FTX US — the crypto exchange affiliated with Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX — is plotting a move into equity options trading following the rollout of stock trading across all 50 American states.
As per an interview with Bloomberg News, FTX US president Brett Harrison said that the company will add options without providing a specific timeline.
Harrison said that expanding the product during a slowdown in trading across assets could allow the firm during a future bull cycle to "capitalize that opportunity."
An FTX representative said the launch of options is subject to regulatory review.
Options, financial contracts that give a buyer the opportunity to purchase an asset at a specific price in the future, are used as a tool to speculate on a given asset or hedge an underlying position.
Such offerings are big business for Robinhood, which is known for making profits from the controversial practice of payment for order flow whereby institutional trading firms pay Robinhood for offloading customer orders.
At the peak of the market, Robinhood brought in nearly $70 million in options payment for order flow compared to $49 million in PFOF for trading in non-S&P 500 stocks.
FTX, on the other hand, is not accepting payments for customer order flow.
