Deribit saw trading volumes balloon above $1.1 trillion in 2024

Deribit, one of the world’s largest crypto derivatives exchanges, saw trading volumes balloon from $608 billion to over $1.1 trillion in 2024, according to a year-end report. This represents year-over-year growth of over 95%.

“Deribit saw an increase in activity throughout the year, particularly in Q4 as institutional investors demonstrated heightened optimism around the U.S. presidential election, as well as the $100k Bitcoin bull run that followed,” Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers said in a statement.

The company’s highest volume day happened shortly after the U.S. election, where the pro-crypto President Donald Trump was nominated. On Nov. 12, Deribit saw a record high 24-hour rolling volume of $14.8 billion. Likewise, the platform’s open interest — the number of futures or options contracts that are still open at the end of a trading day — hit an all-time high of around $48 billion on Nov. 28 amid rising bitcoin prices. 

In addition to its 95% jump in total company volumes last year, Deribit saw 99% growth in its notional options trading volume. In the fourth quarter alone, it saw total options volume of $243 billion. 

That said, its fastest-growing segment was spot trading, an area that it is less known for. Spot trading, launched in 2023, reported a whopping 810% increase on the platform. Total spot turnover jumped to $7.6 billion in 2024 from $837 million the year prior.

Deribit was not the only exchange to see growing volumes during a year that saw many market catalysts including the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, the rise of memecoins and crypto becoming an election issue. December 2024 was the best month for most exchanges by volumes since November 2021, ahead of the multi-year bear market, according to The Block Research’s data .

Notably, Deribit’s breakout year occurred as the company looked to come into regulatory compliance. In addition to gaining a Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in Dubai, the firm is looking to acquire derivatives licenses in France and Brazil. 

The firm also implemented FATF’s “Travel Rule,” a series of measures aimed at halting money laundering primarily through introducing KYC and compliance checks. It also introduced new custody features, including a hybrid custody model with Fidelity, Zodia and Copper to facilitate third-party custodian onboarding, and an “off exchange” custody feature using Fireblocks.