SEC approves binary options tied to Coinbase volume and Bitcoin mining output

On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change allowing Cboe Exchange to list European-style binary options tied to corporate performance metrics. Covering 23 public companies including Coinbase, MARA Holdings, and Robinhood, the cash-settled $1 contracts let investors trade on specific SEC-filed metrics rather than share prices. SEC Chair Paul Atkins noted the decision applies solely to securities exchanges while preserving CFTC oversight over separate derivatives structures.

SEC approval and proposal timeline

• ▪Cboe Exchange filed its initial binary KPI options proposal on June 30, 2026, and submitted a revised Amendment No. 1 on October 1, 2026, before receiving SEC approval.
• ▪The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted accelerated approval on October 13, 2026 to a Cboe Exchange rule proposal permitting the listing and trading of binary options linked to reported corporate key performance indicators.

Company-specific metric options

• ▪Robinhood Markets' approved option metrics include total net revenues, funded customers, average revenue per user, and Robinhood Gold subscribers.
• ▪MARA Holdings' approved option metrics include Bitcoin produced, Bitcoin purchased, total Bitcoin holdings, number of blocks won, and energized hashrate.
• ▪Approved Cboe binary option contracts cover reported business metrics across 23 public companies, including Coinbase Global, MARA Holdings, Robinhood Markets, Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple.
• ▪Coinbase Global's approved option metrics include total trading volume, transaction revenue, total revenue, subscription and services revenue, and diluted net income per share.

Contract payout mechanism and rules

• ▪Contract settlements rely strictly on figures disclosed in SEC filings such as Form 8-K, 10-Q, or 10-K, and subsequent company restatements do not alter settled payouts.
• ▪Binary KPI option holdings are capped at 25,000 standard option contracts per expiration, with 100 binary KPI contracts counting as one standard contract.
• ▪The approved binary KPI options are cash-settled, European-style contracts paying a fixed $1 if the reported company metric meets or exceeds a strike level, or $0 if it falls short.

Regulatory classification and SEC statements

• ▪The SEC classified the binary KPI options as National Market System securities subject to standard securities exchange rules covering customer accounts, margin management, trading halts, and market-maker quoting duties.
• ▪SEC Chair Paul Atkins clarified that approval applies strictly to specific securities-exchange contracts and does not restrict Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight over differently structured products.
• ▪SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that applying established exchange rules provides core investor protections under federal securities laws, preventing products from operating as unregulated wagers.

Robinhood involvement and market reaction

• ▪Robinhood Markets shares fell nearly 9% following the SEC approval announcement, while Cboe Global Markets shares rose more than 4%.
• ▪Cboe Global Markets and Robinhood Markets announced at the HOOD Summit in Houston on September 30, 2026, that they expected to launch binary KPI contracts in October.
• ▪Robinhood Markets plans to be the first retail broker to offer Cboe binary KPI options, with both Cboe and Robinhood planning fee waivers through December 31, 2026.