# Deribit vs KuCoin (slim)

> Deribit scores 59 (C) to KuCoin's 53.9 (D) for exchange derivatives. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kucoin.md (~4,800 tokens) · this version ~2,680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kucoin.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-kucoin
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-04
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Deribit scores 59 (C) on agent readiness against KuCoin's 53.9 (D), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. KuCoin leads on payments & pricing, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do exchange derivatives.

- Deribit: C 59, rank #646 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deribit.min.md
- KuCoin: D 53.9, rank #824 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kucoin.min.md
- Deribit, 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 60; Agent ergonomics, 74 against 62; Security & auth, 62 against 55.
- KuCoin, good for An agent trading spot, margin and futures in a person's KuCoin account outside the restricted list, with no sandbox and no MCP server, so through the SDK or raw REST. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 35 against 25; Maintenance & community, 73 against 65; Transparency & trust, 54 against 46.

| Category | Deribit | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 45 | 45 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 88 | 60 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 74 | 62 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 62 | 55 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 25 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 65 | 73 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 46 | 54 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Deribit | KuCoin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Deribit FZE | KuCoin |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted exchange. The API is documented under the Deribit docs with an OpenAPI 3.0 file; no official client library is published | none |
| Tools exposed | 0 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-13 | 2026-11-02 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-13 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| 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 | 55 stars |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Deribit +28: 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.); KuCoin 60 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found; the docs link a Postman workspace and the universal SDK is generated from an internal spec (8 of 25). No llms.txt; the skills hub ships Markdown SKILL.md files with endpoint tables for seven product areas, read-only (6 of 10). One docs page per endpoint with a description, permission and weight, but no when-to-use guidance (12 of 20). Typed parameter tables with enums for type and side and required flags (11 of 15). Request and response examples per endpoint and a unified six-digit error code scheme introduced with V2 (10 of 15). Dated changelog with V1 to V2 versioning (13 of 15). 60.)
- Agent ergonomics, Deribit +12: 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.); KuCoin 62 (Read for the API alone, since there is no MCP server. Responses take limit and cursor parameters on list endpoints and the order book depth is a parameter (14 of 25). Pagination and symbol filters on orders, fills and ledgers (15 of 20). Codes and messages per response, with the V2 scheme claimed to be clearer; the rate-limit page's own examples contradict its table, which costs an agent a turn (12 of 20). clientOid on orders makes retries safe; no MCP annotations to read (10 of 20). Three required fields on a spot order, official SDKs in five languages (11 of 15). 62.)
- Payments & pricing, KuCoin +10: 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.); KuCoin 35 (No machine payment protocol (0). The spot base fee is stated in support articles without login, the futures base rate and the full tier table sit in images or behind script (15 of 20). Market data needs no key, no card is asked for at sign-up (20). A person registers, verifies identity and mints the key in a browser (0). 35.)
- Maintenance & community, KuCoin +8: 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.); KuCoin 73 (Read as a closed hosted service. The changelog's newest past entry is 2 November 2026 and the universal SDK was pushed 15 September (30). Nine dated changelog entries since 5 August 2026 (20). A Telegram API group (t.me/KuCoin_API) and api@kucoin.com for limit requests, no public issue tracker for the API; the SDK repository's issues were not checked (10 of 25). Official SDKs current in five languages, no MCP registry presence (13 of 15). No package health signal checked (0 of 10). 73.)
- Transparency & trust, KuCoin +8: 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.); KuCoin 54 (The editorial half. A closed hosted service with terms that are clear on use, liability and law but name no company (12 of 30). The privacy policy gives retention periods by purpose and provider (2 years after closure, 14 months for Firebase, 3 years for Jumio, 5 years for Sumsub) and names 41 services, with no data centre locations (22 of 30). Endpoints are removed and fields deprecated in dated changelog entries with no notice period or policy (8 of 20). Third parties named by service, locations not stated beyond transfers around the globe (10 of 20). 52.)
- Security & auth, Deribit +7: 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.); KuCoin 55 (API key with a user-set passphrase, HMAC-SHA256 signing, nine permission groups, IP allow-lists required for Withdrawal and FlexTransfers, trading keys without an IP disabled after 30 days of inactivity, revocation on the management page; no OAuth and no expiry on General keys (24 of 30). A General-only key is a true read-only mode and withdrawals are a separate permission; no confirmation step for writes beyond the key scope (12 of 20). Tools return the exchange's own data (10). The API key info endpoint shows permissions and IP lists; no per-call audit log was found (5 of 15). No security.txt, no disclosure policy or bounty on a page we could read, a whistleblower notice on the legal page (4 of 20). 55.)