Featured image: A wooden desk with two computer monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse. AI-generated image; not a photograph of the reported event.
Traders will soon be able to bet on whether Coinbase, Robinhood, or Marathon hits its performance targets.
What Happened
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a rule change by Cboe Global Markets.
This allows binary options based on key performance indicators (KPIs) of 23 U.S. public companies.
Metrics include trading volume at Coinbase Global (COIN), customer count and revenue at Robinhood Markets (HOOD), and bitcoin production at Marathon Holdings (MARA).
The contracts settle on data from SEC filings—not earnings reports.
Trading can’t start until Cboe Clear U.S. gets provisional registration. A separate application is still pending.
How the Contracts Work
A binary option answers a simple yes-or-no question.
For example: Will Coinbase’s trading volume exceed a set number by a specific date?
Outcomes come from official SEC filings. These are public, regularly updated, and legally reviewed.
The contracts are cash-settled and European-style. They expire at the end of the term. No early exercise is allowed.
This reduces manipulation risk and ensures consistent, standardized results.
Cboe plans to list the contracts this month. But trading won’t begin until Cboe Clear U.S. receives provisional registration.
Who Is Involved?
Robinhood is expected to be the first to offer these options to retail investors.
Eleanor Terrett, host of Crypto America, said on X: ‘This creates a new way to trade crypto-linked company performance beyond betting directly on BTC’s price. The SEC approved this specific securities-options structure, while leaving room for differently structured contracts to fall under CFTC jurisdiction.’
Why This Matters
Before this, there was no regulated way to bet on crypto-related firms’ performance.
Now, traders can assess real-world metrics—like volume or customer growth—without buying shares.
These metrics reflect actual operations, not just financial statements.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the approval doesn’t cover CFTC-regulated contracts, like those on Kalshi.
He called past agency conflicts a barrier to innovation. This approval shows a new effort toward cooperation and investor choice.
Limitations and Open Questions
This approval doesn’t cover all prediction markets.
Platforms like Kalshi remain under CFTC oversight. Traders still need those for broader bets.
Metrics may not show long-term health. Trading volume can spike from social media or news, not real growth.
Customer counts can rise from campaigns, not organic expansion.
Public filings don’t capture internal issues or real-time challenges. Traders should read context carefully.
It’s unclear if all retail investors can access these options. Account type, risk level, or location may limit access.
What to Watch Next
Bitcoin held strong after defending its 50-day moving average this week. Analysts remain bullish.
Other updates: MSCI may remove Strategy and Metaplanet from its indexes. An OpenAI agent spent from a wallet it didn’t own. XRP has not matched the gains of BTC or ETH. European stocks rose. The dollar is set for a weekly loss.
For more, see the original source.
- The SEC approved binary options tied to KPIs of 23 U.S. public companies.
- Metrics include trading volume at Coinbase, customer count at Robinhood, and bitcoin production at Marathon.
- Contracts settle on data from SEC filings, not earnings reports.
- Trading will begin after Cboe Clear U.S. receives provisional registration.
- Robinhood is expected to be the first to offer these to retail investors.
- The approval does not extend to CFTC-regulated prediction markets like Kalshi.
These tools let traders evaluate firm performance without ownership. But they also raise concerns about data quality, regulatory gaps, and investor behavior.
