What Is Deribit?
Deribit is an institutional-grade derivatives trading platform that strives to create a fair and efficient marketplace for all. The platform also aims to connect all types of traders, no matter their background, trading style, or skill level. Deribit provides high liquidity, an impressive risk management system, and low latency. One of Deribit’s strongest assets is that it’s constantly improving to keep up with the fast pace of the crypto industry. With its scalable and high-performance system architecture, Deribit ensures that they are toe to toe with the rest of the major industry players.
After almost two years of development, Deribit was launched in 2016, and they started offering their trading services to users. As of now, Deribit is based in Panama City, with hundreds of developers keeping the exchange up and running. Deribit allows their users to trade a variety of crypto assets, along with the derivatives. You can sign up on the platform by providing your information and then access their advanced features right away. Deribit does not accept users from the US and some other jurisdictions.
My Overall Thoughts on Deribit
Considering how advanced the crypto industry has become and the types of tools and features available within the trading interfaces, Deribit has done a phenomenal job in bringing everything together in one place. Yes, the platform might seem targeted to the mature or professional traders, but Deribit also allows their users to purchase and swap crypto assets with a single click. And, when it comes to what Deribit has done with their trading interface, there are very few exchanges that can compete with them. Take a look below at what I think are Deribit’s strongest features:
1) Quick crypto purchasing and swapping: This is Deribit’s best feature for beginners and amateurs. Deribit has two different sections where users can purchase four different cryptocurrencies and easily exchange them with the swap option. Thanks to their partnership with third-party payment merchants, users can easily buy crypto assets with fiat currencies on the platform.
2) Diverse features and advanced trading interface: Deribit is a literal heaven for those traders who already know what they’re doing and for those who prioritize professionalism and diversity over everything. The exchange offers great, unique trading features along with customization options that you can use to enhance your trades. With Deribit, you’ll never have to compromise on your trading experience.
3) Mobile trading apps: Deribit offers mobile trading applications that are easy to download on iOS and Android devices. With Deribit’s app, you can trade on the go and never miss an opportunity.
Deribit, however, needs to improve their customer support service, as they do not have any live-chat support or a contact number through which users can quickly get in touch with them. Also, Deribit is not available in countries like the US and Canada.
Key Features and Advantages of Deribit
If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly environment with an effortless layout, Deribit probably isn’t the platform for you. Deribit was designed for professional traders and investors, and you’ll need a firm understanding of the industry in order to trade the right way on the platform. In fact, traders aren’t even given a dedicated dashboard and will need to search to find the extra features.
That being said, Deribit can be an excellent choice for all types of traders because they have impressive diversity when it comes to trading markets. Users can also buy and swap cryptocurrencies on the platform and use their Deribit account as a crypto wallet. And there’s more:
Negatives and Disadvantages of Deribit
Before making up your mind about joining Deribit, I suggest considering the platform’s disadvantages. There’s no denying that Deribit has enhanced trading with their advanced and diverse features, but they have also compromised on a few things that are listed below:
What Services Does Deribit Offer?
Deribit would definitely not disappoint if you’re looking for a trading-focused crypto exchange. They do allow their users to easily purchase crypto assets with fiat currencies and to swap assets, but it’s their trading features that are unquestionably some of the best, and they offer premium insights and data so you evaluate the markets accordingly.
With premium security features, you can enjoy a safe trading experience at Deribit and rest assured that your crypto assets are in good hands. Deribit has even created a bounty program for developers who find bugs in the platform. For a more complete idea of what Deribit offers, see below:
One-click crypto buying and swapping: Deribit has partnered up with a third-party payment merchant known as Banxa that provides users with a quick way to purchase cryptocurrencies. You can choose between a variety of payment methods offered by Banxa to pay for the crypto assets you want. One-click crypto purchasing saves time and allows for a hassle-free buying experience. You can also swap or exchange your crypto assets.
The assets that can be directly bought on Deribit are BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC. If you want other assets, you will have to manually trade the respective pair.
Trade futures and options: When you join Deribit, you’re not limited to spot or futures; you can also trade options. Option trading gives users the right to buy or sell assets at a specific price without any obligations. By trading futures, you can drastically increase the potential of any asset you want to trade and take risks that could pay off.
Both the futures and options markets available at Deribit come with popular cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and USDC.
Advanced trading interface: The trading interface Deribit is hard to beat. The platform offers a very professional trading interface designed specifically for advanced traders. It includes a full-fledged customization option where traders can customize their trades, enhance the layout, use tons of tools for better insights, and access accurate charts for real-time and untouched market data.
Mobile apps for iOS and Android: Deribit wants to make sure you never miss a price move and has accordingly designed mobile apps for on-the-go traders. Deribit’s mobile applications come with fully integrated trading features so that users can evaluate the markets wherever they are. You can also make deposits and purchase or swap assets right from your mobile device.
Deribit’s apps are currently available for Android and iOS devices. You can head to your phone’s app store and download the application right away.
Diverse features for an unmatched trading experience: While Deribit’s trading interface itself is unmatched, it’s also decked out with a great range of features that add to the overall experience. Deribit offers advanced order types that you can choose between when trading. The incremental liquidation also makes it possible to execute fast trades. There’s even an option to block trade, which is usually provided to institutional-grade traders only but is open to anyone on Deribit.
With these diverse trading features, you can learn, grow, and trade in a professional atmosphere that’s hard to find elsewhere.
Detailed insights and market data: Deribit has a whole separate section where they provide detailed insights and market data to traders who want to consider every single possibility before they execute a trade.
The data section of Deribit includes indexes, volatility indexes, funding rates, insurance funds, metrics, market data, and much more that you can analyze and explore. Each subsection provides a detailed analysis of the respective fields, and users can even customize the results and search through past data with ease. With so much data at your fingertips, you’ll never miss out on crucial market info or big trades.
Multilevel security precautions: The security at Deribit is quite strict, and it makes sure that your funds are always protected. Deribit has integrated a multilevel security system, keeping the breaches and hackers away from your funds.
Deribit claims that they store 99% of their users’ funds in cold storage, exterminating any chance of hackers accessing the funds through online means. Not only that, but the platform also utilizes multi-sig, MPC, and split private key structure to further ensure that your assets are safe on the platform, 24-7.
Rather than investing your whole equity in a popular asset, you can take a little risk and invest your money in new projects, too. Who knows, the new project may gain attention from the crypto community and that investment could really pay off.
Broad Knowledge Base with guides: Due to the integration of advanced trading features and options, Deribit can’t really be considered a beginner-friendly platform. To solve this problem, the platform offers countless guides across its Knowledge Base section
Knowledge Base is divided into multiple parts. You can get general information, learn about futures, options, and perpetual contracts, get trading info, and more.
Even if you’re a beginner and don’t know where to start or how to trade, this learning section of Deribit will help.
Earn up to a 20% trading fee with referrals: Deribit has a referral program through which users can earn a percentage of the trading fee of their referrals. Users simply have to create their unique referral link and spread it among their social networks.
For the first six months after you bring someone to the platform, you are paid 20% of the trading fee of your referral. After six months, Deribit reduces the rewards to 10%, but you can keep earning through your referrals for as long as they remain active on the site. There is also no defined limit on the number of people you can bring to the platform, which means there’s potential to create an income stream through the affiliate program.
Massive bug bounty reward: Deribit claims to be one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges, and that is why they focus so much on fixing any flaws their platform might have. To that end, the exchange offers a bug bounty program where users or developers can point out bugs in the system.
Deribit has created different levels that are based on the technical severity of the bugs, and you’re rewarded according to that criteria. At the highest severity, you can get rewards of up to $6000 per bug. Even if you find a bug of the lowest criteria, you can get up to $300.
If you’re a developer and want to try your hand at auditing exchanges, you can claim this perfect opportunity and potentially earn a great deal of money.
Things I Don't Like About Deribit
Unfortunately, even with all the advanced trading features that Deribit offers, there are a few things that I don’t like:
Old-school support system: A customer support system can be a crucial component of customer satisfaction, and unfortunately, this is an area where Deribit is lacking. The platform has provided an email address you can get in touch with or a form that you can fill out if you have a problem or a question. There is no live-chat support, and the platform does not even have a phone number listed.
If you have any queries or a major problem, you’ll have to use the old-school method of writing an email and then waiting for hours just to get a reply. This is time consuming and inefficient, and Deribit needs to improve it for a better user experience.
Only four crypto assets available: A customer support system can be a crucial component of customer satisfaction, and unfortunately, this is an area where Deribit is lacking. The platform has provided an email address you can get in touch with or a form that you can fill out if you have a problem or a question. There is no live-chat support, and the platform does not even have a phone number listed.
If you have any queries or a major problem, you’ll have to use the old-school method of writing an email and then waiting for hours just to get a reply. This is time consuming and inefficient, and Deribit needs to improve it for a better user experience.
Not available in the US: Deribit claims to be a worldwide crypto exchange, but they do not offer their services to users living in the United States. Deribit also restricts users from other major countries like Canada, Japan, Cuba, and a few others. Some of these countries have a massive crypto community, and it’s a shame that their users are excluded from Deribit’s platform.
Deribit Fees
Deribit Deposit Fees
Deribit does not charge any fee for deposits. But users have to pay a fee to the third-party payment merchants when purchasing crypto assets with fiat currencies.
Deribit Trading Fees
The trading fee for contracts at Deribit is as follows:
Deribit Fiat Withdrawal Fee
Fiat withdrawals are not supported on Deribit.
Deribit Crypto Withdrawal Fee
The crypto withdrawal fee at Deribit depends on the market conditions at the time of withdrawal and might vary depending on the chosen asset, network, and time.
Pros and Cons of Deribit
- Quick crypto purchases and swaps
- Trade futures and options
- Advanced trading interface
- Diverse trading features and tools
- Premium security
- Not the best customer support
- Not available in the US and other countries
Summary
Deribit is not a casual cryptocurrency platform—it’s aimed more at professional traders, with a goal to innovate and change the trading landscape. They have successfully partnered with a third-party payment merchant to let users buy crypto assets on the platform. You can also swap them with a click without any fees or deductions. Their trading interface is unmatched.
You can trade futures and options on the platform, with tons of tools available to enhance your overall experience. Deribit also provides detailed insights about markets and provides accurate data for users to evaluate before trading. Their Knowledge Base is a great place to start or to brush up on the basics. If Deribit is available in your area, you can sign up and start trading professionally now.
Deribit is not available for US residents, so if you are from the US, you can read our article on the best cryptocurrency exchanges in the USA. There is also a quick comparison table below to help you with your decision.
Comparison Table of the Best Crypto Exchanges in the USA
Cryptocurrency is offered by eToro USA LLC (“the MSB”) (NMLS: 1769299) and is not FDIC or SIPC insured. Investing involves risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, Deribit is not available in the US, along with a few other countries like Canada and Japan. It is most likely due to laws and regulations in these countries that Deribit doesn’t currently comply with.
Inexperienced users might find Deribit a little difficult to grasp, but it’s worth it to learn Deribit’s advanced features and functions. Their Knowledge Base is a good place to start.
Deribit is a safe and secured cryptocurrency exchange that has been in business for more than five years now. They’re registered and located in Panama City and offer their users a safe and trustworthy environment to trade in.
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