Traders are set to receive a new way to take positions on the performance of major crypto-related companies after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the listing of binary options linked to selected corporate key performance indicators.
A new market for company performance
The SEC approved a rule change filed by Cboe Global Markets that covers binary options tied to KPIs from 23 U.S.-listed companies. The measures include trading volume at Coinbase Global, customer numbers and revenue at Robinhood Markets, and bitcoin production at MARA Holdings, the bitcoin mining company.
According to CoinDesk, the approval was signed off by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins in a statement dated Oct. 13. Cboe plans to list the contracts during October, although trading cannot begin until Cboe Clear U.S., the relevant clearing house, receives provisional registration. A separate application connected with the launch is also still pending.
Binary options are contracts based on a straightforward yes-or-no outcome. In this case, a trader could take a position on whether Coinbase’s trading volume will exceed a specified level by a particular date, or whether another company will meet a defined performance target. The contracts therefore focus on a company operating metric rather than directly tracking the price of its shares or bitcoin.
The structure gives market participants a way to express a view on crypto-linked corporate activity. Coinbase’s trading volume, for example, can reflect activity on a large crypto exchange, while Robinhood’s customer count and revenue relate to the brokerage’s business performance. MARA’s bitcoin production is a measure linked to the output of a mining company.
How the contracts will work
The options will be cash-settled, meaning they will be settled financially rather than through delivery of an underlying asset. They will also use a European-style exercise structure, so they can be exercised only at expiration rather than at any point before the contract ends.
Settlement will be based on figures reported in the companies’ filings with the SEC. The contracts will not use numbers from companies’ earnings presentations as the settlement reference. That distinction sets the official source for determining whether a performance threshold has been met.
Robinhood is expected to become the first brokerage to make the products available to retail investors. However, the approval of the listing framework does not mean trading starts immediately. Cboe Clear U.S. must first obtain provisional registration, and the separate pending application must also be resolved before the market can open.
Eleanor Terrett, host of Crypto America, said on X that the decision creates a new way to trade the performance of crypto-linked companies without betting directly on bitcoin’s price. She also noted that the SEC’s approval applies to this particular securities-options structure, while contracts organized differently could fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
SEC draws a line around its decision
Atkins said the decision does not affect similar products overseen by the CFTC, including contracts available through prediction-market platform Kalshi. The distinction matters because regulators have overlapping areas of responsibility when financial products are tied to events, market outcomes or company performance.
Atkins said disputes between agencies have slowed innovation for decades. He described the approval as reflecting a new approach focused on cooperation, innovation and investor choice. The source material does not indicate when the separate CFTC-related application will be decided or whether the products on the two platforms will have identical terms.
For investors and traders, the products could add another instrument connected to the crypto sector, but their outcome will depend on a narrowly defined question and the relevant reporting deadline. A position based on Coinbase trading volume, Robinhood revenue or MARA bitcoin production would not be the same as owning the company’s shares or holding bitcoin. It would instead settle according to whether the specified KPI reaches the contract’s target.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 21:34 on Oct. 17, 2026, shows mixed performance among the tracked digital assets:
- Ethereum was trading at $2,383.20, down 1.40% over 24 hours and 4.93% over seven days.
- SOON was at $0.3064, up 0.03% in 24 hours and down 0.23% over seven days.
- Aethir was at $0.005444, down 4.82% over 24 hours and 17.82% over seven days.
- BAS was at $0.01875, down 1.46% over 24 hours and 15.45% over seven days.
The SEC decision arrived as bitcoin had been trading above $80,000 during the week covered by the report. CoinDesk said bitcoin had defended its 50-day simple moving average after briefly falling below it on Thursday, with some analysts remaining positive about the cryptocurrency’s prospects. The newly approved contracts, however, will be tied to company KPIs and official filings rather than directly to bitcoin’s daily price.
