GTH Options Trading Tops 180,000 Contracts in Week One
Global Trading Hours (GTH) options trading recorded more than 180,000 contracts in its first week, from October 19 to 23, 2026. Nearly 93% of activity took place in the 7:30–9:25 a.m. ET morning session, while Cboe Options Exchange (C1) captured 63% of that volume and 91% of the afternoon Curb session.
Trading accelerated through the week, reaching more than 82,000 contracts on Friday. ETF options led activity: SPY, QQQ and IWM accounted for about 79% of total contracts. SPY alone traded just over 77,000 contracts. Among single stocks, NVDA and TSLA were the most active. Total options premium exceeded $66 million.
Early liquidity indicators improved in SPY: its average bid-ask spread narrowed from 8 cents on the first day to 4 cents by Wednesday, while displayed size increased. Cboe expects activity to broaden as more brokers add access, particularly for single-stock options. The launch gives traders additional opportunities to adjust positions outside regular market hours, though participation and liquidity are still developing.
Neutral
This is a market-structure development for listed stock and ETF options, not a direct catalyst for cryptocurrency prices. The first-week volume, Cboe’s market share and improving SPY spreads indicate early demand and liquidity formation, but the article does not report changes to crypto trading, regulation or market-wide risk appetite. Any effect on crypto is therefore likely to be indirect and limited.
In the short term, extended options hours may help traders respond to earnings releases and macroeconomic data outside regular hours. As with other trading-hour expansions, initial activity can be concentrated in highly liquid products while participation and displayed depth build gradually. For crypto traders, broader access to traditional markets could modestly affect cross-asset positioning or volatility around major news, but there is no evidence here of an immediate directional signal for Bitcoin or other digital assets.
Over the longer term, additional broker access and deeper liquidity could make listed options more useful for hedging and price discovery across traditional markets. That may influence how some investors allocate risk between asset classes, but any crypto-market impact would depend on wider factors such as interest rates, dollar movements, institutional flows and crypto-specific news. On the evidence provided, the appropriate assessment is neutral.