Binary Options Markets: What Can You Trade & Where?
The range of markets you can trade with binary options has evolved over the years, from stocks and currencies to cryptocurrencies and even proprietary assets built by brokers. We compare the different markets available to trade and list the brokers with the best range of binary trading assets.
Binary Options Brokers With The Most Markets
After logging into their platforms to record the range of markets you can trade with binaries and counting up the individual assets, these brokers came out on top:
| Broker | Markets | Min Deposit | Expiry Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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CloseOption | 20 | $5 | 30 seconds - 1 month | » Visit |
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BinaryCent | 163 | $250 | 5 seconds - 30 days | » Visit |
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RaceOption | 161 | $200 | 5 seconds - 30 days | » Visit |
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Videforex | 150 | $250 | 5 seconds - 1 month | » Visit |
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IQCent | 148 | $250 | 5 seconds - 1 month | » Visit |
Visit
Popular Binary Options Markets
Below is a comparison of the markets typically available to trade with binary options contracts. Further below, we go into more detail about each market and the key considerations.
| Market | Example Assets | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY | Most widely available; major pairs often offer the best payouts; plenty of short-term price movement | Minor/exotic pairs can be less liquid, with lower payouts; careful analysis needed |
| Stocks | Tesla, Amazon, Nvidia | Trade specific companies and sectors; strong catalysts from earnings and headlines | Coverage is often US-heavy; prices can gap on news and around market hours |
| Indices | S&P 500, FTSE 100, DAX 40 | Straightforward way to trade overall market direction with less single-stock risk | Payouts are often lower than major forex pairs (sometimes ~50%); not offered by all brokers |
| Commodities | Gold, Silver, Oil, Coffee | Popular markets like gold and oil are widely available, with high potential payouts | Less-traded commodities like softs can have lower payouts; sharp moves can follow supply, inventory or weather news |
| Crypto | Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) | Lots of volatility and frequent setups; some brokers offer high payouts on major coins (BTC, ETH) | Very difficult to predict short-term moves due to volatility; payouts vary a lot by broker; not available everywhere |
| Custom | ’Hype Pool’ broker index/sentiment | Broker-built markets with occasional very high payouts, sometimes up to ~2500% | Higher risk of conflicts of interest in pricing; harder to analyze; often driven by social hype |
Forex
Trading forex binary options involves speculating on the price of currency pairs. Forex is the most widely supported asset class – virtually every binary broker we’ve tested offers currencies.
You’ll typically find majors, such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY, which tend to offer the highest potential payouts. Some platforms also offer minor and exotic currency pairs, such as CAD/CNY, EUR/CHF, and USD/THB. Due to lower liquidity in these markets, payouts tend to be lower.
Stocks
Individual stocks can be traded with binary options. This gives traders an opportunity to speculate on blue-chip stocks, such as Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. Brokers that do offer stocks tend to focus on US-listed equities, but some also provide exposure to companies listed in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.
Stocks can be a good option if you want to trade specific companies or are interested in particular sectors, such as technologies like AI, financials, or pharmaceuticals.
Indices
Stock indices are an option on some platforms, though these aren’t as common as currency pairs. Similar to individual stocks, brokers tend to focus on major US markets like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. That said, some also offer binaries on European indices like the DAX 40 (Germany) and CAC 40 (France), and indices from other popular regions, such as the AUS 200 (Australia) and JPN 225 (Japan).
Payouts on stock indices tend to be lower than major currencies – sometimes around the 50% mark when we checked different trading platforms.
Commodities
Trading metals, energies, plus hard and soft commodities is also an option on many binary platforms. Gold, silver and oil are frequently provided, while some firms also offer a long list of metals, such as palladium and platinum, plus softs like corn, coffee, cocoa, and soybeans.
Payouts on well-traded markets like gold and oil tend to be much higher than smaller markets like platinum and cocoa.
Crypto
Crypto binary options have gotten popular in recent years as digital currencies have become more mainstream. They aren’t provided by every broker, but those that do tend to offer high/low contracts on big tokens like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, plus other smaller tokens. These can often be traded against the US dollar or even other cryptos like Tether.
Keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile, so predicting short-term price movements can be very difficult. Payouts can also vary from over 90% on some platforms we’ve used to under 50% on others.
Custom
As well as traditional markets, like those above, some firms offer binaries on their own, in-house assets. One example of this is the ‘hype pool’ available on IQCent, which lets users trade on influential figures, with a Trump vs Musk asset. With these, outcomes are driven by short-term market dynamics and speculation with other traders that essentially cover hype around big events.
The potential payouts on these assets can be huge, even reaching 2500%. However, we recommend caution because pricing on broker-built assets can be less transparent and harder to independently verify, with conflicts of interest.
Also, predicting future price trends can be challenging because traditional analysis techniques may not apply in the same way or be as effective.
IQCent – Hype Pool Binary Option
How Can I Check What Binary Assets A Broker Offers?
Most firms we’ve tested list the general range of markets on their website, such as forex, stocks, and commodities. However, the best way to see specific assets is to open a binary demo account (usually takes less than 5 minutes) and log into their platform (often web-based).
Then you can usually scroll through the different assets, which are typically categorised by market, such as forex. Or you can use their search bar to look for a specific asset, such as EUR/USD.
Whichever market you choose to trade, having a clear binary trading strategy and risk management plan is essential.