# Coinbase Chief Targets U.S. Institutional Deribit Options Access by Month-End

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/43456
Published: 2026-10-29T11:19:08.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-29T11:19:08.000Z
Section: Business

> Strijers also put retail access in early November. Institutional access is expected in the fourth quarter, and Coinbase will announce retail availability separately.

Coinbase derivatives chief Luuk Strijers said the exchange plans to offer Deribit options to U.S. institutional clients by the end of October, with retail access planned for early November.

That timetable gives U.S. customers a near-term route to the crypto options venue. Institutional access is expected in the fourth quarter, and Coinbase will announce retail availability separately. Eligible U.S. Prime clients can begin onboarding. Strijers said he is targeting those dates; Coinbase has not announced a specific retail date.

The timeline follows Coinbase’s completed integration of Deribit. Deribit began handling perpetuals for Coinbase International Exchange on Oct. 1, and Coinbase declared the integration complete on Oct. 7. The combined operation, Coinbase Global Exchange, links the company’s international derivatives operations with Coinbase Financial Markets, its U.S. futures commission merchant.

In market comments referring to Oct. 20, Strijers put Deribit’s nominal open interest at about $50 billion, near its level in the previous year’s fourth quarter. He said it continued to grow after the Oct. 1 migration despite a decline in Bitcoin (BTC)’s price. He also noted that market conditions affect trading activity.

Strijers described the upgraded matching engine’s median order round-trip latency as about 75 microseconds, 50 to 60 times faster than the previous system. He said spreads had narrowed and liquidity had improved after the upgrade, but cautioned that it was too early to determine the integration’s longer-term effect.

He characterized new capital entering crypto options over the previous year as limited. Coinbase’s focus, he said, is to help customers use assets already held in custody for options and basis strategies.

In his comments on Oct. 20 market conditions, Strijers described derivatives positioning as slightly bullish but without a strong directional consensus. He cited an annualized futures basis of about 5.5% and Bitcoin call strikes at $90,000 and $95,000, with October and December expiries.

The next milestone in Strijers’ timetable is institutional access by the end of October, followed by retail access targeted for early November.