Rate limits
Tier-Based System
Rate limits are tied to the liquidity of an instrument. Instruments with tighter bid-ask spreads require more frequent order updates than those with wider spreads. Deribit maintains 3 tiers of assets based on their liquidity on Deribit and other exchanges. Options, dated futures, and perpetuals are tiered separately as spreads differ significantly between these product types.Rate Limit Allocation
Rate limits are allocated per Member per gateway pair and are shared between all API keys and connections within that Member. Orders and quotes have separate rate limits, allowing you to manage order and quote activity independently. Option market makers will be heavily encouraged to use mass quotes by allocating higher rate limits on quotes than on orders. This is done to reduce the total message load on Starbase. Small order rate limits will be still be allocated for taking strategies.Review Schedule
Every three months, the rate limit schedule is reviewed to accommodate changes in tiers and number of strikes. Additionally, the contribution of trading members is reviewed to ensure their performance aligns with allocated rate limits. Rate limits are not adjusted automatically and only change with prior notice.Understanding the Rate Limit Table
The example rate limit schedule below shows limits as single updates per second. For mass quotes, rate limits are set at 1/10th the value shown in the table as mass quotes are equivalent to many orders. Rate limits are at Deribit’s discretion and will be allocated up to the values shown below based on current or expected contribution to liquidity. For example, a top-tier market maker quoting inverse BTC and ETH options, option combos and future spreads, would be allocated approximately:- Options: 1600 * 3 / 10 = 480 Mass Quotes per second
- BTC_USD has ~800 strikes
- ETH_USD has ~800 strikes
- Option combos: 30 * 8 / 10 = 24 Mass Quotes per second
- BTC_USD has 20 active combos
- ETH_USD has 10 active combos
- Future spreads: 56 * 8 / 10 = 45 Mass Quotes per second
- BTC_USD has 28 active spreads
- ETH_USD has 28 active spreads
- In total, the market maker would be allocated 549 Mass Quotes per second.
- During the quartely review, their contribution to liquidity would be reviewed to see if the high rate limits are still warranted.
| Product | Order limit/instrument | Quote limit/instrument | Examples | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 Perpetuals | 200/s | 0/s | BTC-PERPETUAL | 200 orders/s |
| Tier 2 Perpetuals | 100/s | 0/s | SOL_USDC-PERPETUAL | 100 orders/s |
| Tier 3 Perpetuals | 50/s | 0/s | ALGO_USDC-PERPETUAL | 50 orders/s |
| Tier 1 Futures | 100/s per expiry | 0/s per expiry | BTC dated futures | 800 orders/s |
| Tier 2 Futures | 50/s per expiry | 0/s per expiry | No such instrument | - |
| Tier 3 Futures | 25/s per expiry | 0/s per expiry | DVOL futures | 25 orders/s |
| Tier 1 Future Spreads | 8/s per spread | OR 10/s per spread | BTC Futures Spreads | 480/s |
| Tier 2 Future Spreads | 4/s per spread | OR 5/s per spread | No such instrument | - |
| Tier 3 Future Spreads | 2/s per spread | OR 2/s per spread | No such instrument | - |
| Tier 1 Options | ~0.1/s per strike | ~3/s per strike | BTC options | 250 MQ/s |
| Tier 2 Options | ~0.05/s per strike | ~2/s per strike | SOL options | 100 MQ/s |
| Tier 3 Options | ~0.02/s per strike | ~1/s per strike | No such instrument | - |
| Tier 1 Option Combos | 8/s per combo | 8/s per combo | BTC option combos | 20 MQ/s |
| Tier 2 Option Combos | 4/s per combo | 4/s per combo | SOL option combos | 50 MQ/s |
| Tier 3 Option Combos | 2/s per combo | 2/s per combo | No such instrument | - |