Bybit did not provide a statement or executive comment for this article.

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Crypto exchange Bybit will begin offering options contracts on its stock perpetuals product on September 17, 2026, at 8:00 PM UTC, starting with SpaceX (SPCX) and Nvidia (NVDA). The instruments settle in USDT and trade around the clock, seven days a week. For retail investors across India, Southeast Asia, and Africa who face structural barriers to US equity markets through domestic brokers, the launch represents a new point of access, though with important legal and tax caveats.

The options sit on top of Bybit's existing TradFi Perpetuals infrastructure, which the exchange launched in April 2026. That product, as of May 2026, covered 20 US stocks, three global ETFs, and three commodity contracts. Options allow traders to buy or sell the right to a position at a set price by a set date, which enables strategies beyond simple directional bets, including spreads, straddles, and covered calls. Minimum position sizes start at approximately $5 in notional value, structured as fractional lots from 0.01 units. The contracts integrate with Bybit's Unified Trading Account, which supports portfolio margin across products. European Economic Area residents are excluded from the product. Availability for users in other markets, including India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, should be confirmed locally, as eligibility varies by jurisdiction.

SpaceX is the more striking of the two launch assets. The company completed its Nasdaq IPO on June 12, 2026, pricing at $135 per share and raising roughly $75 billion in what was the largest public offering in history. The stock closed its first day at $160.95, a 19% gain, and reached an intraday peak of $225.64 on June 16. As of August 28, SPCX is trading near $140.87, about 4% above its IPO price. SpaceX reported Q2 2026 revenue of $7.8 billion, up 92% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 billion, up 191%, though the company also recorded a net loss of $541 million, a figure relevant for options traders assessing the cash burn behind the headline IPO story. According to unaudited figures Bybit provided to The Block, SpaceX was already the most-traded equity perpetual on the exchange in June, generating more than $66 billion in trading volume in a single month. According to its own PR materials, Bybit claims to have over 80 million global users and describes itself as the world's second-largest derivatives exchange by volume.

Nvidia warrants its own consideration as an options underlying. NVDA is trading around $227.98 as of market close August 27, up 8.74% intraday following earnings guidance, with 58 of 59 tracked analysts rating it a Buy or Strong Buy and a consensus price target of $305.79. The stock's 52-week range runs from $164.07 to $236.54, and analysts project Q3 revenue of approximately $108 billion. Both figures reinforce the case for NVDA as a compelling options underlying, particularly for traders seeking exposure to a name with dense analyst coverage and a wide price range.

The broader market for equity perpetuals has expanded sharply in 2026. According to one market analysis published by cryptofada.substack.com, a figure not corroborated by an institutional data provider, total sector volume grew from roughly $16 billion in 2025 to more than $590 billion year to date in 2026. Bybit's competitor Kraken launched what it described as the first regulated tokenized equity perpetuals in early 2026, built on the xStocks framework, serving clients across more than 110 countries. The product category has become a defined competitive front among major crypto exchanges, with the main variables being leverage limits, geographic access, and settlement structure.

Regulatory context shapes how traders in different regions should read this launch. The US Securities and Exchange Commission laid out a taxonomy for tokenized securities in January 2026 and has since been developing an innovation exemption framework for round-the-clock tokenized stock trading. The CFTC issued initial guidance on cryptoasset perpetual futures on May 29, 2026. However, the SEC has not approved universal 24/7 stock trading as of today, which means Bybit's product functions as a derivatives or contract-for-difference instrument rather than direct equity ownership. Users hold no shareholder rights, receive no dividends, and have no voting entitlements. The contract tracks price only. Regulatory positions vary across South Asian and African jurisdictions: in India, SEBI has not recognized these instruments, while in South Africa, the FSCA has not issued specific guidance on equity-linked crypto derivatives.

For Indian users, Bybit has been fully operational since formalizing its Financial Intelligence Unit registration in early 2025, following payment of a regulatory penalty of approximately 9.27 crore rupees and completion of anti-money laundering compliance requirements. Access to US equities through Indian domestic brokers remains limited by RBI foreign investment caps and SEBI licensing barriers. USDT-settled derivatives sidestep those restrictions structurally, but Indian tax law still applies. Gains are subject to a flat 30% capital gains rate, and a 1% tax deducted at source applies on every disposal event. In South Africa, Bybit operates through a local juristic representative arrangement and accepts ZAR deposits via bank transfer. Across its broader Middle East and North Africa footprint, the exchange recorded $33.5 billion in trading volume during its first year of operations in the region. Across sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the 24/7 trading window addresses a practical problem: US equity markets close during African and Asian daytime hours, meaning most retail participants in those regions have historically had no real-time access to US price movements. Southeast Asia has emerged as the fastest-growing region for tokenized asset trading, with the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam among the highest-engagement markets. The $5 minimum lot size also removes a capital threshold that would otherwise exclude participation in high-priced names like NVDA.

Bybit has signaled plans to extend the options product to Tesla (TSLA), the Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQ), a semiconductor leveraged ETF (SOXL), and Micron (MU), with new expiry dates to be added on a rolling basis. The September 17 launch date positions Bybit ahead of any formal SEC framework for 24/7 tokenized equity trading, which remains in development. How regulators in key emerging markets respond to growing retail participation in these instruments is likely to define the product's long-term trajectory outside the US.