Bybit Launches 24/7 Options on Synthetic SpaceX and Nvidia Perpetuals Starting Sept. 17

Bybit is adding options contracts on synthetic equity perpetuals to its platform, beginning with SpaceX (SPCX) and Nvidia (NVDA) on September 17, 2026. The contracts settle in USDT, support fractional lots, and trade around the clock, giving users continuous exposure to equity-like instruments without touching a traditional brokerage.

These are options layered on top of synthetic perpetuals, meaning traders can buy calls or puts on instruments that track equity prices but never involve actual share ownership. Settlement in USDT keeps everything on-chain and avoids the custody complications of tokenized equities. Fractional lots lower the capital threshold, opening the product to retail participants who might otherwise lack the margin to trade standard options contracts on either name. SpaceX is a particularly notable inclusion: the company remains private, making it inaccessible through conventional equity markets for most retail investors globally.

The product stacks two layers of leverage risk. Perpetuals already carry funding rate exposure and liquidation risk. Options add convexity: a position can go to zero between sessions, and with 24/7 trading, after-hours gaps that equity markets absorb at open instead hit positions in real time. Bybit has not yet published specific margin requirements or maximum leverage parameters for the new contracts, details that will matter considerably for how exposed retail users actually are.

Bybit's move fits a pattern that has accelerated across the derivatives sector since 2021. Platforms competing for market share have progressively pushed beyond pure crypto assets into synthetic equities, commodities, and forex instruments, pitching always-on, permissionless access as the core differentiator from regulated venues. The regulatory read on these products, however, remains genuinely unsettled.

The core legal question is whether a synthetic equity option constitutes an unregistered securities offering. U.S. regulators have not issued clear guidance specifically covering options on synthetic equity perpetuals, and Bybit, which restricts U.S. users from its platform, operates in a jurisdiction patchwork that varies sharply by country. If regulators in major markets determine these instruments fall under securities law, Bybit could face pressure to restrict access or wind down the product entirely. The SEC has previously pursued enforcement against crypto platforms offering products it deemed to be unregistered securities, and the CFTC has jurisdiction over certain derivatives that reference equity prices.

"Bybit's 24/7 options trading on SpaceX and Nvidia highlights the growing trend of crypto platforms offering synthetic equity exposure, raising concerns about regulatory protections and amplified risks due to leverage."

The counterargument from platforms is straightforward: synthetic assets with crypto-native settlement provide legitimate market access to global users who are locked out of traditional equity markets by geography, accreditation requirements, or brokerage infrastructure. For a retail trader in Southeast Asia or Latin America who cannot open a U.S. brokerage account, a USDT-settled perpetual on SpaceX is the only available proxy for that exposure. That argument has real merit. It does not resolve the regulatory exposure.

Bybit's move puts it in direct competition with other derivatives venues that have tested synthetic equity products, though the combination of options on perpetuals with 24/7 settlement and fractional sizing is a more feature-complete offering than most prior attempts. Whether the September 17 launch proceeds without regulatory interference, and how quickly Bybit expands the underlying asset list beyond SPCX and NVDA, will signal how confident the exchange is in the product's legal standing across its key markets.