# Deribit vs Kraken API

> Kraken scores 71 (BB) to Deribit's 59 (C) for exchange derivatives. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kraken.md (~5,000 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: 2026-11-03

Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against Deribit's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Deribit leads on schema & documentation. Both do exchange derivatives.

- Deribit: grade C, 59/100, rank #650 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deribit.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deribit.json
- Kraken API: grade BB, 71/100, rank #159 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kraken.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kraken.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

### 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 80

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

### Kraken API (BB)

Good for: An agent that trades spot, xStocks, forex or futures on a person's Kraken account from a local machine, with paper trading to test first and an approval gate on live orders.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 74
- Security & auth, 80 against 62
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 25
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 65 against 46

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: No self-service spot sandbox; the spot UAT environment is on request through an account manager, and paper trading lives in the CLI


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Kraken API +22

- 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.
- Kraken API (67): Read with the hosted lines on the spot API. status.kraken.com is a Statuspage site with REST, WebSocket and FIX components (20). The incidents feed read covers 4 September to 3 November 2026. On 30 October spot and derivatives clients could not connect or submit orders across web, mobile, REST, WebSocket and FIX for 59 minutes 39 seconds, rated minor by Kraken; on 28 October some FIX clients were rejected on reconnection for 1 hour 59 minutes while other interfaces worked; the futures engine was degraded for 3 minutes on 13 October. A whole-exchange order outage 21 seconds short of an hour is read as one major (10 of 30). Numeric limits per key by tier and per pair for the matching engine (15). EAPI:Rate limit exceeded and EService:Throttled with a retry timestamp, a client order id and a validate flag on orders, but no Retry-After header (12 of 15). No SLA (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 0 + 10 = 67.

### Transparency & trust: Kraken API +19

- Deribit (46): The editorial half. A closed service whose terms (Deribit FZE membership terms and DRB Panama Inc. terms) sit on a support site that answered 403, with the entity confirmed on VARA's register (12 of 30). The privacy policy was not read, and nothing in the docs states retention (0 of 30). The changelog marks deprecations and the upcoming docs branch previews the next release, but removals such as `public/get_index` on 25 November 2025 carry no notice period (10 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement found (0 of 20). Total 22.
- Kraken API (65): The editorial half. A closed service with clear terms naming regional Payward entities under California law; the CLI is MIT (15 of 30). The privacy notice was not read (5 of 30). The changelog dates deprecations and the terms carry a last-updated date (16 of 20). No subprocessor or data-location statement read (0 of 20). 15 + 5 + 16 + 0 = 36.

### Security & auth: Kraken API +18

- Deribit (62): Keys carry five scopes at read, read_write or none, `ip:ADDR` and `expires` limits, can be disabled, reset and removed by API, and self-generated Ed25519 or RSA keys keep the private half off Deribit. The HTTP `client_credentials` example passes `client_secret` in the query string, a documented option, so 10 off (20 of 30). `trade:read` and `wallet:none` give read-only and no-withdrawal keys and the 5 August 2025 release stopped `account:read` keys reading other keys' secrets; no per-order confirmation and the address allow-list article was unreadable (16 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content (10). `private/list_api_keys`, the transaction log and order history let an operator see what a key did, but no per-key call log was found (8 of 15). A HackerOne bug bounty per the support article title and HackerOne's customer story, neither page read first-hand (insights.deribit.com/bug-bounty answered 403), a VARA licence, and no security.txt on www.deribit.com (8 of 20). Total 62.
- Kraken API (80): Keys with nine named permissions, optional expiry, IP restriction and nonce window, plus an OAuth sign-in from the CLI (authorisation code with PKCE, public client) that mints a no-withdrawal key expiring within 90 days or a read-only key (30). Read-only and no-withdrawal keys, position limits and pair allowlists in account settings, and MCP approval prompts for 33 dangerous tools (18 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content; the CLI docs warn that the feedback tool uploads a local file without approval (10). Keys and their permissions are listed in settings and ledgers record activity, but no per-call log for the operator was found (6 of 15). A valid security.txt, a bug bounty policy page, SECURITY.md and a secure SDLC workflow in the CLI; certifications not read (16 of 20). 30 + 18 + 10 + 6 + 16 = 80.

### Maintenance & community: Kraken API +16

- 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.
- Kraken API (81): Read as a closed service with an open-source client. Changelog entry of 27 October 2026 and kraken-cli v0.5.1 on 29 October (30). Fourteen changelog entries since 19 August 2026 and CLI tags on 6 and 7 August and 28 and 29 October (20). A public changelog, api@kraken.com, a status page and a CLI repository merging pull requests at the end of October; issue replies not read (11 of 15). An official Rust SDK pushed in October 2026 and a Go module from January; the MCP server is not in the official registry (12 of 15). The CLI has release and secure SDLC workflows, deny.toml and a pinned toolchain; the SDK's CI not read (8 of 10). 30 + 20 + 11 + 12 + 8 = 81.

### Payments & pricing: Kraken API +15

- 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.
- Kraken API (40): No machine payment protocol (0). Maker and taker fees by tier published without login (20). Public market data, paper trading and the futures demo need no account or card (20). A person signs up, verifies and mints a key or approves the OAuth sign-in (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.

### Schema & documentation: Deribit +8

- 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.
- Kraken API (80): No OpenAPI file was found for the REST API in the docs read; the CLI's agents/tool-catalog.json gives JSON Schema inputs for all 188 commands and the 152 MCP tools (15 of 25). The docs serve Markdown twins such as quickstart.md and the CLI ships llms.txt, AGENTS.md and CONTEXT.md (10). Endpoint pages and guides on order lifecycle, errors and rate limits say what each call does, with less on when not to use one (15 of 20). Enums for order types, time in force and flags, and enums and required fields in the tool catalogue (12 of 15). Python, Node.js and cURL examples, an errors guide and the CLI's error-catalog.json with retry guidance (13 of 15). A changelog of 120 dated entries with deprecations dated (15). 15 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 13 + 15 = 80.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Deribit | Kraken API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 67 | Kraken API +22 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 80 | Deribit +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 79 | Kraken API +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 80 | Kraken API +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 40 | Kraken API +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 81 | Kraken API +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 46 | 65 | Kraken API +19 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59 · C** | **71 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Deribit | Kraken API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Deribit FZE | Payward, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  | stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted exchange. The API is documented under the Deribit docs with an OpenAPI 3.0 file; no official client library is published | Proprietary hosted service under Kraken's Global Terms of Service (30 October 2026). kraken-cli, which carries the kraken-mcp server, is MIT |
| Tools exposed | 0 | 152 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-13 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-13 | 2026-10-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-21 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 795 stars |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Kraken API.** Kraken pairs a documented REST, WebSocket and FIX API with the open-source kraken-cli, whose kraken-mcp server gates 33 dangerous tools behind approval and signs in by OAuth with a no-withdrawal key. Spot has no self-service sandbox, no OpenAPI file was found, and a 59-minute connectivity outage hit every interface on 30 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Kraken API

1. Start kraken-mcp with -s market,paper,feedback or the default services; add trade only with a least-privilege key, and never pass --allow-dangerous on an agent that reads untrusted input
2. Ask the person to run kraken auth login in their own terminal; it needs a browser and saves a no-withdrawal key that expires in 90 days at most
3. Send a fresh --cl-ord-id on each order and run it with --validate first; after a network error look the order up before sending it again
4. Keep the nonce strictly increasing per key and stay under the tier's counter, since EAPI:Rate limit exceeded has no Retry-After header
5. Test strategies in a paper workspace, which fills at live prices with no account, before a live workspace

## Questions

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

Kraken API scores 71 (BB) on agent readiness against Deribit's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Deribit leads on schema & documentation.

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

Deribit needs an API key. Kraken API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Deribit. Kraken API runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Deribit or Kraken API

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