Deribit will remove its public Proof of Reserves page on Sept. 1, ending a daily verification tool that allowed customers to check whether their balances were included and compare aggregate liabilities with the exchange’s published wallet holdings.
Regulator-required reserve, reconciliation and audit controls will remain in place, but they will not offer the same level of daily public visibility.
Deribit links change to Coinbase integration
Deribit said the change reflects an overhaul of its wallet infrastructure during its integration with Coinbase. Approximately 90% of client assets have moved into Coinbase custody arrangements since Coinbase acquired the derivatives platform in August 2025.
Deribit’s disclosures identify Coinbase at the brand level but do not specify which Coinbase legal entity holds the migrated assets.
How Deribit’s Proof of Reserves system worked
Deribit’s existing system uses a privacy-preserving binary Merkle tree and a daily snapshot. Each client can use a unique proof identifier to locate hashed entries representing their balances. The public can also total the file’s liabilities and compare that figure with wallet balances published by Deribit.
However, the public snapshot was already narrower than Deribit’s full custody footprint. Its methodology says assets held with third-party custodians are excluded because they are outside Deribit’s direct control, citing Copper ClearLoop as an example.
VARA reserve and audit requirements remain
Removing the page does not cancel the obligations that apply to Deribit FZE. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority requires covered virtual asset service providers to maintain reserves equal to 100% of client liabilities, hold reserves one-to-one in the same asset, reconcile them daily and obtain an independent third-party reserve audit at least every six months.
Deribit’s notice refers to both annual and twice-yearly Proof of Reserves audits. VARA rules set the minimum reserve-audit frequency at once every six months. A separate VARA provision requires an annual financial-statement audit and says the annual report must be made available to clients and the regulator on request.
Other evidence is submitted to the regulator rather than made public. Covered firms must provide wallet addresses monthly and submit quarterly statements demonstrating compliance with financial requirements, including reserve assets, to VARA.
VARA’s register lists Deribit FZE as an active exchange and broker-dealer VASP. Its membership terms allow assets to be held directly or through third-party custodians while requiring segregation from company assets and preserving clients’ legal title. A separate service-provider list names Coinbase for custody and self-custody technology without specifying the Coinbase entity.
The removal of Deribit’s Proof of Reserves page is not evidence of a reserve shortfall. It does reduce what customers can independently test each day, leaving them with controls and reports that are less public, less frequent or available only on request.
