B3, Brazil’s principal stock exchange and one of the largest in the world by market value, has launched options on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana futures, according to an exchange circular—extending the country’s already-deep regulated crypto market into a more sophisticated layer of derivatives.
Six new contracts, live now
Effective July 6, B3 introduced six new instruments for participants in its listed-derivatives segment: call and put options on each of its Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana futures contracts. The Bitcoin options trade under the ticker BIT and are priced in Brazilian reais, while the Ethereum (ETR) and Solana (SOL) options are priced in U.S. dollars, with settlement converted into reais—a structure that reflects how B3 has built its crypto suite for a local investor base.
The contracts are cash-settled and European-style, meaning they can only be exercised at expiration rather than at any point before it, and they are available across all monthly expirations. Their prices reference established Nasdaq crypto reference rates, anchoring the Brazilian products to widely used international benchmarks.
In practical terms, these are options on futures—a derivative of a derivative—giving traders a regulated tool to hedge or speculate on the direction and volatility of the three assets within Brazil’s exchange infrastructure.
Regulated exposure, no spot custody
The defining feature of B3’s approach, and the circular is explicit on this point, is that the entire product operates without touching the underlying cryptocurrencies. Trading and settling these options does not involve the custody, transfer, or administration of spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana at any stage.
Investors gain price exposure to the assets entirely through regulated financial contracts, settled in cash, inside an exchange environment supervised by Brazil’s securities regulator, the CVM.
That distinction matters. It places the products firmly within traditional capital-markets rules rather than in the crypto-service-provider category, which carries different custody, security, and counterparty considerations. For institutional investors and asset managers operating under strict mandates, the kind that often cannot hold tokens directly, that regulated, custody-free wrapper is precisely what makes crypto exposure permissible.
It is the same logic that has driven the growth of crypto ETFs and futures worldwide: absorbing digital-asset exposure into familiar, supervised financial rails rather than requiring participants to engage with the assets natively.
Why it matters: Brazil’s deepening crypto market
The launch is less a standalone event than the latest step in one of the world’s most methodical build-outs of regulated crypto access. Brazil has repeatedly moved ahead of larger markets: it approved spot Bitcoin ETFs before the United States, became the first country to list a spot XRP exchange-traded fund on B3, and has steadily added Ethereum and Solana products.
B3 introduced Ethereum and Solana futures in 2025, citing rising institutional demand, and even reduced its Bitcoin futures contract size to widen access. Options on those futures are the natural next rung: once a futures market matures and gains liquidity, options give participants finer tools to manage risk and express more nuanced views.
The inclusion of Solana is itself notable. Regulated derivatives have historically centered on Bitcoin and Ethereum, and SOL’s presence alongside them, both in B3’s futures and now its options, reflects a broader trend of “blue-chip” crypto expanding beyond the top two assets into supervised products.
It mirrors a global pattern: CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, launched options on its own Solana and XRP futures in late 2025 to meet institutional demand for hedging tools beyond Bitcoin and Ether. B3’s move extends that same institutional-grade toolkit into Latin America’s largest economy.
The appropriate framing is measured. This is a product-launch circular, not a market-moving event, and options on crypto futures will draw a specialized audience of institutions and active traders rather than the retail masses. But the significance lies in the venue and the direction.
When an exchange of B3’s scale, operating under a national securities regulator, keeps layering new crypto derivatives onto its board, it is a signal that regulated crypto exposure is maturing from a novelty into standard market infrastructure. Brazil, already a pacesetter in crypto ETFs and futures, is now offering the kind of derivatives sophistication that until recently existed almost exclusively in the largest global markets, reinforcing its position as the region’s clear leader in bringing digital assets inside the traditional financial system.
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