(Bloomberg) -- Cboe Global Markets Inc. plans to launch a micro-sized S&P 500 options contract next year – dubbed “nanos” – aimed squarely at the day-trading army.
The contracts will be a fraction of the size of existing S&P 500 options, allowing speculators to make bets with less money. CBOE said in a statement that it wants to make options “accessible for the everyday retail trader” and the smaller contract size will be suitable for beginners.
The nanos will be one-hundredth the size of the popular minis contract, which itself is one-tenth the value of the options contract. For an SPX option price of $1,000, the corresponding Nano contract price is $1. Cboe plans to list the options in the first quarter of 2022.
Options trading has flourished during the pandemic, fanned by the popularity of Reddit boards, social media hype and the ease of free trading apps such as Robinhood. Retail demand is strong for low-priced assets, from stocks to meme cryptocurrencies.
“Nanos are more appropriately sized for retail traders and enable traders to better express their opinions on market movements at a comparatively lower premium price,” said Ed Tilly, chief executive officer of Cboe Global Markets.
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