API and Automated Trading Policy
Updated: 9 May 2026
Table of Contents
1. Status of this policy
1.1 This API and Automated Trading Policy forms part of the Trading Rules incorporated into the Terms of Use.
1.2 This policy applies to API usage, session keys, bots, algorithms, quote engines, trading systems, automated tools, semi-automated tools, and related activity.
2. User responsibility
2.1 You are responsible for all activity submitted through your wallet, account, subaccount, API keys, session keys, bots, algorithms, trading systems, quote engines, agents, employees, contractors, delegates, service providers, or other automated or semi-automated tools.
2.2 You must implement and maintain appropriate pre-trade and post-trade controls, testing, monitoring, supervision, rate limits, kill switches, error controls, and risk limits to prevent erroneous, excessive, disruptive, manipulative, malformed, unintended, or disorderly orders, RFQs, quotes, cancellations, messages, or transactions.
2.3 You must promptly disable any API key, session key, bot, algorithm, quote engine, or system that is malfunctioning, producing erroneous activity, creating disorderly trading, or otherwise creating risk to users, the Application, the Derive Protocol, market integrity, or orderly operation.
2.4 API users operating automated trading systems, bots, algorithms, or quote engines must maintain written records of pre-deployment testing, system configurations, control settings, and any material changes to those systems for a minimum of 12 months and must make such records available to us on request where reasonably required for a market integrity, Mistrade, Erroneous Transaction, or compliance review.
2.5 Where you disable or restrict any API key, session key, bot, algorithm, quote engine, or system because it is malfunctioning, producing erroneous activity, creating disorderly trading, or otherwise creating risk, you must notify us as soon as reasonably practicable and, where possible, within 60 minutes of disabling or restricting that system, identifying the affected system, the general nature of the malfunction or issue, and any transactions or activity that may have been affected. Failure to notify promptly may limit the remedies available to you in connection with the relevant issue.
2.6 Where you operate an API-connected quote engine or pricing system in your capacity as a market maker or liquidity provider, you are responsible for ensuring that your system maintains reasonable connectivity to prevailing market conditions, external reference prices, comparable venues, and available oracle data at the time quotes or orders are submitted. A failure of your system to incorporate external market data does not constitute a basis for challenging a Mistrade or Erroneous Transaction determination where the relevant quote or order was materially disconnected from prevailing market conditions.
3. Information requests
We may require users, market makers, liquidity providers, API users, or other participants to provide information about automated trading systems, quote logic, controls, testing, supervision, trading purpose, beneficial ownership, or risk management where we reasonably consider this necessary for market integrity, legal, compliance, security, or operational purposes. Participants must respond to any information request under this section 3 within the period specified by us, which will not be less than five business days in non-urgent circumstances. Failure to respond within the specified period may result in restriction, suspension, or termination of API access, and may limit the remedies available to the participant in connection with any related market integrity, Mistrade, Erroneous Transaction, or compliance review.
4. Message rates and usage controls
4.1 We may monitor order-to-volume ratios, RFQ-to-trade ratios, quote-to-fill ratios, cancellation rates, message rates, API usage, repeated requests, quote response patterns, latency patterns, malformed messages, error rates, and other activity metrics.
4.2 We may throttle, restrict, reject, review, suspend, or apply additional controls to activity that we reasonably consider excessive, inefficient, disruptive, manipulative, inconsistent with fair and orderly trading, or likely to impose undue burden on the Application, the Derive Protocol, market makers, liquidity providers, users, or related infrastructure, including where message rates, order-to-volume ratios, quote-to-fill ratios, or cancellation rates materially exceed normal operational parameters for the relevant market or instrument.
4.3 We may suspend or revoke API keys, session keys, account access, market access, RFQ access, or other functionality where we reasonably consider this necessary or appropriate.
