CBOE CAN NOW LIST BINARY OPTIONS ON MARA’S BITCOIN COUNT — 9,270 OF ITS 35,577 BITCOIN WERE LOANED OR PLEDGED — PAYOUTS IGNORE LATER RESTATEMENTS

On October 13, 2026, the SEC approved a Cboe rule that lets the exchange list binary options on numbers companies report in their SEC filings. The order ran in the Federal Register on October 16. One company on the list is the bitcoin miner MARA Holdings. Cboe can list contracts on seven MARA figures, including "Number of Blocks Won," "BTC Produced" and "Total Bitcoin Holdings."

Look at what the contract checks. It pays on the number MARA writes in its filing, not on anything the chain shows. The rule says the reported figure is final, and the payout won't change "regardless of whether the KPI is later restated by the issuer." A block count can at least be held up against the public chain. A holdings count can't, unless the company publishes its addresses, and MARA's June quarter 10-Q doesn't list any.

The holdings number also isn't all coins in hand. At June 30, 2026, MARA reported 35,577 bitcoin of total holdings. Of those, 9,270 were booked as a receivable, which the filing says can "include bitcoin loaned or pledged as collateral": 4,742 lent to counterparties and 4,528 pledged, 4,253 of them against its line of credit. That's 26.06% of the count, coins other people hold for now. The same filing says MARA sold about 23,093 bitcoin in the first half of 2026.

So a contract on "Total Bitcoin Holdings" pays on a ledger line that mixes coins MARA holds with coins it's owed. Bitcoin was built so you could check a balance without asking anyone. This product asks. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $81,323.