If you are interested in crypto trading, you might have heard of options trading. Crypto options are a type of derivative contract that gives you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a certain amount of cryptocurrency at a predetermined price and time.
If you are looking for the best crypto options exchanges, this article is generated for you. In this article, we listed the best crypto options trading platforms and valuable information about these exchanges to help you make an informed decision.
Key Takeaways:
- Some of the best crypto options trading platforms are OKX, Bybit, Binance, Gate.io, Deribit, and Delta Exchange.
- Crypto options exchanges are trading platforms that allow users to trade derivative contracts, granting the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell cryptocurrencies at a predetermined price within a specified timeframe.
List of the Best Crypto Options Trading Platforms
The best crypto options trading exchanges offer a variety of features, such as low fees, high liquidity, a user-friendly interface, multiple supported cryptocurrencies, and advanced trading tools. Here is our recommended list:
- OKX: The best overall crypto options trading platform
- Bybit: Best Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading platform
- Binance: Highest-volume crypto options exchange
- Gate.io: The best trading crypto options exchange for beginners
- Deribit: Best exchange for institutional options traders
- Delta Exchange: The lowest fees Bitcoin options trading platform
Review of Bitcoin and Crypto Options Trading Platforms
1. OKX: The best overall crypto options trading platform
OKX is a secure crypto options trading platform allowing you to trade options contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum. It offers a user-friendly and secure platform through the web, mobile app, or API.
OKX supports European options style. European options can only be exercised at the expiry date. In contrast, American options can be exercised anytime before the expiry date. It offers contract size up to 1 BTC or 1 ETH, and a contract multiplier of 0.01. You can choose from various strike prices and expiry dates depending on your trading strategies and risk preferences.
This crypto options trading platform also has a robust risk management system for options trading. You can monitor your margin balance, liquidation price, and unrealized profit and loss in real time. Also, OKX uses a mark price mechanism to determine the fair value of the options contracts, which avoids price manipulation and liquidation cascades. It also employs an auto-deleveraging (ADL) mechanism, which reduces the risk of losses in extreme market volatility.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.02% maker and 0.03% taker (discount for VIP users and OKX holders)
- Maximum Leverage: up to 100x
- Supported Options Assets: Currently supports BTC and ETH only
Pros of OKX
- For depositing crypto, you can use 30 fiat currencies and payment methods like bank transfer and credit/debit cards.
- It supports many trading products, such as options, futures trading, margin trading, copy trading, etc.
- You can grow your portfolio by using many earn products such as simple earn, structured products, and on-chain earn.
- OKX “jumpstart” program allows you to invest early in new and promising projects.
Cons of OKX
- You cannot use OKX if you are a U.S. citizen.
- It only supports BTC and ETH in the options trading market.
2. Bybit: Best Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading platform
Bybit is another top crypto exchange for future trading and options trading. This crypto exchange uses a “unified trading account” for all modes. You can trade spot, derivatives, and options with one account. This makes trading simple and fast.
Similarly to OKX, Bybit offers European-style options that can only be exercised at the expiration date. Users can buy/sell or put options with different strike prices and expiry dates. Bybit settles options in USDC. You can also use complex options strategies like straddles, strangles, spreads, and butterflies.
This crypto options trading platform has a simple and user-friendly interface for options trading. You can see the options chain, order book, recent trades, positions, orders, and other trading tools on one page. Bybit can handle up to 100,000 transactions per second and has a 99.99% system functionality rate. It also has a three-layer asset protection system that keeps user funds safe with cold wallet storage, privacy protection, and advanced data encryption.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.02% for both maker and taker
- Maximum Leverage: up to 100x
- Supported Options Assets: Bitcoin and Ethereum only
Pros of Bybit
- Bybit’s trading engine is fast and can process up to 100,000 transactions per second without price slippage.
- The platform provides automated trading bots that can follow strategies based on given parameters.
- Bybit enables users to trade with up to 100x Leverage on crypto.
- Bybit has a mobile app for trading that works on both iOS and Android devices.
Cons of Bybit
- Bybit is not accessible in the U.S. due to regulatory limitations.
- Bybit does not support direct withdrawals to a bank account, you may need to use third-party services like MoonPay, Simplex, etc.
3. Binance: Highest-volume crypto options exchange
Binance is a leading and well-known crypto options exchange worldwide, offering various products and services for traders of all levels. These services include leverage trading, crypto copy trading, P2P, trading bots, and more.
Binance Options are priced and settled in stablecoin, such as USDT, which makes the calculations simple and transparent for the traders. Unlike coin-margined options, stablecoin options allow traders to enter and exit positions without worrying about the volatility of the underlying collateral. Binance Options also offer a variety of expiry times, ranging from 10 minutes to 1 day, giving traders more flexibility and control over their strategies.
With this crypto options trading platform, you only need to pay the premium to get exposure to the underlying asset, which means you can leverage your positions with less capital. To open a position, you can choose between a “call option” or a “put option”, depending on your market view. You can also choose between a best-bid-offer (BBO) order or a limit order, depending on your preferred price and execution.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.03% maker and taker fee
- Maximum Leverage: up to 125x
- Supported Options Assets: 5 (BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, and DOGE)
Pros of Binance
- It charges very low fees for crypto-to-crypto trades, and users who hold BNB, the native token of Binance, can get discounts.
- Binance has high liquidity and fast execution times (1.4 million orders per second).
- It provides a safe multi-currency wallet that supports over 500 coins and tokens.
- The platform has a lot of educational resources and community support, such as Binance Academy and Binance Research.
Cons of Binance
- Binance faces serious regulatory concerns and legal issues in the U.S. and is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- Binance does not accept U.S. dollars (USD) for deposits and withdrawals on its global platform.
4. Gate.io: The best trading crypto options exchange for beginners
Gate.io is a prominent crypto exchange that provides various trading products, such as spot, margin, futures, perpetual contracts, ETFs, and options. It offers both European options contracts and cash settlement, which means that the option holder does not need to deliver or receive the underlying asset, but only receives or pays the difference between the strike price and the spot price.
This trading platform also supports multiple languages, currencies, and payment methods, making it accessible and convenient for traders from different regions and backgrounds.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.04% handling fee
- Maximum Leverage: Up to 100x
- Supported Options Assets: Bitcoin only
Pros of Gate.io
- Gate.io enables users to access the Web3 ecosystem to discover decentralized wallets, cross-chain swapping and trading of digital assets, multi-chain NFT marketplace, and DApps.
- Gate.io allows you to trade and invest in over 1700+ digital assets and stablecoins in the spot market.
- Gate.io has top-notch security infrastructure with cold storage and 2FA.
Cons of Gate.io
- Gate.io is restricted in some regions, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, etc.
- You can’t withdraw fiat currencies directly from Gate.io to the bank account.
5. Deribit: Best exchange for institutional options traders
Deribit is a leading platform for trading crypto options with European style options. This platform offers options trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum, with different strike prices, expiration dates, and styles. Almost 90% of BTC and ETH options are trading on Deribit. They do over $500 million in daily trading.
This crypto exchange also offers perpetual contracts. These contracts mimic the underlying asset’s price but do not have an expiration date. They are settled every 8 hours and have a funding mechanism that ensures the price stays close to the spot market. Deribit offers future contracts on Bitcoin and Ethereum with up to 100x Leverage.
Deribit claims to be the first exchange to offer Bitcoin options and the world’s most liquid Bitcoin options market. It also boasts a low-latency trading platform, a transparent fee structure, and a robust risk management system. Also, Deribit provides educational resources, such as a knowledge base, blog, and YouTube channel, to help traders learn more about its products and features.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.03% for makers and 0.04% for takers.
- Maximum Leverage: Up to 100x
- Supported Options Assets: Only Bitcoin and Ethereum are available for options trading.
Pros of Deribit
- Highly secure with multiple safety measures such as 2FA, SSL encryption, cold storage, and more.
- Deribit offers zero-fee fees for spot trading and competitive fees for other markets.
- You can use more than 41 currencies for fiat-on-ramp.
- High liquidity and volume for options traders.
- Deribit holds a 1:1 reserve of all customer digital assets and often publishes its transparency report.
Cons of Deribit
- Deribit is not regulated by any authority, which means it could face future legal challenges or sanctions.
- Deribit does not support many altcoins for trading on the platform.
6. Delta Exchange: The lowest fees Bitcoin options trading platform
Delta Exchange is a platform that specializes in cryptocurrency derivatives and options trading. It offers “call and put” options on BTC and ETH with daily and weekly expiries. These are European-style options that can only be exercised at maturity. Depending on the contract, the options can be settled in USDT, BTC, or ETH.
This crypto options trading platform also supports “easy options, ” which are simplified options that only require the trader to predict the direction of the underlying asset’s price movement (up or down). Easy options have fixed payouts and expiries that are suitable for beginners. Delta Exchange claims to have the tightest spreads in the industry for options trading, with less than 2 basis points (bps) for BTC and ETH options. The platform also provides up to 100x Leverage.
Delta Exchange provides a built-in tool that helps traders create and analyze their own trades and strategies. The strategy builder allows traders to select the options contracts, set the parameters, and view the strategy’s payoff diagram, breakeven point, and risk-reward ratio.
- Options Trading Fees: 0.03% for both marker and taker.
- Maximum Leverage: Up to 100x
- Supported Options Assets: Only Bitcoin and Ethereum
Pros of Delta Exchange
- Delta Exchange provides a comprehensive and user-friendly dashboard that shows the daily gains and losses of the trader, as well as the performance of each position and strategy.
- Delta Exchange uses cold storage, multi-signature wallets, and advanced encryption to protect the funds and data of the users.
- Delta Exchange supports the perpetual contract of BTC, ETH, and 50+ other altcoins.
Cons of Delta Exchange
- Delta Exchange supports only 6 trading pairs in the spot market.
- Delta Exchange does not provide many advanced trading products, such as margin trading, leveraged tokens, bots, or copy trading.
Best Crypto Options Trading Platforms Compared
| Supported options contracts | Trading Fees | Leverage | |
| OKX | BTC and ETH | Maker: 0.02%Taker: 0.03% | 100x |
| Bybit | BTC and ETH | Maker: 0.02%Taker: 0.02% | 100x |
| Binance | BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, and DOGE | Maker: 0.03%Taker: 0.03% | 125x |
| Gate.io | BTC only | Maker: 0.04%Taker: 0.04% | 100x |
| Deribit | BTC and ETH | Maker: 0.03%Taker: 0.04% | 100x |
| Delta Exchange | BTC and ETH | 0.03% or 10% of premium | 100x |
What is Crypto Options Trading?
Crypto options are financial contracts that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call option) or sell (put option) a certain asset (in this case, a cryptocurrency) at a specified price within a set period.
When you do crypto options trading, you’re making a contract (an option) that gives you the right to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a specific price within a certain time frame. It’s similar to predicting whether the price will be higher or lower than a certain amount in the future.
For example, if you think the price of Bitcoin will increase, you can buy a “call” option. This option allows you to buy Bitcoin at a fixed price in the future. If the price of Bitcoin goes up, you can buy it at a lower price than what it’s worth. However, if the price doesn’t go up as you thought, you’re not obligated to buy it.
How Does Crypto Option Trading Work?
Crypto options trading works based on “Put” and “Call” options. Buying a call option means you expect the price of that cryptocurrency to go up. You pay a premium for the right to purchase the crypto at a predetermined price (called the strike price) before or at a specified future time (expiration date).
Purchasing a put option means you anticipate the price of the cryptocurrency to drop. You pay a premium for the right to sell the crypto at a predetermined price before or at a specified future time. If the price moves favorably (for instance, above the strike price for a call option or below the strike price for a put option) by more than the premium paid, you can make a profit. If it doesn’t move as expected, you can lose the premium paid for the option.
Options have expiration dates. They can be short-term (days or weeks) or longer-term (months). Once an option expires, it becomes worthless unless it’s “in the money” (the price moved favorably) and you decide to exercise it.
How to Trade Crypto Options?
Crypto trading options involve several steps. Here’s a basic guide:
- Choose a Platform: Select a crypto options trading app. Platforms like OKX, Bybit, Binance, Deribit, or Delta Exchange are popular options.
- Account Setup: Create an account on the chosen platform. This typically involves providing personal information, completing the KYC process, and setting up security measures like two-factor authentication.
- Deposit Funds: Deposit funds into your trading account. Most platforms accept deposits in cryptocurrencies or fiat currency. Follow the platform’s instructions for depositing funds.
- Place an Order: Once you’re ready, place an options trade. Select the cryptocurrency, choose the type of option (call or put), set the expiration date and strike price, and specify the quantity. Review and confirm the trade.
- Advanced orders: Set stop-loss orders to limit potential losses and diversify your trades (avoid investing more than you can afford to lose).
- Manage Your Trades: Monitor your trades regularly. You can modify or close your options position before expiration based on market movements and your trading strategy.
How Risky Are Crypto Options?
Crypto options trading can be highly risky due to several factors:
- Volatility: Cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile. Sudden price swings can occur, leading to significant gains or losses in a short period.
- Limited Timeframe: Options have expiration dates. If the price doesn’t move in the expected direction within the specified timeframe, the option can expire worthless, resulting in a total loss of the premium paid.
- Leverage: While leverage can amplify profits, it also increases the potential for substantial losses.
- Lack of Regulation: The crypto options market may have less oversight and regulation compared to traditional financial markets. This lack of regulation can expose traders to potential fraud or manipulation.
- Loss of Entire Investment: It’s possible to lose the entire investment in options trading, especially if proper risk management strategies like stop-loss orders aren’t employed.
Conclusion
To sum up, OKX, Bybit, Binance, Gate.io, Deribit, and Delta Exchange are some of the best crypto options trading platforms. However, before you start trading options on a crypto options trading platform, you should be aware of the features, benefits, drawbacks, and risks of this type of trading.
FAQs
Which crypto exchange is best for options trading?
OKX is one of the best crypto options trading platforms due to high liquidity, low fees, flexible settlement, multiple order types, and advanced risk management tools.
What platform do most crypto traders use?
OKX is one of the most popular options platforms used by traders. It is a global crypto platform that offers a wide range of products and services, such as spot, margin, futures, perpetual swap, and options trading. OKX has over 20 million users in more than 100 countries and regions.
Can I trade crypto options on Coinbase?
No, you cannot trade crypto options on Coinbase. It is a popular crypto platform that mainly offers spot trading. If you want to trade crypto options, you need to use a platform that supports this product, such as OKX.
Do You Have To Pay Taxes When Trading Crypto Options?
Yes, you have to pay taxes when trading crypto options, depending on your jurisdiction and tax laws. Crypto options are considered a type of derivative contract, which is a taxable event in most countries. Therefore, consulting a tax professional or using tax software like CoinTracker to calculate and report your crypto options trading taxes accurately and legally is advisable.
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