In September 2025, Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), the retail brokerage platform, held its annual HOOD Summit – a symposium that brings together retail traders, investment enthusiasts and capital markets subject matter experts to discuss developments occurring within the investment landscape and the innovations being brought to market by Robinhood and other investment industry stakeholders.
At this year's event, representatives from Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), attended and shared their insights on the increasing significance of retail traders in the investment landscape and the new solutions Cboe is introducing to the market. Below is a look at key takeaways for the event and an outline of Cboe’s new product offerings.
The Growing Importance Of Retail Investors
The influence of the retail investing group in the broader investment landscape has grown significantly in recent years; therefore, understanding and addressing the needs of this group is crucial going forward. The increasing use of options by investors illustrates the growing sophistication of individuals in the investing world. U.S. options volumes have risen every year since 2020, reaching more than 12.2 billion contracts in 2024 – a 63% increase since 2020. The rise in retail options trading highlights the increasing expertise and impact of individual investors. At the conference, Cboe shared its belief that retail involvement strengthens markets for everyone. The company focused on championing access by delivering powerful tools and products, once reserved for institutions, into the hands of everyday traders.
By expanding access to investor education, data and tradable products, Cboe aims to raise awareness of the many ways options can improve and diversify an investment portfolio for retail investors.
Broadening Market Access
With increased knowledge comes the desire to put it into action. Retail investors are increasingly showing interest in trading at any time, and financial institutions are adapting by developing tools to support this. Cboe's SPX® options are traded almost 24 hours a day, five days a week, through their worldwide network, enabling traders in the U.S., Europe and Asia to hedge risks, handle volatility and respond to news during the night. This level of flexibility and availability is key to fulfilling the demands of modern market participants.
Bringing New Solutions To Market
At last year's HOOD summit, Cboe announced its intention to launch index options on Robinhood. Following that tradition, this year Cboe announced its intention to launch two new offerings, the Cboe Magnificent 10 Index and the Bitcoin and Ether Continuous Futures.
The index is an equal-weighted thematic benchmark designed to track the price return of 10 large-cap U.S.-listed stocks from technology and growth-focused companies. Its current components include all the Magnificent 7 stocks – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), along with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR). Cboe plans to offer futures and options on the Cboe Magnificent 10 Index, trading nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week, providing market participants with a broad range of tools to manage risk, enhance returns and express opinions on one of the most active sectors of the U.S. equity market.
The launch of Bitcoin and Ether continuous futures provides U.S. traders with a simpler and more efficient way to achieve long-term exposure to digital assets, implement trading strategies and control risk – all within a U.S.-regulated, centrally cleared and intermediated framework. Cboe continuous futures are designed as single, long-term contracts with a 10-year expiration, reducing the need to roll over positions and making position management easier. These contracts will be cash-settled and aligned with real-time spot market prices (i.e., spot prices of Bitcoin and Ether, respectively) through daily cash adjustments, using a transparent and replicable funding rate methodology.
While Cboe is introducing new products to the market, it is also expanding market access for its existing offerings. The firm recently announced plans to launch Cboe FLexible EXchange® options (FLEX options) in Europe at its 2025 Risk Management Conference in Munich, Germany. FLEX options offer market participants the ability to customize key contract terms – including strike price, expiration date, settlement type and exercise style – for options on stock indices, individual equities and ETFs, all within a regulated exchange environment.
FLEX options have become popular in the U.S., as they are essential in supporting defined-outcome ETFs, which use options strategies to help investors pursue specific investment goals such as income generation, downside protection or enhanced growth.
Cboe Europe Derivatives plans to make FLEX Options available in Q1 2026, subject to external assessments.
Closing Thoughts
The HOOD summit is an opportunity for retail investors and traders to gather and enjoy a sense of community centered on investing. As barriers to investing decline, events such as the HOOD summit enable more knowledge sharing and insight gathering among retail traders and service providers within the investment ecosystem. “Attending HOOD Summit for the first time was a powerful experience. The conversations, themes, and standout moments reinforced the evolving landscape of retail investing. This week was a testament to what's possible when we listen to our customers and innovate together,” said one Cboe executive.
Cboe seeks to empower retail traders and investors, whether it’s through providing educational resources like The Options Institute or bringing to market new and novel offerings that allow them to execute trading strategies in a robust and efficient manner.
As the investment landscape continues to evolve, Cboe will be there to help retail traders and investors navigate the landscape with confidence.
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This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.
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