SEC Approves Cboe's Binary Options on Coinbase, MARA and Robinhood Business Metrics

Published October 14, 2026, 23:15 UTC. Based on the SEC's October 13, 2026 statement by Chairman Paul S. Atkins, and reporting by Bloomberg, FinanceMagnates, SeekingAlpha and cryptonews.net.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted on October 13, 2026 to approve a securities exchange's proposed rule change allowing the listing of binary options tied to specified key performance indicators, or KPIs, reported by certain stock issuers, according to a statement from SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. The approval opens the way for Cboe, which submitted the proposal in July 2026, to list contracts that let traders take yes-or-no positions on business metrics instead of stock prices.

The crypto-linked contracts

According to Bloomberg's reporting, the first crop of approved metrics covers more than 100 indicators across 23 companies, and the crypto-linked slice includes Coinbase's quarterly trading volume, MARA's total Bitcoin production, and Robinhood's customer numbers and revenue. The suite also spans metrics at Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet and JPMorgan Chase, including Apple's iPhone revenue and Nvidia's edge computing revenue, SeekingAlpha reported.

How the options work

The binary KPI options will be standardized, cash-settled, European-style options that trade as NMS securities, the SEC said. A successful contract pays a fixed $1, while an unsuccessful one expires with no payout, according to cryptonews.net. Settlement will be based on the metric as reported in the company's relevant SEC filing, not on an earlier earnings press release, and Cboe can set several thresholds around the most recently reported value.

Because the options are securities, they will trade under the standard securities-exchange rulebook covering customer accounts, margin requirements, trading halts, auction mechanisms, market-maker appointments and quoting obligations, order types, times-in-force and order instructions, the Commission's approval order says. The SEC said that context provides core investor protections under the securities laws.

Robinhood first to retail

Robinhood plans to be the first retail broker to offer the contracts, and both Cboe and Robinhood will waive fees on them through the end of the year, Bloomberg and cryptonews.net reported. Cboe said last month that it planned to launch the new binary contract category this month, and the two firms had targeted an October launch, though the exact date has not been disclosed. Cboe's shares rose 3.9% in Wednesday afternoon trading, while Robinhood's fell 8.7%, SeekingAlpha reported.

The clearing application is still pending

Trading has not begun. A separate application to clear the products remains pending, and Cboe Clear U.S. needs to obtain temporary registration before the contracts can start trading, FinanceMagnates reported.

The approval follows the exchange's launch of Cboe Predicts earlier this year, binary options on the Mini-S&P 500 listed under the symbols XSPBW and XSPBX, cryptonews.net noted. Unlike the event contracts on CFTC-regulated prediction markets such as Kalshi, Cboe's KPI contracts will be securities listed on an SEC-regulated options exchange, giving retail brokers a way to offer prediction-style contracts under securities-options rules.

SEC says turf wars are over

In his statement, Atkins said the order reflects a new spirit of harmonization, innovation and investor choice, following what he called decades of jurisdictional turf wars between the SEC and the CFTC that frustrated innovation. The order addresses only the specific binary options contracts it describes, the SEC said, and does not foreclose CFTC jurisdiction over KPI contracts structured in other ways.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, statement by Chairman Paul S. Atkins, October 13, 2026, primary source for the Commission's vote, the contract structure and investor protections, the scope limits of the order, and the end of SEC-CFTC jurisdictional turf wars
• Bloomberg, October 14, 2026, secondary source for the crypto-linked metrics (Coinbase trading volume, MARA Bitcoin production, Robinhood customer numbers and revenue), the over-100-metrics and 23-companies scope, and Robinhood's fee waiver through year-end
• SeekingAlpha, October 14, 2026, secondary source for the non-crypto metric examples and the Wednesday stock reactions of Cboe and Robinhood
• FinanceMagnates, October 14, 2026, secondary source for the July 2026 proposal submission and the pending Cboe Clear U.S. temporary registration
• cryptonews.net, October 14, 2026, secondary source for the $1 fixed payout, the SEC-filing-based settlement mechanics, the fee waivers and the Cboe Predicts XSPBW and XSPBX precedent