# Bitfinex API vs Deribit

> Deribit and Bitfinex score within a point of each other for exchange market data, 59 and 58.4 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-deribit
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-deribit.md (~4,700 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-04

Deribit and Bitfinex API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 59 (C) and 58.4 (C). Bitfinex API leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do exchange market data.

- Bitfinex API: grade C, 58.4/100, rank #675 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bitfinex.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitfinex.json
- Deribit: grade C, 59/100, rank #646 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deribit.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deribit.json
- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md
- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Bitfinex API (C)

Good for: An agent trading spot, margin or derivatives, or lending on the funding market, with scoped keys, official clients and paper trading.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 45
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 25

Watch for: No official MCP server, OpenAPI file or AsyncAPI file; the registry's Bitfinex servers are third parties proxying public market data

### Deribit (C)

Good for: An agent trading crypto options, dated futures and perpetuals for an institutional or retail Deribit account, and anyone migrated from Coinbase International Exchange.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 48
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 61
- Maintenance & community, 65 against 41

Watch for: No official MCP server, and the GitHub organisation has no public repositories, so no official SDK in any language


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Bitfinex API +40

- Bitfinex API (85): Read with the hosted lines on the v2 API at api.bitfinex.com. bitfinex.statuspage.io is a Statuspage site with history back to May 2021 (20). Its feed has no entry between 25 March 2026 and 3 November 2026, so the last 90 days are clean on the record; the feed logs platform-wide outages only (a 14-hour maintenance in March 2026, a 3-hour outage in August 2025), so smaller incidents may go unrecorded. Judgement call (30). Rate limits with numbers, 10 to 90 a minute per IP and the WebSocket connection limits (15). `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` and the 60-second block are documented, with no Retry-After; orders take a `cid` but no idempotency key or retry guidance was found (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 30 + 15 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 85.
- Deribit (45): Read with the hosted lines on the JSON-RPC API. status.deribit.com did not resolve for our reader on 3 November 2026 and Coinbase's status page showed no Deribit component, so no status page is scored, with the unchecked line below (0). No readable history (5). Rate limits are documented with numbers, 50,000 credits per sub-account refilled at 10,000 a second, and matching-engine tiers of 5 to 30 requests a second by 7-day volume (15). Error 10028 ends the session and the errors page says to back off exponentially; 10040 means retry; the 6 May 2026 release added a `nonce` for idempotent orders (15). No SLA found (0). The API is generally available; only Starbase is limited to selected clients (10). 0 + 5 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 45.

### Schema & documentation: Deribit +40

- Bitfinex API (48): No OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file was found on docs.bitfinex.com, in llms.txt or in the client repositories (0). llms.txt and a .md twin of every docs page (10). Each reference page states the endpoint's purpose and fields, and the introduction says when to use api-pub against api, but nothing says when not to use an endpoint (14 of 20). Responses are positional arrays described in field tables, inputs are typed in prose with some enumerations (wallet names, order types) and required fields marked; the withdrawal CODE field is work in progress (7 of 15). Signed-request recipes in five languages, but authenticated errors are documented as 400 with an empty object and there is no error reference (9 of 15). Version v2 in the path and a dated changelog, whose last entry is October 2024 and whose v1 deprecation has no date (8 of 15). 0 + 10 + 14 + 7 + 9 + 8 = 48.
- Deribit (88): OpenAPI 3.0.0 for the whole JSON-RPC surface (Deribit API 2.1.1, about 1.4 million characters) plus AsyncAPI files for the WebSocket side (25). llms.txt with production and upcoming indexes, and a Markdown twin of every page (10). Each operation has a description such as "Places a buy order for an instrument." with parameter notes, and the articles say when to use WebSocket subscriptions over polling, but the reference seldom says when not to use a method (13 of 20). Parameters are typed with enums (order `type` has eight values, `time_in_force` four) and required flags, with `amount` or `contracts` as a documented either-or (13 of 15). Every reference page carries an example request and response, and the errors page lists about 159 codes with retry guidance, though most operations document only a 200 response and the smaller error tables disagree with the full one on two codes (12 of 15). A versioned path (/api/v2), a production and an upcoming docs branch, and a dated changelog of 64 entries since 21 January 2020 (15). Total 88.

### Maintenance & community: Deribit +24

- Bitfinex API (41): Read as a closed service with open clients. The last dated change we could read is bitfinex-api-node 9.1.0 on 18 July 2026, 108 days before the check; the docs changelog stops in October 2024 (10). Not three dated releases in the last 90 days (0). The bitfinexcom organisation pushes often (bfx-report on 3 November 2026) and the clients have issue trackers, but support articles answered 403 and no reply times were read (10 of 25). Official clients current in four languages, Node 9.1.0 of July 2026 and Python 4.0.0 of October 2025; not in the MCP registry (15). The Node client has a dependency history of security fixes (its last GitHub release notes name two) and no CI was read (6 of 10). 10 + 0 + 10 + 15 + 6 = 41.
- Deribit (65): Read as a closed service. The JSON-RPC changelog's latest production entry is 13 October 2026 and an entry dated 5 November 2026 describes the next release; Deribit's posts of 14 October and 2 November 2026 change fees (30). Entries of 18 August, 15 September and 13 October 2026, three in 90 days (20). A public changelog and a support site; whether support answers wasn't tested and the support site refused our reader (10 of 15). No official SDK and no MCP registry entry (0). The OpenAPI and AsyncAPI files are maintained with the docs (5 of 10). Total 65.

### Payments & pricing: Bitfinex API +15

- Bitfinex API (40): No machine payment protocol (0). The fees page is public without login (20), though it shows zero maker and taker with no tiers or date. The API is free, public endpoints need no account, and paper trading needs no money (20). A person must sign up in a browser with identity checks and mint the key (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.
- Deribit (25): No machine payment protocol (0). The fee schedule is on support.deribit.com, which answered 403; Deribit's own posts give VIP4 to VIP7 taker fees and the 0 bps linear options maker fee, so partial prices are public but the lowest tier is unchecked (5 of 20). Public market data needs no key and the test environment is free, with no card anywhere (20). A person signs up in a browser with identity checks before any key exists (0). Total 25.

### Agent ergonomics: Deribit +13

- Bitfinex API (61): Graded on the REST API. Limits on trades, candles and book depth, and `pub:list` config endpoints keep responses small, but positional arrays make every field a lookup (14 of 25). `start`, `end`, `limit` and `sort` on history endpoints and per-symbol variants (16 of 20). `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` is actionable; authenticated 400s return `{}` and withdrawal status strings may change, so an agent cannot branch on causes (8 of 20). A client id on orders, order multi-op and cancel-multiple, but no idempotency key and no retry contract (8 of 20). Few required parameters and official clients in Node, Python, Go and Ruby (15). 14 + 16 + 8 + 8 + 15 = 61.
- Deribit (74): An API, read for response sizing. `public/get_order_book` takes `depth`, `get_instruments` filters by currency and kind, and history methods take `count` and `offset`, though `get_instruments` returns every instrument for a currency and costs 10,000 credits (18 of 25). Count and offset pagination, time ranges on trade and transaction logs, and WebSocket channels with interval and depth options (16 of 20). Numeric error codes with short names, a `wait` value on some errors, and sample code that branches on them (18 of 20). A `nonce` on orders since May 2026 returns the existing order on retry, a `label` lets an agent find its own orders, and 10040 marks the calls safe to retry; no MCP annotations apply (16 of 20). Few required parameters and sensible defaults (limit and good_til_cancelled), but no official SDK in any language, so every caller signs and frames JSON-RPC itself (6 of 15). Total 74.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Bitfinex API | Deribit | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 45 | Bitfinex API +40 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 48 | 88 | Deribit +40 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 74 | Deribit +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 62 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 25 | Bitfinex API +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 41 | 65 | Deribit +24 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 46 | Bitfinex API +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.4 · C** | **59 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Bitfinex API | Deribit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | iFinex Inc. | Deribit FZE |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under Bitfinex's API Terms of Service, which our reader couldn't load. The official client libraries (Node, Python, Go, Ruby) are MIT or Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted exchange. The API is documented under the Deribit docs with an OpenAPI 3.0 file; no official client library is published |
| Tools exposed | none | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-18 | 2026-10-13 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-08-13 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 480 stars | none |

## Verdicts

**Bitfinex API.** Bitfinex gives an agent scoped keys with a separate withdraw permission, paper-trading sub-accounts on the production API, llms.txt and official clients in four languages. There is no official MCP server, responses are positional arrays with empty error bodies, rate limits run 10 to 90 a minute per IP, and the terms, API terms and privacy statement could not be read.

**Deribit.** Deribit's JSON-RPC API has scoped keys with IP and expiry limits, asymmetric signing, an OpenAPI file, numeric rate limits and a 64-entry changelog. There is no official MCP server or client library, the fee schedule, terms and privacy policy sit on a support site that refused our reader, and the status page did not resolve.

## Before you call either

### Bitfinex API

1. Mint a key with read on the scopes the task needs and write only on `orders`; never grant `withdraw` to a trading key, and bind the key to known IPs
2. Use one key per client process, since each key keeps its own strictly increasing nonce and a reused nonce is rejected
3. Rehearse on a paper-trading sub-account with the TEST symbols before touching real balances; the sub-account cannot be converted later
4. Plan requests against the per-endpoint limit of 10 to 90 a minute per IP; `ERR_RATE_LIMIT` blocks the IP for 60 seconds with no Retry-After
5. Map each response by position from the docs' field tables and set a `cid` on orders, because responses are arrays and a 400 carries no reason

### Deribit

1. Create the key with `trade:read_write` and `wallet:none`, an `ip:` limit and an `expires` value; keep `account:read` unless the task edits subaccounts
2. Authenticate with `client_signature` or an Ed25519 key over WebSocket rather than `client_credentials` over HTTP, which puts the secret in the URL
3. Watch the `limits` field of `private/get_account_summary` and back off on error 10028; a session that runs out of credits is closed and must reconnect
4. Send a `nonce` with orders so a retry after a timeout does not place a second order, and treat `order_not_found` on cancel as a possible fill
5. Develop against https://test.deribit.com/api/v2 first; production and test need separate accounts and keys

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Bitfinex API or Deribit?

Deribit and Bitfinex API score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 59 (C) and 58.4 (C). Bitfinex API leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Do Bitfinex API and Deribit need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Bitfinex API and Deribit without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Bitfinex API. No hosted endpoint is listed for Deribit.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-deribit.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-deribit.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "bitfinex", "b": "deribit"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare bitfinex deribit`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bitfinex.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deribit.json

## Other comparisons with Bitfinex API or Deribit

- [Bitfinex API vs Bitget](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bitget.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bithumb Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bithumb.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bitstamp API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bitstamp.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Bybit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-bybit.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Coinbase Advanced Trade API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-coinbase-mcp.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Crypto.com Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-crypto-com-exchange.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-dydx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-htx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kraken.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-mexc.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-okx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-upbit.md)
- [Bitget vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitget-vs-deribit.md)
- [Bithumb Open API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bithumb-vs-deribit.md)
- [Bitstamp API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-deribit.md)
- [Bybit vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bybit-vs-deribit.md)
- [Crypto.com Exchange API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-com-exchange-vs-deribit.md)
- [Deribit vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-upbit.md)
- [Binance API vs Bitfinex API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-bitfinex.md)
- [Binance API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-deribit.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-deribit.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Deribit](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-deribit.md)
- [Deribit vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Deribit vs dYdX](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-dydx.md)
- [Deribit vs Gate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-gate-io.md)
- [Deribit vs Gemini Exchange API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-gemini-exchange.md)
- [Deribit vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-htx.md)
- [Deribit vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Deribit vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken.md)
- [Deribit vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Deribit vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-mexc.md)
- [Deribit vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-okx.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp