A year ago, I returned to Cboe to lead our Global Derivatives business, energized by the opportunities ahead for our company and the broader industry. Over more than two decades in derivatives, I have witnessed the global financial crisis, Volmageddon and the market shock caused by COVID-19. Yet I have never seen markets evolve as quickly as they are today. In the second quarter of 2026, listed options trading reached a record 72.8 million contracts per day, up more than 19% year over year. That pace of growth is remarkable for a mature industry with a history spanning more than half a century. But growth only tells part of the story.
Last week, against the backdrop of a historic week for Cboe — including the extension of our partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices for another 25 years — I traveled from Chicago to Houston to New York and back, meeting with investors, customers and leaders across the options ecosystem. Those conversations reinforced a clear conclusion: the future of our industry will depend on our ability to expand access, broaden investor choice and continue innovating, while preserving the trust, transparency and resilience that have made U.S. capital markets the envy of the world.
A New Generation of Trading at HOOD Summit
In Houston, I attended my first HOOD Summit, Robinhood’s annual conference, where the energy was unmistakable. The event captured the next generation of trading, bringing together industry leaders and individual investors eager to harness the potential of the capital markets. My conversations throughout the summit underscored the growing sophistication of individual investors, with discussions focused on options growth, 0DTE strategies and what active traders expect next.
I was especially proud to see Henry Schwartz, Stacey Gilbert and JJ Kinahan take the stage and represent Cboe. Each brought deep expertise, a distinctive perspective and the kind of leadership that strengthens our voice across the industry.
During the summit, Cboe and Robinhood announced plans for a new product category of binary security options on company-specific key performance indicators, with Robinhood set to become the first retail broker to offer them. KPI binaries will enable investors to isolate individual performance metrics and trade directly on those outcomes. Subject to regulatory approval, we plan to launch these on Cboe Options, an SEC-regulated national securities exchange, later this month with more than 100 metrics across 23 companies.
What makes these contracts particularly compelling is that investors currently have no direct way to trade the backward-looking metrics that define a company’s operating performance. Consider a company that exceeds each of its quarterly KPI targets but sees its stock decline because of concerns about forward guidance. An investor can be right about the underlying performance and still lose if the stock or a stock option is the only available instrument. KPI binaries will provide a more precise way to express that view by allowing investors to trade the specific metrics they follow most closely.
KPI binaries illustrate how we can meet increasingly sophisticated retail demand with products that are precise, intuitive and supported by the securities regulatory framework designed to protect investors. Together with expanded trading hours and new agentic tools, innovations like these are advancing the retail experience, and Cboe is proud to help lead that evolution. But product innovation cannot be separated from the market structure that supports it. That was the focus of my next stop in New York.
A Closer Look at Perps
At the Bloomberg Derivatives Market Structure Conference, I joined leaders from Kalshi and Coinbase to discuss perpetual futures and a fundamental question: how do we pair innovation with sound market design? I strongly support innovation, but structure and functionality matter. Important questions remain around what happens to under-margined positions after large price moves, institutional adoption, capital efficiency and whether newer models can deliver the risk-offset and resilience investors expect from centrally cleared, intermediated markets. Whatever the product, durable growth will depend on robust market structure, clear legal frameworks and appropriate investor protections.
Those considerations should guide innovation, not constrain it. Innovation must create meaningful value for the end user by giving investors new ways to trade and manage risk — not simply repackaging existing products under a different, potentially more favorable legal framework without regard for the underlying market structure or its associated regulatory framework.
The conference also surfaced another recurring question: will retail investors use perpetual futures instead of options? Both products can provide leverage, but they serve different purposes. Perpetual futures are linear, with investors participating equally in upside and downside. Options offer convexity and asymmetric outcomes: as a trade moves in an investor’s favor, the economics can become more attractive; if it moves against them, the loss is capped at the premium paid. The growth of options, including 0DTE, makes one point clear: investors are not simply seeking leverage. They want precision, flexibility and greater control over risk.
This is not a binary choice. The opportunity is to build a broader toolkit in which each product addresses a distinct investor need and operates within a market designed for confidence and resilience. That combination of product utility and trusted infrastructure is precisely what has made the SPX and VIX ecosystem so successful.
The Foundation for the SPX, VIX Ecosystem
That is why our newly extended 25-year partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices, announced last week, is such an important milestone. It secures the foundation of the SPX and VIX ecosystem for decades to come — and gives us the freedom to keep building. For more than 40 years, S&P DJI’s world-class benchmarks, combined with Cboe’s liquidity, market structure and product-development expertise, have made SPX and VIX global standards for risk management. With demand continuing to grow, we have an extraordinary opportunity to extend that leadership through new products, broader access and continued innovation.
That success has never belonged to Cboe and S&P DJI alone. It reflects the clients, brokers, market makers, institutional investors and liquidity providers who work with us every day to support some of the deepest, most resilient and most actively traded derivatives markets in the world. Their contribution reinforces a lesson I saw throughout the week: meaningful innovation is always an ecosystem effort.
The best ideas take hold when the industry rallies around a genuine investor need, engages in constructive debate and competes on a level playing field. That was the thread connecting Houston, New York and our renewed partnership: innovation moves markets forward when it is grounded in sound structure, broad participation and enduring trust.
Now we have the opportunity to turn that momentum into the next generation of markets — to expand participation, give investors better tools to manage risk and continue earning their confidence. Cboe is well positioned to lead. After a week that showcased both the pace of change and the strength of our franchise, I am more energized than ever about what comes next. We will keep pushing the boundaries of what a legacy options exchange can deliver while carrying forward the pioneering spirit that has defined Cboe from the beginning.
There are important risks associated with transacting in any of the Cboe Company products discussed here. Before engaging in any transactions in those products, it is important for market participants to carefully review the disclosures and disclaimers contained at: https://www.cboe.com/global-_disclaimers/. These products are complex and are suitable only for sophisticated market participants. In certain jurisdictions, Cboe Company products are only permitted for investment professionals, certified sophisticated investors, or high net worth corporations and associations. These products involve the risk of loss, which can be substantial and, depending on the type of product, can exceed the amount of money deposited in establishing the position. Market participants should put at risk only funds that they can afford to lose without affecting their lifestyle. © 2026 Cboe Exchange, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
