Injective has introduced a new on-chain options product covering real-world indices and commodities, expanding its derivatives infrastructure with a fully collateralized structure designed to eliminate margin calls and liquidation risks for option writers. The initial rollout includes six testnet markets, with access to contract writers initially restricted to whitelisted participants.
The announcement, published on Oct. 27, marks another step in Injective’s effort to expand synthetic asset exposure and derivatives trading on blockchain infrastructure. The product supports call and put options linked to equity indices, precious metals, crude oil, and a specialized computing index.
Injective said every option is fully backed by native Injective USDC when it is written, with the required collateral locked on-chain until expiration. The structure allows sellers to establish their maximum potential payout upfront, reducing exposure to the margin requirements and forced liquidations commonly associated with conventional derivatives trading.
Six Markets Cover Equities, Commodities and AI Computing
The initial testnet offering comprises six markets, including the Super Intelligence Compute Index (SICI), an index tracking the top 500 U.S. companies, an index covering the top 100 U.S. technology companies, gold, silver and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.
The inclusion of SICI connects the options product to Injective’s recent expansion into computing-related financial instruments. The project introduced the index on Oct. 26, 2026, a day before announcing the options platform. According to Injective, SICI tracks the hourly rental prices of five Nvidia graphics processing units, providing a benchmark linked to demand for high-performance computing resources.
The options product initially gives participants a way to establish positions around that benchmark, potentially supporting hedging strategies as well as speculative exposure to movements in computing costs.
Injective said the contracts follow a European-style structure and settle in USDC. European-style options can generally be exercised only at expiration, while cash settlement allows the contract’s value to be paid in the settlement currency rather than through delivery of the underlying asset.
By capping payouts and securing the required collateral upfront, the product is designed to give option writers a clearly defined maximum loss without ongoing margin calls or liquidation risk arising from collateral shortfalls.
Testnet Trading Includes Institutional Liquidity Support
The initial launch is operating on testnet, with writing access limited to approved participants. Injective said an institutional liquidity provider would quote both sides of each strike price from the outset, helping establish trading liquidity across the available contracts.
The trading interface is designed to display the premium, maximum profit, maximum loss, and breakeven point before users confirm a transaction. These details are intended to help participants understand a contract’s financial implications before committing capital.
Although the contracts are designed to settle automatically at expiration, participants may also close their positions earlier if both parties agree to clear the outstanding risk. This provides a mechanism for managing exposure before the contract reaches its scheduled settlement date.
The initial testnet phase allows Injective to introduce the contract mechanics and trading infrastructure before any broader rollout. The announcement did not specify a date for a mainnet launch or unrestricted access.
A new era of options infrastructure is coming to Injective.
Just one day after launching the Super Intelligence Compute Index ($SICI), Injective is officially unveiling Injective Options, introducing an entirely new financial primitive for developers, institutions and users.
Now LIVE on testnet.
The initial launch brings fully backed calls and puts across six distinct markets:
→ SICI: The first onchain AI compute index
→ US500: The top 500 US companies
→ US Tech: The top 100 US technology companies
→ Gold, Silver and Oil: Global commoditiesEvery option is fully collateralized using native Injective USDC, as USDC becomes a canonical standard across more than 20 blockchains.
But these initial markets only represent just a fraction of what’s possible on $INJ starting now
Developers can leverage the new options infrastructure to build white label exchanges, launch their own derivatives protocols and introduce entirely new financial products without building the underlying infrastructure from scratch.
Institutions can create customized derivatives and hedging products, while users gain access to new markets and the ability to trade or write options directly onchain.
As more applications launch, they can generate entirely new revenue streams for builders while bringing additional trading activity, liquidity and fees to Injective and its broader ecosystem.
Injective isn’t building just another options exchange. It’s introducing the composable infrastructure for an entire ecosystem of options protocols to thrive and interact with financial primitives across the onchain universe.
And this is only the beginning.
— Injective 🥷 (@injective) October 27, 2026
Example Shows How Capped Options Work
Injective outlined an illustrative SICI call spread to explain the product’s payout structure. In the example, a trader writes 100 capped call contracts with a strike price of $113 and a maximum payout level of $123. Each contract covers 0.01 times the index and carries a premium of $0.03, resulting in a total premium of $3.
If SICI settles at $119, the position would pay $6. If the index reaches $125, the payout would be capped at $10. The example identifies $116 as the breakeven level, reflecting the relationship between the strike price and the premium received.
A corresponding put example uses the same contract size and premium, with a $113 strike price and a $103 floor. The figures illustrate the proposed contract mechanics rather than actual trading volumes or market performance.
Developers Could Build Derivatives Platforms on Injective
Injective is positioning the options product as infrastructure for developers, institutions and other users seeking to introduce derivatives markets without constructing an entire trading system independently.
The project said developers could use the underlying infrastructure to create white-label options exchanges and derivatives protocols, potentially reducing the technical work required to launch specialized financial products onchain.
The launch adds another component to Injective’s broader synthetic asset strategy, combining blockchain-based collateral management, defined-risk contracts and institutional liquidity support. Its longer-term significance will depend on the availability of markets beyond testnet, participation from liquidity providers, and the extent to which traders and developers adopt the infrastructure.
