Deribit is moving to Panama as regulatory pressure mounts

As of February 10, Deribit will be based in Panama where it will operate as DRB Panama Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deribit B.V. (the original platform and company).

In a blog post published on its website, Deribit said that the Netherlands’ imminent adoption of the EU’s new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations is the reason for the move.

All of the European Union’s 28 member nation-states must adopt the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) as of January 10. While the deadline has already passed and many countries are yet to enforce the new guidelines, the current environment is seen as increasingly difficult for crypto exchanges.

The AML directive also raises questions about Malta’s continued status as a hub for cryptocurrency-related businesses and exchanges. As it is an EU member, Malta will ultimately have to comply with the directive – and big-name crypto exchanges like Binance and OKEx may be forced to move on again as the game of regulatory cat and mouse continues.

“If Deribit falls under these new regulations, this would mean that we have to demand an extensive amount of information from our current and future customers,” Deribit management stated in its blog post.

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

Deribit’s team and leadership will remain the same, with John Jansen as the CEO. Despite the move to Panama, Deribit says that it will nonetheless expand its KYC requirements in February and it will use Jumio and Chainalysis tools to prevent the illegal use of its platform. Residents and/or citizens of the United States of America will still be prohibited to use Deribit services after the relocation.