TLDR
- Deribit received a Broker-Dealer Licence from Dubai’s VARA.
- Deribit can route spot orders directly to Coinbase Exchange.
- Coinbase’s new engine can process over 100,000 orders per second.
- Coinbase plans to migrate all perpetual futures to the new engine later this year.
- Coinbase also established an international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi.
Coinbase stock rose more than 5% on Friday as the crypto exchange expanded its regulated business in the United Arab Emirates through Deribit and a new Abu Dhabi tokenization hub. COIN traded near $153.90, up from Thursday’s $149.04 close, as investors assessed several product and regulatory developments announced this week.
Source: KnockOutStocks
Coinbase-owned Deribit received a Broker-Dealer Licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority on August 13. The approval allows Deribit to route spot buy, sell and trade orders directly to Coinbase Exchange, connecting customers to a larger pool of liquidity and hundreds of additional assets.
Deribit Gets Dubai Broker-Dealer Licence
Deribit has offered spot trading under its VARA Exchange Services licence since January 2025. The new approval changes how many of those trades are handled, with Coinbase Exchange becoming a main execution venue while customers continue using Deribit’s existing interface and derivatives platform.
Coinbase said the arrangement should provide deeper liquidity and tighter spreads because orders can reach its centralized exchange order book. Retail, qualified, and institutional investors can access the upgraded spot service, although a small number of assets will continue trading through Deribit’s own order book.
Assets purchased through the expanded spot service could also be used as collateral for derivatives positions on Deribit, subject to further regulatory approval. That connection would allow customers to trade a broader range of spot assets while using qualifying holdings within Deribit’s derivatives business.
Luuk Strijers, Coinbase’s head of international derivatives, said the licence marks the point where the Deribit acquisition starts “delivering directly” for customers. The statement represents Coinbase’s assessment of the integration as the company combines Deribit’s options business with Coinbase liquidity.
Coinbase Rolls Out 100,000-Order-Per-Second Trading Engine
The licence follows Coinbase’s August 12 rollout of a new matching engine on Deribit. The infrastructure can process more than 100,000 orders per second while maintaining sub-millisecond matching latency, according to Coinbase.
Deribit now runs on the same core execution infrastructure used by Coinbase International Exchange. Coinbase plans to move all of its perpetual futures onto the new engine later this year, bringing options and perpetual products onto a more unified trading system.
The engine also adds a short delay for aggressive orders on selected instruments. Coinbase said the mechanism gives liquidity providers extra time to update quotes when markets move quickly, which could support tighter spreads and larger available order sizes.
The feature does not apply across every market. Coinbase described it as a tool for selected products within a broader infrastructure upgrade aimed at institutional derivatives trading.
Coinbase Expands UAE Presence With Abu Dhabi Tokenization Hub
Coinbase also received Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority this week. The licence allows the company to establish an international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi and arrange investment transactions and custody connected to tokenized securities.
Coinbase said securities issued through the framework will be backed by underlying shares, with eligible token holders receiving economic and shareholder rights under the applicable terms. The company plans to build the Abu Dhabi operation alongside its derivatives business in Dubai.
The two UAE developments expand Coinbase’s regulated international operations while Deribit receives deeper integration with Coinbase Exchange.
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