Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex), the largest US-regulated binary options exchanges and a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest brokerages – the IG Group (LON:IGG), reported that its Q1 2016 volume and trades executed on the exchange posted a growth of more than 60%, year on year. According to the Nadex report, the total number of trades on its platform in the first quarter of this year rose 64% from the same period of last year, while the total volume increased 68%.
More than 11% of the trading was in Nadex Spreads. Those are an instrument with built-in floor and ceiling levels that define the lowest and the highest points at which the trade can settle, thus letting the trader know the maximum potential loss and profit from the outset. Nadex offers spreads on stock indices, forex and commodities.
The most heavily traded contracts were the US 500 (based on the CME E-mini S&P 500 Index Futures) and the EUR/USD exchange rate. Binaries on the CBOT E-mini Dow Futures and CME E-mini NASDAQ 100 Index Futures were also popular, as were crude oil and gold.
Nadex also reports that four of the five most heavily traded binary options were forex, including the British pound, Japanese yen, and Australian dollar.
Nadex is the largest binary options and spreads exchange in the US. It is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The exchange was launched in 2004 as HedgeStreet and was the first regulated Internet-based event futures/derivatives exchange.
Its platform, which also has recently updated mobile apps, offers trading in short-term price movements in forex, commodities, and stock index markets, as well as on economic events and the price of Bitcoin.
The US binary options market is tightly regulated and does not let offshore platforms to offer off-exchange binary options trade to retail US customers. By law, only CFTC-regulated US exchanges can do so.
Another major US binary options exchange is Cantor.