Crypto exchange Coinbase has integrated its international derivatives trading system for institutional investors with Deribit.

On Oct. 11, local time, blockchain media outlet The Defiant reported that Coinbase moved International Exchange institutional accounts into a Deribit-based trading environment and consolidated liquidity that had been split between the two platforms into one place.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (브라이언 암스트롱) also officially confirmed the move. According to Coinbase guidance, the transfer date for accounts, positions and balances was Oct. 1. The change allows overseas institutional clients to trade listed options including bitcoin and ether, as well as perpetual futures and dated futures, on a single trading network.

Coinbase Bermuda Ltd will handle the trading structure. The entity acts as broker and custodian for institutional clients, routes orders to Deribit for execution, and also retains its role as the primary trading network with clients. Restrictions on direct use of Deribit’s platform still include the United States, so product launches for U.S. clients will proceed through a separate process.

A different schedule applies to U.S. Coinbase Prime clients. A notice Coinbase updated on Oct. 2 said options onboarding through Coinbase Financial Markets, a U.S. futures broker, has opened, and that live trading is expected to start in the fourth quarter. Coinbase Institutional introduced the service on Oct. 7 as international derivatives, including the United States, and a single collateral pool.

After the integration, the default initial margin method for overseas institutional accounts is set to cross standard margin. This structure pools multiple collateral assets within a single account. Margin for each position is calculated separately and then aggregated, and haircuts and collateral fees apply if the collateral asset and settlement currency differ.

Institutional clients can also choose portfolio margin or an asset-segregated mode as needed. Portfolio margin reflects the combined risk of the overall positions, while the segregated mode keeps assets separate. The amount of collateral required for a trading portfolio varies depending on the selected mode.

The integration followed Coinbase’s announcement on Sept. 28 of U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approval for Coinbase Clearing. Coinbase said the new subsidiary can directly clear fully collateralised contracts using USDC collateral and 24-hour settlement. It said it will continue to use external partners for margin-based derivatives.

U.S. documentation for perpetual futures-type products continues to list Nodal Clear as the clearing house. Clients access the contracts through an approved futures broker, and Nodal Clear handles variation margin and funding payments tied to trading gains and losses.

U.S. regulators have also set out a conditional exemption for structures linked to overseas markets. In a staff-level conditional no-action letter in May, the CFTC allowed a mechanism for clients to post as margin to an overseas broker affiliate the cryptocurrencies they hold and a stablecoin used for settlement. The scope covers futures and options trading on Deribit FZE and addresses a structure under which the overseas broker has the right to reuse those assets.

As a result, Coinbase will first offer overseas institutional clients Deribit’s options product suite and an integrated collateral system, while continuing a separate launch schedule for U.S. clients through Coinbase Financial Markets. It also confirmed that the structure does not yet provide the same products in the same way immediately in the United States and overseas markets.