Deribit, acquired by Coinbase Global earlier this year, has entered a strategic alliance with regulated custodian Komainu to enable institutional clients to trade derivatives while keeping their assets securely within custody. The agreement, announced on October 22, links Deribit’s derivatives exchange with Komainu’s “Connect” platform for collateral management.
Under the new arrangement, clients can retain funds in Komainu’s regulated custody structure and execute trades on Deribit without withdrawing assets to the exchange. This model is designed to reduce counterparty risk and settlement exposure, two major obstacles for institutional crypto adoption. As Deribit CCO Jean-David Péquignot stated, the collaboration “gives [clients] the highest level of security and efficiency.”
The move underscores a broader trend in crypto markets: bridging institutional-grade custody with high-volume trading using derivatives. Komainu, backed by firms such as Nomura, CoinShares and Ledger, provides segregated wallets, third-party reserve audits and multi-asset collateral support. This infrastructure is now being directly tied to Deribit’s liquid derivatives offering, creating a potentially powerful institutional access point in crypto.
For Deribit and Coinbase, the deal signals readiness for deeper institutional flows as macro conditions and regulatory clarity converge. Observers say this type of custody-first model could help attract pension funds, family offices and hedge firms that have long cited custodial risk as a barrier to large-scale crypto exposure.
While the arrangement is still being rolled out, it represents a significant step toward “trade in-custody” derivatives, a model where institutions can trade digital assets while safeguarding capital under controlled custody frameworks.
