Deribit Review

Deribit was founded in 2016 under the name Deribit B.V. The company is located in Amsterdam at Stationsstraat 2 B 3851 NH, Ermelo. The members of the Deribit team are public, with an ex-trader from the Amsterdam Options Exchange as CEO – John Jansen, CTO – Sebastian Smyczýnski, CMO – Marius Jansen, and Chief Developer – Andrew Yanovsky.

It is a top-class team that has created an excellent trading platform for the cryptocurrency markets. Deribit is one of the few platforms that offer Options in addition to perpetual contracts with x100 leverage.

Deribit Features Review

Registration 

The exchange is available worldwide, accepting customers from Europe, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.
Residents of Quebec, Guam, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Panama, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Sudan, Syria, United States are NOT allowed to use the exchange.

Registering on Deribit is very simple. It consists of a few simple steps as follows:

1. Input your email address
2. Input a Nickname / Alias, which will be displayed publicly.
3. Fill in a strong password and confirm it.
4. Select a Country of Residence. 

Security

Deribit has never experienced a security breach since its introduction in 2016, which of course does not mean that it is 100% bulletproof. The exchange gives priority to security and has a robust system that matches with the best security practices in the industry.

• Hot and Cold storages with over 95% of the funds held in a cold wallet
• Two Factor Authentication (2FA) 
• Email 2FA
• Extensive bounty program, encouraging people to report bugs and help with strengthening the security and the stability of the platform

Deposits and Withdrawals

Unfortunately, deposits on Deribit are limited to only one option – BTC. The lack of Wire, SEPA or debit and credit cards is a drawback, but that’s not a big problem with all the ramp-up exchanges available for Bitcoin at the moment.

Withdrawals are also restricted to the BTC and will be processed as quickly as possible depending on the funds available in the Deribit’s hot wallet. If there are insufficient funds in the Hot Wallet to process your withdrawal, you will have to wait until the funds are replenished.

Deribit User Interface Review

The user interface of Deribit is professionally designed and has a dark mode. As the platform has both perpetual contracts and options, it comes with different layouts for each of these instruments, as they are designated different instruments. The interface contains a lot of information, especially on the options page.

Unfortunately, the interface is not as customizable as you would like it to be. It is set by default and you cannot move the tabs to customize it to your liking.

Deribit Mobile App

Deribit has a trading app for both iOS and Android. The design of the interface remains in the same style as the desktop version. It is easy to navigate through the app. It runs smoothly on low-end mobile devices and provides the stability needed to open and close positions without any noticeable delay.

To log into your account from the app, you need to set up the API on the desktop version of the website and synchronize it with a QR code.

Options Contracts on Deribit

Options allow you to either buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price. The layout on the option contracts is much more detailed, and you have calls and puts with all the information about the position you are bidding on.

On the Options page you can track all changes in your portfolio:

• Exp. Date
• PNL
• Session UPL
• Session RPL
• Delta Options – The cumulative change in the value of all options in USD)
• Gamma – Rate of changes of Delta with a 1$ movement)
• Vega – Rate of change between options portfolio value and the implied volatility
• Theta – Rate of change between total options portfolio and time in USD per day
• Initial Margin
• Maintenance Margin

Margin Trading on Deribit

The margin trading part of Deribit uses cross margin, where your funds cover all of your open positions.

Available Assets and Contracts

Only BTC and ETH are available for margin trading, but this is compensated by the availability of options. Deribit Futures are open for Bitcoin and Ethereum with 2 options with different expiration dates.

Deribit Perpetual Contracts max leverage:

BTC/USD: 100x

ETH/USD: 50x

For options trading, BTC and ETH contracts are with set dates. 

Trading fees breakdown

Deribit has one of the lowest fees among the leverage trading platforms for cryptocurrencies. There are no fees for deposits, and the payout fees are actively adjusted according to the network load of Bitcoin.

The fees for Futures, Perpetuals and Options contracts  are as follows:

Bitcoin/BTC:

Ethereum/ETH:

Deribit has an insurance fund into which a portion of the fees from liquidated positions flows as a reserve for bad days:

Bitcoin/BTC:
Futures: 0.30%
Perpetual: 0.30%
Options: 0.15%

Ethereum/ETH:
Futures: 0.90%
Perpetual: 0.90%
Options: 0.19%

Order types

Deribit offers the standard order types: 

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-market
• Stop-limit orders

Additional Order Settings:

• Good-till-cancel
• Fill-or-kill
• Immediate-or-Cancel
• Post
• Hidden
• Reduce.

Daily Trading Volume

Deribit has a daily trading volume of approximately USD 150 million. The exchange is among the top 10 by volume for perpetual contracts and options of Bitcoin, but falling behind Bitmex, Binance, and Bybit. Due to its loyal user base and robust trading engine, it has a constant daily volume.

Support

The only secure way to contact Deribit’s support staff is by email, which is referred to on the “Contact Us” page of the company’s website.

There is also a public telegram channel that is accessible to everyone, but if you ask for help there, dozens of fraudsters will immediately message you in private which an official representative will never do.

Affiliate Program

The affiliate program is a nice addition that allows you to generate a certain income stream from your referrals’ turnover volume. For direct referrals, you will receive 20% for the first six months, after that the commission is reduced to 10% making the referral program one of the least rewarding compared to competitors in the same area.

Frequently Asked Questions about Deribit

Is Deribit safe?

Deribit is safe thanks to its high security level and real-time auditing of the accounts  in combination with a liquidation engine that detects underfunded accounts.  In addition, an insurance fund is set up to make Deribit more reliable and secure, as users can be compensated in case of a breach.

Can I use Deribit?

The exchange is available worldwide and accepts customers from all over the world:

• Europe
• South America
• Africa
• Oceania
• Asia

Sanctioned countries like North Korea, Iran and more are not allowed to use the exchange.

Is Deribit available for US citizens?

Currently, Deribit is not available to U.S. citizens due to the strict regulations and requirements set by the regulatory body of the United States.

Can I buy and sell bitcoin on Deribit?

You cannot buy or sell Bitcoin directly on the platform as it is a dedicated leveraged trading platform. 

List of coins you can long and short on Deribit:

• Bitcoin (BTC) 
• Ethereum (ETH)

Where is the Deribit server located?

The servers of the platform are located in London.

How to change leverage on Deribit?

The leverage of Deribit cannot be adjusted. You always work with the maximum available leverage, position management on the platform is very important, as is a careful following of your margin usage. 

What time do Deribit options close?

The expiration time will depend on the option contract.

Conclusion

A unique platform that at first glance appears to be more limited compared to its competitors, but has deeper and more extensive Options contracts available for trading. Deribit focuses on being the best in a particular niche as its main features are Futures and Options, both of which are well designed and are stable products providing many more opportunities when combined.

Deribit has not been breached since day one, as the exchange sticks to the highest security standards and in providing one of the most stable platforms in the industry. It is also one of the few trading platforms that are suitable for longer-term open positions with its low fees.

no Deposit Bonus

Deribit is a leverage trading platform offering not only perpetual contracts trading with 100x but options trading for the more advanced traders.

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