The Block: Binance launches bitcoin options trading on mobile apps

Crypto exchange Binance has rolled out trading in bitcoin options, over a month after The Block first broke the story.

The new offering is currently only available on Binance’s latest versions of mobile apps, according to an announcement on Monday. Binance Options allow traders to execute a contract any time before expiry date.

Binance said its options product provides a shorter time frame compared to traditional options, ranging from 10 minutes to 1 day. There is also only one strike price, which is equivalent to the contract price on Binance Futures when traders exercise their rights.

Source: Binance

Binance’s move into options trading puts the exchange in direct competition with market leader Deribit, as The Block reported in February. Thus, the question becomes: will Binance's entry into the market change the game?

Market experts The Block spoke to at the time shared mixed opinions. Darius Sit, managing partner of QCP Capital, a Singapore-based trading firm active in crypto options, told The Block at the time that the increased competition would only increase volumes of Deribit. "The nature of exchange markets is that most of the flows eventually trickle down to the dominant exchange," he said at the time.

Emmanuel Goh, co-founder and CEO of Skew, told The Block at the time that "it's natural Deribit's market share will decrease over time as competition increases, similar to what we have seen on the futures side with BitMEX ."