Binary Options

In finance, a binary option is a type of option in which the payoff can take only two possible outcomes, either some fixed monetary amount of some asset or nothing at all (in contrast to ordinary financial options that typically have a continuous spectrum of payoff). The two main types of binary options are the cash-or-nothing binary option and the asset-or-nothing binary option. The cash-or-nothing binary option pays some fixed amount of cash if the option expires in-the-money while the asset-or-nothing pays the value of the underlying security. They are also called all-or-nothing options, digital options (more common in forex/interest rate markets), and fixed return options (FROs) (on the American Stock Exchange).

When buying a binary option the potential return it offers is certain and known before the purchase is made. Binary options can be bought on virtually any financial product and can be bought in both directions of trade either by buying a “Call”/“Up” option or a “Put”/“Down” option. Binary options are offered against a fixed expiry time.

For example, a purchase is made of a binary cash-or-nothing call option on XYZ Corp's stock struck at $100 with a binary payoff of $1,000. Then, if at the future maturity date, the stock is trading at above $100, $1,000 is received. If the stock is trading below $100, no money is received. And if the stock is trading at $100, the money is returned to the purchaser.

The value of a digital option can be expressed in terms of the probability of exceeding a certain value, that is, the cumulative distribution function, which in the Black-Scholes equation is the Gaussian. Due to the difficulty for market-makers to hedge binary options that are near the strike price around expiry, these are much less liquid than vanilla options. Dealers often replicate them using vertical spreads, which provides a rough, inexact hedge.

Business model

The platforms do not charge fees from their investors. Their profit comes from the difference between the options that expire in the money to options that expire out of the money. This difference can be found by the formula below. In this (for each base asset with same expiry characteristics), (W) is the in the money option payout in percentage terms (e.g., 1.7), (L) is the out of the money option payout in percentage terms (e.g., 0.15), (V_{1}),(V_{2}) are the turnovers of transactions made for each outcome (e.g., $1,000), (S) is the platform's gain.

S=-[V_{1}(W-1)+V_{2}(L-1)] In this example the platform's turnover is $2,000 and its profit is $150 or 7.5% on turnover. As the platform’s gain comes from the above formula, most platforms will be indifferent as to the outcome of a single trade. Note that if V_{1} is not equal to V_{2} then the platform will have to act as a market maker. This can cause the platform gain (S) to be more volatile than in the above formula. In order for a trader to make a long-term profit he has to predict correctly roughly 54.5% of the time (depending on in-the-money and out-of-the money payouts).

Exchange-traded binary options

In 2007, the Options Clearing Corporation proposed a rule change to allow binary options. and the Securities and Exchange Commission approved listing cash-or-nothing binary options in 2008. In May 2008, the American Stock Exchange (Amex) launched exchange-traded European cash-or-nothing binary options, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) followed in June 2008. The standardization of binary options allows them to be exchange-traded with continuous quotations.

Amex offers binary options on some ETFs and a few highly liquid equities such as Citigroup and Google. Amex calls binary options "Fixed Return Options" (FROs); calls are named "Finish High" and puts are named "Finish Low". To reduce the threat of market manipulation of single stocks, Amex FROs use a "settlement index" defined as a volume-weighted average of trades on the expiration day. Amex and Donato A. Montanaro submitted a patent application for exchange-listed binary options using a volume-weighted settlement index in 2005.