As the digital asset landscape moves from speculative activity towards greater structure and institutional interest, questions around access, liquidity and risk adjusted yield are increasingly shaping client conversations. For Lin Chen, Head of APAC Business Development at Deribit by Coinbase, the development is less about replacing traditional finance and more about offering institutional and high net worth investors additional tools that align with contemporary portfolio objectives. Speaking on the final panel at the Hubbis Investment Forum – Singapore 2025, Chen offered a perspective informed by both crypto market experience and familiarity with wealth management priorities.
From Hype to Hedging: The Changing Face of Bitcoin
Chen opened by challenging legacy perceptions of Bitcoin. “This is no longer just about 100x returns or speculative bets,” she said. “Bitcoin today is one of the most liquid, tradable assets globally, available 24/7, 365 days a year, and fully self-custodied if necessary.”
For clients without any crypto exposure, she recommends starting with a simple allocation. “Just as you would allocate two to five percent to mid-cap tech equities or emerging markets, you can consider the same for Bitcoin. It improves portfolio diversification and historically demonstrated improved risk-adjusted characteristics.”
While Chen acknowledges Bitcoin’s volatility, she argues that it is increasingly understood as a macro-correlated asset within the broader risk spectrum. “It is behaving like a high-beta growth asset, particularly in reaction to interest rate moves and liquidity cycles,” she noted. “That makes it a viable tactical and strategic component in modern portfolios.”
Structured Yield: Bringing Discipline to the Digital Space
Beyond holding digital assets, Chen sees strong demand for income-generating strategies among institutions and HNW clients. Deribit has built much of its value proposition around options trading, particularly covered calls, cash-secured puts, and spread trades.
“One of the most underappreciated aspects of crypto is the depth of the derivatives market,” she explained. “You can run covered call strategies on Bitcoin or Ethereum, with real liquidity and robust execution.”
These trades, she added, are not speculative. “They are conservative yield enhancement tools. You sell upside to lock in returns, or use futures basis spreads to earn from price convergence across platforms.”
With yield compression in traditional markets and increasing scrutiny around Decentralized Finance (DeFi)-based income, these structured strategies are gaining attention. “The beauty is you can apply institutional-grade risk management, margining, collateralisation, and execution rules, just like in equity options or FX forwards.”
From Coinbase to Capital Markets: Institutional-Grade Access
Chen acknowledged that institutional adoption has been slower in Asia than in Europe or the US, but noted that the tide is turning. Deribit’s acquisition by Coinbase has accelerated the onboarding of institutional counterparties, particularly in wealth hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Just a year ago, we had endowment funds and private banks telling us, ‘Our compliance will never approve crypto trading,'” Chen recalled. “Now, those same institutions are asking for onboarding documentation. The dialogue has completely changed.”
She attributed this shift to regulatory clarity, improved custody options, and the professionalisation of trading infrastructure. “You can now trade Bitcoin options with operational standards now comparable to equities, segregated accounts, margin rules, counterparty due diligence, and audit trails.”
Liquidity and Transparency: Why the Options Market Matters
A significant portion of Chen’s comments focused on the maturity of crypto options and why wealth managers should pay closer attention.
“Crypto is not a one-way bet anymore,” she said. “You can express nuanced views, hedge downside, sell volatility, capture arbitrage, just like in equities or FX.”
She pointed to Deribit’s dominance in this space, with over 80% global market share in Bitcoin options, and robust open interest across Ethereum and Solana as well.
“These are not speculative products. They are tools,” she said. “We now have family offices using laddered covered-call strategies to earn yield on long-term holdings, and hedge funds doing delta-neutral arbitrage between perpetual swaps and dated futures.”
The Regulatory Inflection Point
“The key is that we are moving toward frameworks that enable, not block, institutional participation,” she said. “Once you have rules on who can custody, what is permissible, and how capital must be segregated, the institutional walls come down.”
Chen believes that the crypto industry must now meet regulators halfway. “We need better disclosures, cleaner audits, better education. But the good actors are already doing this. Coinbase, for instance, holds over US$300 billion in assets. This is not a niche anymore.”
Digital Asset Treasury: The Rise of Corporate Allocators
Another theme Chen raised was the emergence of “digital asset treasury” companies, firms that allocate a portion of their balance sheets into crypto, not as a gamble, but as part of broader capital strategy.
“MicroStrategy was the headline,” she said, “but now you have a wave of firms holding Bitcoin and Ether on balance sheet, managing them actively, and using options to earn yield or hedge.”
This trend mirrors how family offices and sovereign wealth funds treat gold or private equity, long-duration assets with periodic liquidity events and strategic value.
“For wealth managers, this means you need to understand what these firms are doing,” Chen said. “Because the listed ones can be invested in, and the strategies they use can be replicated.”
Looking Ahead: Market Access, Product Depth, and Education
Chen identified three priorities for Deribit by Coinbase and its institutional partners in the next year:
“We are not here to disrupt for disruption’s sake,” Chen concluded. “We are here to build the next layer of capital markets, faster, fairer, and more flexible.”
From Speculation to Strategy
Chen’s insights reflect a crypto market in transition, from volatility and vision to infrastructure and implementation. For her, the opportunity is no longer just about returns, it is about relevance.
“Wealth clients today want access, optionality, and yield,” she said. “Crypto, done right, can deliver all three. But it requires discipline, regulation, and product innovation.”
As Deribit, now part of Coinbase, leans further into institutional markets, Chen’s role is clear: to demystify, de-risk and democratise access to the next generation of digital finance.
