Deribit
Leadership History
2 leaders · 2016 to present
Luuk Strijers is the CEO of Deribit, in the role since 2024. The first chief executive was John Jansen, from 2016.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luuk Strijers | CEO | 2024 | Present | 2 |
| John Jansen | Co-founder & CEO | 2016 | 2024 | 8 |
Deribit is where most of the crypto world's options trade. Unlike retail-first exchanges, it targets hedge funds, market makers, miners and active traders who use options to hedge or to trade volatility. It began in the Netherlands, moved to Panama in 2020, shifted its headquarters to Dubai after VARA approval in 2024, and became part of Coinbase in August 2025. Its prices and its DVOL index are widely used as reference points for Bitcoin and Ether implied volatility. The company is headquartered in Panama City, Panama.
Deribit makes money from trading fees. Options are charged 0.03% of the underlying per contract, capped at 12.5% of the option's price, so cheap out-of-the-money options never carry outsized fees; futures and perpetuals use a maker-taker schedule. It also earns delivery fees on expiring contracts and liquidation fees when under-margined positions are closed. Spot trading was introduced largely as a hedging tool and was offered free for a period. Revenue therefore rises with crypto volatility: when prices swing, hedgers and speculators trade more options. Under Coinbase, Deribit's fees feed Coinbase's derivatives and international business, and from 2026 Deribit routes most spot orders to Coinbase Exchange under its new VARA broker-dealer licence.
CEO
2024 – Present
2 years (current)
Luuk Strijers joined Deribit in 2019 as chief commercial officer after a career that included SGX, and became CEO in April 2024. He led the move to Dubai and the sale to Coinbase, and now heads Coinbase's international derivatives business.
Took Deribit from an offshore exchange to a VARA-licensed Coinbase subsidiary.
Co-founder & CEO
2016 – 2024
8 years
John Jansen co-founded Deribit with his brother Marius and ran it as CEO from launch in 2016 until April 2024, building it into the leading crypto options exchange.
Jansen brought classical European derivatives market-making expertise to crypto, establishing the foundational infrastructure for institutional volatility trading.
Deribit's biggest challenge is competition from regulated US products. Options on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) grew quickly after their late-2024 launch, and in April 2026 IBIT options open interest (about $27.6 billion) briefly passed Deribit's (about $26.9 billion), according to CoinLaw data. CME Group also lists Bitcoin and Ether options, while Binance, OKX and Bybit compete for offshore flow. Deribit cannot serve US residents, and it must now merge systems and clients with Coinbase International Exchange without disrupting its market makers.
Luuk Strijers, appointed in April 2024. He joined in 2019 as chief commercial officer and previously worked at SGX.
Co-founder John Jansen led Deribit from its 2016 launch until April 2024.
After the 2025 acquisition he became Coinbase's senior director and head of international derivatives while continuing to lead Deribit.
John Jansen is the co-founder and CEO. Drawing heavily on his traditional finance background on the Amsterdam Options Exchange, he aggressively designed Deribit to appeal strictly to massive institutional traders rather than casual retail buyers.
Compare executive leadership tenures and strategic transitions
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