Binance has opened a new doorway for traders to earn income and manage risk by making Ethereum options writing available to all users, rolling out the change alongside a substantial upgrade to its Options trading platform. The move, announced by the exchange this week, lets retail and institutional accounts sell (write) ETH options, a strategy that pays an upfront premium in exchange for an obligation if the option is exercised, and comes with infrastructure and data improvements designed to support higher volumes and more sophisticated strategies.

The timing tracks a notable run-up in ETH options activity. Between 2021 and 2025, ETH options volume expanded rapidly, growing at an annualized pace investors say reflects both the maturation of crypto derivatives and Ethereum’s shifting narrative as a platform for institutions and developers alike. That growth, Binance says, has been driven by greater institutional treasury adoption, evolving use cases for Ethereum, and macroeconomic forces, including rate moves, that make options a useful tool for hedging and yield generation.

To support this surge in demand, Binance’s upgraded Options platform brings a handful of practical improvements traders will notice immediately. The exchange highlights higher API throughput so orders execute faster and systems can handle heavier traffic; a wider set of strike prices across assets to let traders build more precise contract structures; and richer market data through differentiated WebSocket streams aimed at powering more advanced analytics and faster decision-making. Those enhancements are intended to reduce latency, deepen available liquidity, and give both quant and discretionary traders the signals they need to act quickly.

Binance says the ETH options rollout expands how customers can express market views: users can write options to earn upfront premiums, hedge existing spot or futures exposure, or layer income strategies like covered calls and cash-secured puts into their portfolios. The feature complements Binance’s existing derivatives suite, from perpetual futures to bitcoin options, and is backed by the exchange’s market-making relationships and deep order books. A detailed how-to and explanation of short-selling (writing) options are available in Binance’s Options guide for users who want to learn the mechanics before trading.

The exchange is also offering a fee incentive to encourage liquidity in newly listed Options contracts. VIP users will receive a 20% discount on both taker and maker fees for new options, including ETH, BTC, BNB and SOL contracts, effective immediately and running until further notice, a move meant to attract market participants and tighten spreads.

Jeff Li, Binance’s Vice President of Product, framed the launch as part of the company’s ongoing product evolution: “Binance remains committed to delivering innovative tools that meet the evolving needs of our users,” he said, adding that faster execution, greater flexibility, and richer market data will help traders pursue more advanced, strategic approaches in the derivatives market.

Binance emphasized that opening options writing to a broader audience does not mean loosening controls. Option writers must post margin to collateralize their obligations, and access to Options products is gated by a mandatory suitability assessment designed to ensure customers understand the risks. The exchange reiterated that these products carry material downside and that its risk-management framework remains a core part of the rollout.

As crypto markets develop, exchanges are increasingly rolling out tools that were once reserved for professional desks. By combining wider access to ETH options writing with faster infrastructure and deeper market data, Binance is betting it can capture demand from traders looking for yield, hedging capability, or more nuanced directional strategies, while using fees and market-maker partnerships to keep liquidity competitive. For traders who want the details, Binance directs users to its Options FAQ and support pages.

Binance is the blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and registered users. Trusted by more than 300 million people across 100+ countries, the company highlights its trading engine speed, security practices, and broad portfolio of digital-asset products, from trading and finance to education, institutional services, and Web3 tools, as it pushes to expand access to crypto financial services worldwide.

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