Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit completes sale of 10% equity as it eyes Asian expansion

Quick Take

  • Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit completed its 10% sale of equity, led by QCP Capital and Three Arrows Capital
  • The Block reported in January that the exchange was looking for buyers of its equity shares at a 9-figure valuation
  • Deribit is counting on QCP Capital and Three Arrows Capital’s deep Asian ties to help it break into a market that is currently occupied by Asia-based exchanges such as OKEx and FTX.

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit recently completed its 10% sale of equity, The Block has learned from one of the investors involved. 

The 10% worth of shares were drawn from existing shareholders of the exchange on a pro-rata basis. At the same time, Deribit CEO and COO John and Marius Jansen still retain the majority stake, according to Su Zhu, the CEO of crypto fund Three Arrows Capital.

In January, The Block first reported that the soon-to-be Panama-based exchange was looking for buyers of its shares at a 9-figure valuation. Market maker QCP Capital and Three Arrows Capital own the majority of the shares.

"[Three Arrows Capital and QCP] will be important strategic partners for our fast-growing platform moving forward. Both firms are well known and have a proven track record in the crypto derivatives space," Deribit CEO John Jansen wrote in a statement to The Block. 

"As the space takes large steps towards becoming an institutional-grade investment and trading asset class, Deribit will be the cornerstone of that exponential growth," said QCP Capital partner Darius Sit. 

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Deribit is counting on QCP Capital and Three Arrows Capital's deep Asian ties to help the company break into a market that is currently occupied by Asia-based exchanges such as OKEx and FTX. 

The exchange currently dominates the broader bitcoin options market, encompassing 80.6% of open interest. FTX and OKEx trail Deribit with 7.7% and 5.7%, respectively. And while Chinese OTC desks like Matrixport and Babel Finance already trade on Deribit, the platform is looking to draw interest from more retail and institutional traders as well.

"Deribit has grown 100% organically without marketing so far. Traders choose it on the strength of its product,” said Zhu. “From here it's a matter of growing its product offering and letting more traders become aware of the products that are offered."

Source: Deribit


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Celia joined The Block as a reporter after earning her BA in the History of Science from the University of Chicago. Having spent years pondering over why 2+2 cannot equal 5, she is interested in the history and philosophy of mathematics, computation, and cryptography. She also had a very brief stint at Crunchbase News.