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BS Bitstamp VS DB Deribit
These two exchanges don't share an obvious product overlap. Differences below come from our individual reviews of Bitstamp and Deribit.
| Bitstamp | Deribit | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 | 2016 |
| Regions | Available across the US, UK, and EU/EEA (MiCA-licensed since May 2025), plus a range of other regions; unavailable in a small number of jurisdictions with sanctions or licensing restrictions. Perpetual futures are limited to eligible EU and institutional users and not offered to US, Canadian, or Japanese customers. | Not available to US persons directly; as of September 2026, eligible US users can reach Deribit's order books through Coinbase Financial Markets as a regulated intermediary. Broadly available elsewhere, subject to Deribit's own jurisdictional restrictions. |
| Products | Spot, Staking, Perpetual futures (EU/institutional only), OTC / institutional block trading | Options, Perpetual futures, Dated futures, Combo/spread orders |
| Maker fee | 0.30% at the lowest 30-day-volume tier, stepping down to 0.00% at the highest tier (above roughly $1 billion in monthly volume) | Not yet verified |
| Taker fee | 0.40% at the lowest 30-day-volume tier, stepping down to roughly 0.03% at the highest tier | Not yet verified |
Bitstamp pros
- The longest continuously operating major exchange, trading since 2011 without ever losing customer funds to a hack, including through a 2015 breach that cold-storage reserves absorbed
- Deep, long-standing regulatory footprint: a Luxembourg payment institution license since 2016, UK FCA cryptoasset registration, and a MiCA CASP license (May 2025) covering the full EEA
- Now backed by Robinhood's balance sheet and infrastructure following a $200 million acquisition that closed in June 2025, without (so far) folding Bitstamp into Robinhood's own product
- Nasdaq-built matching engine and a dedicated OTC desk, giving it institutional-grade infrastructure most retail-first exchanges don't build themselves
Deribit pros
- The dominant global crypto options venue by a wide margin, holding roughly half of all Bitcoin and Ethereum options volume and an even larger share of Bitcoin options specifically
- Purpose-built options infrastructure (combo orders, a full volatility surface, portfolio margining) that generalist exchanges bolting on an options tab don't match
- Backed by Coinbase's balance sheet and compliance infrastructure since the August 2025 acquisition, addressing a long-standing question about counterparty durability at a derivatives-only exchange
- Keeps roughly 99% of user funds in cold storage with third-party custody (Fireblocks, Cobo) for the operational portion, and covered a 2022 hot-wallet loss entirely from company reserves rather than user funds
This table is generated from the same data behind our individual exchange reviews. See methodology for how it's put together. Fee figures marked "not yet verified" need confirming against live terms before this page is treated as launch-ready.