Markets are bouncing back after a brutal week. The SEC approved the first binary options tied to crypto company KPIs — meaning traders will soon be able to bet yes or no on whether Coinbase hits its trading volume target, Robinhood hits its customer count, or Marathon hits its bitcoin production number. Cboe plans to list the contracts this month, with Robinhood expected to be the first retail brokerage to offer them. Overnight, Elon Musk’s flying Roadster reveal sent Hyperliquid’s Tesla contract up nearly 5% with trading volume jumping 1,580% in a single hour while stock markets were closed. And Circle is targeting 50 new markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Have a great weekend. Stay alert.
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Traders will soon be able to bet on whether Coinbase, Robinhood and Marathon hit their targets
The SEC approved a Cboe rule change allowing binary options tied to key performance indicators of 23 publicly traded U.S. companies, including Coinbase trading volume, Robinhood customer count and revenue, and MARA bitcoin production. A binary option is the simplest options contract: traders bet yes or no on whether a stated metric exceeds a threshold by a specific date, with contracts settling on figures in SEC filings rather than earnings presentations. The contracts are European-style and cash-settled. Cboe plans to list them this month, with Robinhood expected to be the first retail brokerage to offer them, pending clearing-house provisional registration. SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who approved the change, said agency turf battles have hindered financial innovation for decades and the decision reflects a new spirit of harmony between the SEC and CFTC — leaving room for similarly structured contracts to fall under CFTC jurisdiction separately.
Circle targets 40 new markets as stablecoin demand grows globally
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told Reuters that businesses and individuals across Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are increasingly using USDC for payments and financial services, and the company plans to expand into roughly 50 emerging markets. USDC currently holds about $72.6 billion in circulation — around a quarter of the stablecoin market — compared to Tether’s USDT at nearly 60%. Allaire described the moment as a transition from the early-adopter phase of blockchain into mainstream scaling, driven by regulatory clarity including the U.S. GENIUS Act and growing use of USDC by AI agents for autonomous payments. Circle’s $400 million acquisition of Singapore’s Tazapay, its new Arc blockchain and its U.S. federal trust bank approval all support the expansion. Allaire also welcomed banks launching their own digital currencies: “The banking industry fought successfully to keep other people out, and I think they are no longer in charge, and the innovators are having their day.”
Musk’s flying Roadster reveal sent Tesla crypto trading into overdrive while stock markets were closed
Elon Musk unveiled a SpaceX thruster-powered flying prototype of the Tesla Roadster on October 15, after U.S. stock markets had closed for the day. With no way to trade Tesla shares, investors turned to Hyperliquid: the exchange’s TSLA perpetual futures contract rose about 4.9% to roughly $378 and hourly volume leapt 1,580% — from $2.8 million to $47 million — making it the contract’s second-busiest day since it launched a year ago. The contract tracks Tesla’s stock price, settles in USDC and allows up to 20x leverage; it trades around the clock, which made it one of the only venues where traders could react to the news in real time. Tesla shares were up about 4.5% in premarket trading. The episode illustrates a growing dynamic: crypto exchanges that never close are becoming the first place institutional and retail investors react to major news about traditional companies.
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