Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has expanded its traditional-finance perpetual options business to eight underlying instruments, adding derivatives linked to Tesla, Nasdaq-100 ETFs and semiconductor companies as it builds an alternative to conventional stock options trading.
The exchange introduced six new instruments on September 28, following the September 17 launch of its first perpetual options linked to Nvidia and SpaceX.
The additions comprise Tesla (TSLA), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL), Micron Technology (MU), SK Hynix (SKHY) and Sandisk (SNDK).
Unlike conventional listed stock options, Bybit’s contracts derive their value from synthetic perpetual contracts tracking traditional financial assets. They trade continuously, including weekends, and settle in USDT rather than through delivery of shares.
The expansion gives eligible cryptocurrency traders access to equity-linked options strategies through existing Bybit accounts, while introducing pricing and settlement considerations that differ from established options exchanges.
Bybit Adds Six Contracts After September Launch
Bybit launched its Perp Options product on September 17, initially offering contracts referencing Nvidia and SpaceX.
The September 28 expansion increased the lineup to eight instruments, adding exposure to individual technology companies, a broad equity ETF and a leveraged semiconductor ETF.
The addition of SOXL is particularly notable because the referenced ETF itself seeks three times the daily performance of a semiconductor index.
An option linked to a perpetual contract tracking that ETF introduces another derivative layer on top of an already leveraged underlying investment product.
Bybit also offers options referencing SpaceX through its synthetic perpetual infrastructure. That product should not be confused with ownership of SpaceX shares or access to options listed on a conventional public stock exchange.
The contracts operate through Bybit’s Unified Trading Account, allowing eligible customers to manage cryptocurrency and traditional-asset derivatives within the same account environment.
How Bybit’s Perpetual Options Differ From Stock Options
The central difference is the underlying instrument.
Traditional U.S. equity options generally reference listed shares or ETFs directly. Bybit’s Perp Options instead reference TradFi perpetual contracts whose prices track traditional financial assets.
Bybit uses European-style options, meaning the contracts can be exercised only at expiry.
Settlement is entirely cash-based in USDT. Customers do not receive shares, voting rights or shareholder dividend entitlements.
Each contract carries a multiplier of one rather than the standard 100-share multiplier commonly used for listed U.S. equity options.
The minimum trading size is one contract.
That can lower the notional exposure required for certain strategies, although actual trading costs still depend on the underlying price, strike, premium and applicable margin requirements.
Contracts are available across several expiry cycles, including short-dated, weekly and monthly maturities.
Despite the continuous trading schedule, expiry settlement does not take place around the clock. Bybit schedules settlement at 20:00 UTC during U.S. daylight saving time and 21:00 UTC during standard time, corresponding to the regular U.S. equity-market close.
The settlement price is calculated using a 30-minute time-weighted average of the underlying index price immediately before expiry.
Weekend Trading Introduces a Different Price-Discovery Model
The ability to trade equity-linked options during weekends creates a structural difference from traditional U.S. options markets.
Bybit’s index methodology combines several pricing sources, including traditional market-data providers, cryptocurrency exchange indices, derivatives markets and decentralized-market oracles.
During regular U.S. trading hours, the methodology can incorporate updated prices from conventional financial-market sources.
Outside those hours, traditional-market prices that are no longer updating are excluded, leaving other available sources to determine the index.
This means weekend prices may reflect trading activity and expectations in alternative markets rather than contemporaneous transactions in the referenced U.S. shares.
For retail traders, the distinction becomes important during major news events, earnings announcements or market closures.
A derivative price established during the weekend may diverge from the price eventually observed when the underlying equity market reopens.
Option premiums can also respond to changes in expected volatility, liquidity and time remaining until expiry.
Continuous trading therefore does not guarantee continuous liquidity or pricing equivalent to established equity options markets.
Trading Fees and Margin Requirements Add Another Layer of Risk
Bybit’s Perp Options use a separate fee schedule from its cryptocurrency options.
For standard non-VIP customers, both maker and taker fees are 0.03% of the underlying notional value, subject to a cap equal to 7% of the option premium.
For example, consider an option with an underlying notional value of 620 USDT and a premium of 2 USDT.
The standard 0.03% calculation produces a fee of 0.186 USDT. However, the premium-based limit reduces the fee to 0.14 USDT.
That still represents 7% of the premium for a single transaction.
For customers trading inexpensive short-dated contracts, the relationship between transaction costs and option premiums can materially affect profitability.
Bybit supports both cross margin and portfolio margin, allowing certain offsetting options and perpetual positions to reduce margin requirements.
However, lower margin requirements do not eliminate market risk.
Option buyers can lose their entire premium, while sellers can face substantially larger losses. Uncovered call positions can theoretically generate unlimited losses as the underlying reference price rises.
These considerations are particularly important when derivatives reference leveraged ETFs or synthetic assets trading outside their conventional market hours.
Bybit Is Bringing Traditional Assets Into Crypto Derivatives Infrastructure
The perpetual options expansion comes alongside Bybit’s continuing rollout of traditional-finance contracts.
During September, the exchange added multiple batches of U.S. stock CFDs, including contracts referencing Humana, ConocoPhillips, Blackstone and General Dynamics.
Those CFDs differ from perpetual options in their trading schedules, leverage limits and pricing structures.
Bybit’s September 10 CFD listing, for example, specified maximum leverage of five times and a commission of 0.02 USDT per share, subject to a minimum of 0.20 USDT per order.
The exchange is therefore operating several distinct derivatives models linked to traditional assets rather than simply expanding one product category.
For retail customers, this increases the importance of understanding which instrument they are trading.
A stock CFD, an equity-linked perpetual and an option on that perpetual may track similar economic exposures but involve different settlement rules, financing costs, risk profiles and trading conditions.
Bybit’s eight-asset options expansion illustrates how cryptocurrency exchanges are adapting their existing derivatives infrastructure to markets historically served by stockbrokers and options exchanges.
The commercial opportunity is broader access to traditional-asset trading activity. The unresolved challenge is whether round-the-clock synthetic markets can deliver sufficient liquidity and reliable pricing when the underlying securities are not actively trading.
For customers, that distinction may prove more important than the growing number of available contracts.
Shane Neagle is a financial markets analyst and digital assets journalist specializing in cryptocurrencies, memecoins, prediction markets, and blockchain-based financial systems. His work focuses on market structure, incentive design, liquidity dynamics, and how speculative behavior emerges across decentralized platforms.
He closely covers emerging crypto narratives, including memecoin ecosystems, on-chain activity, and the role of prediction markets in pricing political, economic, and technological outcomes. His analysis examines how capital flows, trader psychology, and platform design interact to create rapid market cycles across Web3 environments.
Alongside digital assets, Shane follows broader fintech and online trading developments, particularly where traditional financial infrastructure intersects with blockchain technology. His research-driven approach emphasizes understanding why markets behave the way they do, rather than short-term price movements, helping readers navigate fast-evolving crypto and speculative markets with clearer context.