Deribit by Coinbase and SignalPlus announced The Island, their fifth joint trading competition, running from July 6 through August 10, 2026. The $600,000 prize pool targets retail options traders through a tiered reward structure that stacks daily missions, weekly leaderboards, and deposit-triggered draws.
Registration opened June 29. Participation requires trading through SignalPlus on Deribit's platform. Competition standing ranks by eligible options and futures volume, with options weighted at 1.0 and futures at 0.5, meaning options activity drives ranking twice as hard.
How the mechanics work
The competition splits rewards across eleven "arenas." The Core Arena runs solo and team leaderboards. The Mystery Box Deposit mechanic forces a seven-day holding period before traders unlock draw chances tied to guaranteed USDC and premium rewards. The Flash Arena ties short-dated options volume directly to daily reward multipliers and jackpot shots. A Block Arena carves out fee rebates and luxury rewards for high-balance traders and block-trade participants. Expansion Arena applies referral bonuses for both community growth and successful high-value trader invites.
Deribit Senior Director Luuk Strijers framed the effort as a structural shift: "The Island brings together everything we want this competition to be: bigger scale, stronger participation loops, and a structure that rewards how active options traders actually engage."
The Island brings together everything we want this competition to be: bigger scale, stronger participation loops, and a structure that rewards how active options traders actually engage.
SignalPlus CEO Chris Yu echoed the focus on trader behavior: "The Island is designed to make participation more dynamic and more rewarding, whether traders are competing on volume, teaming up with their network, or engaging through short-dated options and daily missions."
Prize structure and early incentives
Early registrants (by July 7) receive three free Deribit options. Team captains who recruit five friends by that date enter a draw for a Cressi Velvet Wetsuit valued at 300 USDC. Among the first ten traders to hit 200M in volume by July 12, one randomly selected winner receives two RIMOWA suitcases valued at 5,000 USDC total.
Beyond these early draws, the source lists a Private Island headline reward (amount unspecified), daily USDC pools, and trading fee coupons. The competition is structured as a retail campaign and is not marketed to Dubai residents.
The weighting toward options volume and the deposit-lock mechanics suggest both platforms view sustained retail options engagement as the primary draw. Holding deposits for seven days before unlocking prize draws effectively raises the switching cost for participants mid-campaign.