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Like put and call options for a stock, but for the future price of Bitcoin?

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It is possible, there various sites that provide option (or option like) trading. Each have their pros and cons. Of the ones I know of theses seemed the best. However YMMV and caveat emptor.

At time of writing here are some simple ones:

  • btc oracle <-- Looks like a very elegant (bitcoin) solution. Just send some bitcoins to the addresses and if (in 15min, 3hr, 1day, 1week respectively later) you are in the money you are sent back X a Multiplier.
  • btc Levels <-- Similar to btc oracle in concept. Except you have to login to place your (high low positions) bets. Plus you can only place positions for up to the next 24 hr.

However neither of those let you buy/sell an option that is in the money(or out of), you have to wait until the option expires. And neither of them let you write options.

Some others:

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It's possible in theory, but right now there are no good markets to actually do it. The only one I know is MPEX which has multiple problems and should be avoided.

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  • I found MPEX too, but thought it was not really usable...
    – B Seven
    Jan 28, 2013 at 23:20
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    Why should it be avoided ?
    – David
    Feb 1, 2013 at 6:50
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    @David: 1. It costs 30 BTC just to get an account. 2. Even if you paid the 30 BTC your account can be arbitrarily deleted at the owner's whim, effectively stealing your fees (bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=131061.0). 3. The current spreads for options make them impractical, and the automated offerings don't seem to have adapted to current rates. 4. The owner is an obnoxious troll. 5. The owner is an alleged scammer (bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=129544.0.)
    – Meni Rosenfeld
    Feb 1, 2013 at 7:32
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    1) Something not being free does not make it bad. 2) Inactive accounts get pruned with a two months notice, and to keep your account active you just need to leave a Satoshi in there, not a big deal I'd say. 3) It still addresses OPs need even if the spread isn't that good. 4) I don't usually judge the solidity of a financial service on the "niceness" of its operators, Pirate and all the scammers were all nice people apparently, did it make them honest ? No 5) The important part of your statement is "alleged", read the thread, there's nothing. Your answer is predjudiced and not backed by facts.
    – David
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:29
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    CoinBr is a MPEx broker that supports buying/selling/exercising of options, with much better interface and reasonable fees.
    – Juraj
    Feb 7, 2013 at 0:31
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OP, here you go: Haven't used the service myself.

https://atlasats.com/

Imgur

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MPEx is fine, it offers options.

Accounts there are expensive (30 BTC IIRC) but there are third-party brokers that will let you avoid these fees by offering a different fee structure.

If you want to deal with MPEx directly you should have some knowledge about PGP as its security architecture is based on it and requires to be able to clearsign orders.

It doesn't have any specific issues that I know of (except for the opinionated PR perhaps).

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  • Meni Rosenfeld's opinion is quite irrelevant here, MPEx allows the purchase and sale of options, which is precisely the question that is being asked.
    – David
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:24
  • If the suggested site has a questionable reputation, it is totally relevant!
    – o0'.
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:26
  • Look at the facts, not the opinions and hearsay, why do you think SatoshiDice chose it for its IPO?
    – David
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:31
  • There's plenty of facts in the posted links.
    – o0'.
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:36
  • i don't see anything that justifies that "it should be avoided". granted the PR is controversial, but AFAIK they've always been honest, they have a solid business model, they're chosen by the most successful bitcoin company ever for their IPO, they're transparent and have a rock-solid security model. And these are facts. Anyway, the OP will make his own opinion.
    – David
    Feb 1, 2013 at 17:53
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I have never traded options, so you should make sure that you look into any details before trading. Just keep yourself safe!

But here are some sites I found:

http://options.bbinary.com/GetUnlimited100Bonus/v2/en/?campaign=4189&p=about%20options%20trading

https://campbx.com/

http://www.btclevels.com/

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There are now quite a few ways to hedge the price of BTC. One way is with IG Markets binary options. There are also CFDs (contracts for difference) at several providers.

As for "dark pools" this concept is impossible on BTC since every 10 minutes all transactions are broadcast.

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  • You are welcome to stick around and provide better answers than those that you saw. However, your answer here could use a more specific reference than "quite a few" and "several providers". :)
    – Murch ♦
    Oct 18, 2013 at 13:15
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    Just as a quick pointer: dark pools are indeed possible as trades on exchanges are not in fact broadcast to the network. What happens inside an exchange is not public as long as no one pays out, which would then again be a transaction on the network, or the exchange operator decides to make it public.
    – cdecker
    Oct 18, 2013 at 20:59

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