The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of binary options tied to key performance indicators (KPIs) of 23 U.S. publicly traded companies, a decision that will allow traders to bet directly on the operational results of crypto-linked firms such as Coinbase Global (COIN), Robinhood Markets (HOOD) and MARA Holdings (MARA).

The covered metrics include trading volume at crypto exchange Coinbase, customer count and revenue at brokerage Robinhood Markets, and bitcoin production at mining firm MARA Holdings.

A binary option is the simplest form of options contract. Rather than paying out in proportion to the size of a move, it lets traders wager on a straightforward yes-or-no question — for example, whether Coinbase's trading volume will exceed a set number by a specific date.

“For crypto, this creates a new way to trade crypto-linked company performance beyond betting directly on BTC's price,” Eleanor Terrett, the host of Crypto America, said on X. “The SEC approved this specific securities-options structure, while leaving room for differently structured contracts to fall under CFTC jurisdiction.”

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins approved a rule change filed by Cboe Global Markets, according to a statement dated Oct. 13. The contracts are cash-settled — gains and losses are paid in cash rather than shares — and European-style, meaning they can only be exercised at expiration. Settlement will be based on figures reported in companies' SEC filings, not on numbers shown in earnings presentations, anchoring each contract's outcome to regulatorily filed disclosures rather than the figures a company chooses to highlight.

Cboe plans to list the contracts this month, and Robinhood is expected to be the first brokerage to offer them to retail investors. Trading cannot begin, however, until Cboe Clear U.S., the clearing house, receives provisional registration; a separate application remains pending. That pending registration is the key remaining hurdle, making the clearing house's approval status the milestone to watch for observers tracking when the contracts actually reach retail users.

Atkins said the approval does not touch similar contracts overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), such as those offered on prediction market platform Kalshi. He said turf fights between the agencies have hindered innovation for decades, and that the approval "reflects a new spirit of harmony, innovation, and investor choice."

Bitcoin Defends Key Support Amid Inflation Data

While the SEC decision drew comparatively little attention, traders spent the week watching bitcoin (BTC, $82,001.05) gyrate above $80,000 amid key U.S. inflation data — figures traders watch closely for their bearing on the interest-rate outlook.

Bitcoin's rally has stalled since Sept. 21, but pullbacks have remained moderate, with the 50-day simple moving average — the average of the past 50 daily closing prices, a commonly used trend gauge — providing support for the cryptocurrency's daily price swings since late July. Prices briefly fell below that level on Thursday before recovering.

The successful defense of the 50-day simple moving average this week has left analysts confident of bullish prospects for bitcoin.

What's Trending

• MSCI approves rules that could eject Strategy, Metaplanet from equity indexes (CoinDesk): MSCI, one of the world's biggest stock index providers, finalized rules that could remove shares of leading bitcoin holding companies Strategy and Metaplanet from its global equity indexes.
• An OpenAI agent ran out of Ethereum funds, and took from a wallet it did not own (CoinDesk): An OpenAI research model stuck without funds on an Ethereum test network went looking for someone else's wallet, found one through recovery phrases that were already public, and spent from it to finish a coding assignment. The model needed no hacking skills to get in.
• XRP has failed to make holders rich like bitcoin and ether (CoinDesk): XRP is still trading well below its 2017 cycle high, while most other major cryptocurrencies have climbed far above theirs. Analysts point to XRP's supply and weaker demand.
• European stocks rise as markets stabilize, dollar set for weekly loss (Reuters): European stock markets picked up in early trading on Friday as market sentiment showed signs of recovery after a sharp drop in tech stocks the day before, while the dollar weakened and was set for a weekly loss.

Also Making Headlines

• The White House's crypto chief has departed.
• Wall Street sold off sharply on Friday, but the VIX and bitcoin suggest the fear may fade by Monday.
• Latvia is eyeing crypto tax payments in 2027 as its parliament overhauls crypto taxation.
• Stablecoin supply has stalled, but stablecoin payments jumped 45% as Visa, Mastercard and Stripe connect crypto to cash.
• Bitcoin's $100,000 year-end hope divides analysts as inflation clouds the outlook.
• Crypto audits give investors a false sense of security as third-quarter hacks cost $1.18 billion, according to Hacken.
• Crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase have joined a West Africa scam sweep that flagged $11 million.
• Chip-stock bets lost $52 million in 10 minutes with Wall Street shut.
• Circle defended USDC economics as stablecoin rivals court its partners with a bigger cut.
• Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley see tokenization as a growth play, not a threat.

Source: CoinDesk's Daybook newsletter, Oct. 16, 2026.