Coinbase plans to move its institutional clients on the International Exchange to Deribit on September 9. The transfer covers accounts, balances and open positions, and is expected to include a trading pause of roughly 30 minutes.

Deribit is widely recognized as the largest crypto options exchange by volume and open interest. Coinbase completed its acquisition of the platform in August 2025 for approximately $2.9 billion. The migration forms part of Coinbase’s effort to consolidate its international derivatives operations under a single venue and expand institutional access to deeper options liquidity.

Migration Timeline and Client Options

Institutions that prefer not to move must close their positions and International Exchange accounts by August 28. Accounts that remain open after that date will be treated as having accepted the migration and updated terms.

Coinbase expects to provision clients’ Deribit subaccounts in a read-only state on August 31. That window is intended for institutions to verify account mappings, test access, generate new API credentials and request any required withdrawal or position limits.

On the migration day itself, trading is scheduled to halt for about half an hour while the transfer takes place. All open orders on the International Exchange will be canceled. Existing positions will be settled at the venue’s mark price, profit and loss crystallized, accrued funding paid, and the resulting balances moved into the new Deribit subaccounts. Positions will then be recreated on Deribit at the same settlement price through matched migration trades marked as administrative entries rather than client-initiated activity.

Operational and Technical Changes

Existing Coinbase International Exchange API keys will not function on Deribit. Clients must create new credentials and update their system endpoints before trading resumes. The current perpetual trading endpoints will retire on September 9, replaced by a JSON-RPC 2.0 gateway supporting HTTP and WebSocket connections, along with additional order types.

Margin loans will also remain on the old platform. Institutions must close all existing loans before the cutover. Accounts will initially enter Deribit’s Cross Standard Margin system, though clients may later select other margin models according to their arrangements.

International Exchange trading and order records will not appear inside Deribit. Coinbase plans to keep legacy APIs available for historical data for about 12 months and has advised institutions to download records needed for audits, taxes or regulatory reporting before the switch.

No trading or settlement fees will apply to the migration itself. Fee tiers on Deribit will initially be set using clients’ prior International Exchange volumes, with later tiers determined by rolling 30-day Deribit activity.

Legal Structure and Market Context

The legal arrangements after the move will vary by jurisdiction and existing account setup. Clients using only the International Exchange will generally retain Coinbase Bermuda Limited as broker and custodian, with orders routed to Deribit for execution. Institutions already active on both venues, or those using external custodians, may see different counterparties such as Deribit FZE or Deribit Panama. Account managers will provide specific instructions where further action is required.

Product access will continue to depend on client eligibility and location. Coinbase has also noted that the announced dates remain estimates and could change with appropriate notice.

The consolidation advances Coinbase’s broader derivatives strategy. In the second quarter of 2026 the company reported $1.03 trillion in crypto derivatives trading volume and said its market share reached a record, rising for a third consecutive quarter. Unifying international liquidity through Deribit is positioned as a key next step, separate from but complementary to Coinbase’s regulated U.S. derivatives offerings that also rely on Deribit infrastructure.

Before the cutover, International Exchange and Deribit will continue to price and settle markets independently. Any difference between the two venues’ prices during the pause could produce immediate unrealized gains or losses when trading resumes on Deribit; Coinbase has stated that such differences would stem from the temporary price gap rather than a migration charge or realized loss.