giving] the company an immediate and dominant foothold in the high-growth derivatives space ahead of an anticipated increase in institutional adoption of digital assets,” according to a note from Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer.
Founded in 2016, Deribit has quickly taken over market share for digital asset options trading. The exchange processed $1.2 trillion in volume in 2024, a 95% year-over-year increase, the company had reported in January.
UPDATE (May 8, 14:18 UTC): Adds additional comments from Benchmark’s Mark Palmer.
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