On December 22, 2025, Binance announced a significant expansion of its derivatives platform, allowing all users to write (sell) ether options to earn passive income. Previously, this sophisticated strategy was primarily available to professional traders on platforms like Deribit.
Users can now earn premiums by selling call or put options on Ethereum, while posting margin as collateral to cover potential obligations. Call option writers profit when ETH prices remain flat or decline, while put option writers benefit when prices stay stable or increase. The premium received serves as immediate income for the option writer.
To ensure responsible trading, Binance requires all users to complete a suitability assessment before accessing the options writing feature. This move responds to growing demand from both retail and institutional investors for more accessible crypto derivatives tools.
Jeff Li, Vice President of Product at Binance, stated the company aims to deliver tools that meet evolving user needs. The launch builds on Binance's earlier move to open bitcoin options writing to retail users, now putting ether options alongside bitcoin options for broader access.
Platform Infrastructure Improvements: Binance upgraded its options platform to support the new features, including higher API throughput and lower latency for faster order execution. The exchange expanded available strike prices across multiple assets, giving traders more precision for hedging and trading strategies. New WebSocket streams now provide deeper market data for more detailed analysis.
Fee Discounts: To attract liquidity, Binance introduced a 20% discount on both taker and maker fees for VIP users on newly listed ETH, BTC, BNB, and SOL options contracts. This follows similar moves by the exchange to capture market share in the competitive derivatives space.
The development comes amid growing institutional interest in crypto derivatives, highlighted by BlackRock's IBIT options surpassing Deribit's bitcoin options in trading volume earlier in 2025. Binance remains the leading crypto exchange by trading volume and continues to expand its derivatives offerings to maintain competitiveness.
