Binance launches physically settled options on U.S. stocks

Binance launched Stock Options on Sept. 1 — physically settled options contracts on U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs — according to the exchange’s announcement. Buyers get the right to purchase shares via a Call or offload them via a Put at a predetermined strike price on a specified expiration date.

That settlement structure is what separates this from Binance’s existing equity-linked products. The exchange’s perpetual futures and tokenized securities don’t offer physical settlement. These options are built around underlying shares custodied for users by Alpaca Securities LLC, the U.S. clearing broker.

Alpaca handles execution, clearing, settlement and custody, holding shares on behalf of Binance users. NTL — Nest Trading Limited — operates as Introducing Broker and is regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The arrangement places Binance’s trading interface around a conventional brokerage and custody chain rather than terminating the position as a crypto-settled derivative.

For buyers, downside is bounded: maximum loss is the premium paid. The product only supports long positions. Users can Buy Call or Buy Put; writing options and short exposure aren’t available. Phase 1 also accepts limit orders only.

U.S. users are excluded. The available material identifies customers outside the United States as the eligible audience but does not provide a complete list of eligible non-U.S. jurisdictions or contracts.

Funding runs through Binance’s existing crypto rails. Accepted currencies include UUSDC$0.9999▲0.01%, UUSDT$0.9997▲0.00%, USD1, U, and BBNB$688.04▲0.39%. Trading hours follow U.S. options market conventions: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET for most stock options, with certain ETF and ETN options running to 4:15 p.m. ET. This isn’t a 24/7 crypto product.

The September launch extends what Binance started in June, when the exchange rolled out access to more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs for customers outside the United States. Options add another layer to that equity access, with a settlement path that can produce actual share ownership rather than only a derivative payoff.

Context from The Block: TradFi perpetual futures volume on Binance reached roughly $433.4 billion in August, with equity-linked perpetuals accounting for $342.9 billion — about 79% of that total. The remaining $90.5 billion came from other TradFi perpetuals.

Shunyet Jan, Binance’s Head of Exchange and Trading, said at The Block that this is “an important next step in Binance’s evolution into a fuller multi-asset platform.” Jan added that options on selected U.S. stocks and ETFs extend access to equity-market participation, exposure management and strategies historically available only through traditional brokers, all from within a single Binance account.

The Bybit comparison is worth noting plainly. Bybit is set to launch 24/7 options on stock perpetuals on Sept. 17, starting with SpaceX and Nvidia; those contracts are tied to stock perpetuals and settle in USDT. Binance’s product uses listed-stock and ETF options with physical settlement and trades only during U.S. options hours.

Eligible non-U.S. Binance customers gain a crypto-funded route to long-only Calls and Puts with capped buyer losses and potential underlying-share ownership. They can’t write options, take short exposure, or trade the product as U.S. users. Settlement and custody sit with NTL and Alpaca.