Binance launches gold and silver options on Nest Exchange

Binance has launched European-style options contracts for gold and silver, settling in USDT through its Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)-regulated Nest Exchange. This expansion follows significant user demand for the exchange's commodity perpetual futures. Gold perpetuals have seen peak daily volumes of $7.77 billion, while silver perpetuals reached $7.27 billion, representing a notable portion of COMEX volumes.

The new options are designed to offer crypto-native exposure to traditional assets. Retail investors are permitted to buy call and put options, providing them with ways to speculate on price movements or hedge against volatility. However, to manage risk, retail traders are currently barred from writing options, a strategy that involves selling these contracts and carries higher potential losses. This restriction limits their downside to the premium paid for the options.

Binance stated that the commodity options build on the momentum of their perpetual futures. The exchange sees this as a way for users to diversify their holdings compliantly without leaving the Binance platform, especially as gold reaches record highs and investors seek inflation hedges. The contracts reference a benchmark derived from multiple independent third-party price feeds to ensure robustness.

Looking ahead, Binance intends to broaden its options offerings to include other underlying assets. The company is also exploring the possibility of allowing limited retail options writing under more stringent regulatory conditions.