Bet on Coinbase's trading volume or MARA's bitcoin output: the SEC clears Cboe to list yes-or-no options on the numbers inside 23 companies' earnings, with Robinhood first in line

Wall Street's main options exchange can now list bets on the numbers inside a company's earnings report, and three of the first names are crypto stocks. The Securities and Exchange Commission on October 13 approved a Cboe Global Markets rule change permitting binary options on "specified key performance indicators," SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement. Cboe's list covers 23 US-listed companies and more than 100 metrics, Finance Magnates reported.

For crypto investors, the contracts include whether Coinbase's quarterly trading volume clears a set level, Robinhood's net revenue, funded accounts, average revenue per user and Gold subscribers, and how much bitcoin MARA Holdings mines in a period, according to CoinDesk and FinanceFeeds. Other examples cited are Apple's iPhone revenue and Nvidia's data-centre revenue.

The options are cash-settled and European-style, meaning they pay out only at expiry: $1 if the reported figure beats the threshold, nothing if it does not. Settlement uses the number in the company's SEC filing, not its earnings press release, and a later restatement does not reopen a settled contract.

Atkins said the order "does not address—and does not foreclose—CFTC jurisdiction over KPI contracts" structured to fall under that agency, a nod to prediction markets such as Kalshi that list similar event contracts under commodities rules. He called the decision a sign of "a new spirit of harmonization, innovation, and investor choice."

Trading has not begun. Cboe has said it will not list the options until its clearinghouse, Cboe Clear U.S., is registered, an application the SEC published for comment on October 6, FinanceFeeds reported. Cboe and Robinhood had targeted an October launch; both plan to waive fees through the end of the year.