The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a securities-exchange rule change that allows standardized binary options tied to company performance indicators, and the decision reaches the crypto sector more directly than most. For BTC-USD traders, the key point is that these contracts do not track the Bitcoin price. Instead, they turn on whether a reported business metric meets a set condition. According to the announcement, the order clears exchange operator Cboe to list the products, placing crypto-linked business data within a regulated U.S. options framework.

The Commission voted on the order on October 13, and Chairman Paul Atkins described it as a step toward harmonization, innovation and investor choice. Approval of a framework, however, is not the same as a live, liquid market, so launch dates and trading depth remain open questions.

Per the announcement, the contracts let traders take yes/no positions on key performance indicators (KPIs) reported by public companies including Coinbase, Robinhood and MARA. Eligible references include Coinbase trading volume and MARA's Bitcoin production, giving traders a regulated way to take a view on how crypto businesses perform.

NEW: The SEC has approved @Cboe to list binary options tied to KPIs (key performance indicators) reported by public companies, including @coinbase, @RobinhoodApp and @MARA. The contracts let traders take yes/no positions on metrics like Coinbase trading volume, Marathon's BTC… pic.twitter.com/7dOQVbICtV

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 14, 2026

How KPI Binary Options Differ From BTC-USD Exposure

Ordinary stock options derive their value from a company's share price. These contracts reference reported performance data instead, which makes payouts dependent on corporate disclosures rather than market moves. The Coinbase indicators include total trading volume, transaction revenue, total revenue, subscription and services revenue, and diluted net income per share.

Coinbase reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.22 billion, down 18.5% year over year, along with a net loss of $359.5 million, according to its SEC filing. The company's share of global crypto trading rose to 10.3% from 9.1% in the previous quarter.

For MARA, the relevant measure is Bitcoin production, which links the contract to mining operations rather than the market price of BTC. MARA produced 2,422 BTC, reported $174.9 million in revenue and a $611.3 million net loss, and held 35,577 BTC at the end of June. Its energized hashrate stood at 70.3 EH/s, and the company sold 2,213 BTC.

In practice, a trader takes a position on whether a specified target will be met during a reporting period. A winning contract pays a fixed $1, while a losing one expires worthless — a fixed-payout structure in which outcomes are binary by design. The options are cash-settled and European-style, meaning they can be exercised only at expiration. That structure also makes the underlying disclosures the events that settle each trade: an outcome is fixed only once the referenced metric is reported.

The contracts are classified as National Market System securities and fall under standardized-options rules covering margin, trading halts and market-maker obligations. The classification slots crypto-sector operating metrics into the same rulebook that governs conventional listed options rather than into a separate, crypto-specific regime.

What Remains Unclear After the SEC Approval

The order speaks solely to these binary options on a securities exchange. It does not address similar products structured in other ways, and Atkins said it does not foreclose CFTC jurisdiction over KPI contracts built to fall under commodities law. The wider jurisdictional question between the two regulators therefore remains open.

Market details are also missing. No contract size, position limits, open interest, spreads or confirmed launch date have been published, and even a launch would not guarantee tight spreads or easy exits.

Until those details emerge, these binary options offer no direct ownership or price exposure to BTC-USD, Coinbase equity or MARA equity. The approval creates a regulated instrument tied to crypto-sector business results, not to the digital asset market itself.

Source: 99Bitcoins