Change To Option Delivery Process

Deribit, the leading crypto derivatives exchange, has announced a change to its option delivery process. Currently, all options on the platform are cash settled. Under the new process, options that expire in the money (ITM) will first be physically settled into a corresponding futures contract, which will then settle into cash at expiration.

The transition will initially apply to linear (USDC-settled) options, with inverse (coin-settled) options following later. The first linear options affected are those expiring from early April onward.

No change to profit or loss

Deribit stresses that the net financial outcome for traders remains identical under both methods. The settlement currency for all instruments is unchanged, and futures settle on the same 30-minute TWAP of the underlying index. Therefore, the profit or loss from any option position is exactly the same as before.

Potential fee savings

The key advantage for traders is the possibility of lower delivery fees. Under the old system, a delivery fee was charged on every ITM option and on any expiring futures position. Under the new process, an ITM option still pays a delivery fee when it physically settles into a futures contract. However, the futures position generated by that option settlement can offset any existing futures position before the futures delivery fee is calculated.

If the option settlement reduces the size of a trader's futures position, the delivery fee on the future will be smaller. If the settlement flips the futures position direction, no delivery fee is charged on the future at all. When there is no offsetting position, total fees remain the same as before. Traders will never pay more in fees than they would have under the old system.

How the transaction log changes

For out-of-the-money (OTM) options, the only change is that the transaction log entry type will now show "expiry" instead of a delivery entry.

For ITM options, the transaction log will now contain two entries:

• An entry physically settling the option into a futures contract at the option's strike price.
• A delivery entry for the futures contract, settling the resulting profit or loss into the cash balance.

The currency and total amounts settled remain the same.

Examples illustrate the impact

In one example, a trader long a BTC_USDC call option with a $100,000 strike and an expiration price of $125,000 would see the same $25,000 USDC profit under both methods. Without any offsetting futures position, delivery fees are identical.

In a second example, a trader long a BTC_USDC put option with an $80,000 strike and also long 0.5 BTC of the expiring futures contract would see a net $5,000 USDC profit under both systems. However, under the new system, the option settlement offsets the futures position, reducing the total position subject to delivery fees from 1.5 BTC to 1 BTC — a one-third reduction in fees.

Summary

Deribit is migrating from direct cash settlement of options to a two-step process: options are physically settled into futures, which then cash settle. The change has no impact on P&L or settlement currencies but can lower delivery fees when traders hold offsetting futures positions. The rollout begins with linear options expiring in April.