Deribit Shuts Out Russian Traders, Blames EU Sanctions

• Russian citizens are no longer allowed to use Deribit unless they are living permanently or are nationals in another EEA country.
• Russia represented 15% of Deribits web traffic in 2024.
• Deribit’s Russian accounts will enter a close position/withdrawal-only mode from Feb. 17, and all open positions will be closed on March 29, 2025.

Crypto exchange Deribit has officially announced its departure from Russia as a result of European Union (EU) sanctions against the embattled nation.

Deribit Shutters

Deribit is a Dutch-owned platform and, therefore, must comply with EU sanctions. The exchange will no longer accept Russian nationals or residents as clients “unless an exception applies.”

As per the announcement , this exception may be made if a Russian national is also a national of, or residing permanently in, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. There are no exceptions made for Russian companies.

An email from Deribit to clients explains that Russian accounts will be placed on “reduce-only mode” from Feb. 17, 2025. This means traders are only able to close positions or place new orders that are recognized as “risk-reducing.”

On March 29, 2025, all open positions will be closed, though there will be no restrictions on asset withdrawals.

EU Sanctions?

It’s worth pointing out that the exchange, originally founded in the Netherlands back in 2016, is now headquartered in Panama.

The reason? Because of a 2020 EU directive requiring crypto platforms to identify customers through new rigorous anti-money-laundering (AML) rules. In a statement at the time, Deribit wrote:

“We believe that crypto markets should be freely available to most, and the new regulations put too high barriers for the majority of traders, both—regulatory and cost-wise.”

Deribit saw this as unacceptable and instead sought favorable regulatory shores. Interestingly, Deribit customers are registered in either Panama or Dubai and are subject to their respective laws.

However, as mentioned, the exchange is owned by a Netherlands-based investment firm, Sentilla B.V. The exchange notes that since its parent company is Dutch, “these EU sanctions are relevant to us.”