What is a Cboe BZX Exchange? Definition, Role, and Example
Cboe BZX Exchange is a U.S. national securities exchange owned by Cboe Global Markets that operates a fully electronic equities trading venue, a U.S. options market, and one of the largest Bitcoin and Ethereum spot crypto exchanges in the U.S.
What is the Cboe BZX Exchange?
Cboe BZX Exchange is a U.S. national securities exchange operated by Cboe Global Markets, Inc. BZX began as BATS Exchange in 2008 and rebranded after Cboe acquired BATS Global Markets in 2017. The exchange operates three distinct businesses: BZX Equities, a fully electronic stock exchange; BZX Options, a U.S. options trading venue; and BZX Digital Assets, a spot cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2025. BZX Equities ranks among the top five U.S. equities exchanges by market share, typically capturing 8–12% of consolidated tape volume on a typical trading day.
How the Cboe BZX Exchange is structured
BZX Equities operates as a continuous, price-time priority limit order book. Orders arriving at the same price execute in the sequence they arrive. The exchange supports order types including market, limit, IOC (immediate-or-cancel), FOK (fill-or-kill), and pegged orders. BZX also offers a retail price improvement program, which routes retail orders to market makers who compete to improve the NBBO (National Best Bid and Offer) by at least one mill (one cent).
BZX Options is a fully electronic options exchange. It uses a maker-taker fee model: liquidity providers receive a rebate, liquidity takers pay a fee. The exchange lists options on over 2,000 underlying securities and supports complex order types including spreads, straddles, and iron condors.
BZX Digital Assets launched in September 2025, offering spot trading in BTC and ETH with U.S. dollar and USDC settlement. The exchange operates under a New York limited-purpose trust charter and a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services.
Worked example: BZX market share and fee schedule
On a typical session in August 2026, BZX Equities traded approximately 1.4 billion shares, representing 9.8% of consolidated U.S. equity volume. The exchange charges a standard taker fee of $0.00295 per share for orders that remove liquidity, and pays a maker rebate of $0.00285 per share for orders that add liquidity. For a retail trader executing a 1,000-share market order on BZX, the taker fee is $2.95. For a market maker adding 100,000 shares of liquidity, the rebate is $285.00.
When traders use the Cboe BZX Exchange
Institutional traders use BZX when they seek low-latency execution and rebates for passive liquidity. Retail brokers route orders to BZX through smart order routers when the exchange displays the best price or when fee structures favor execution there. Options traders use BZX Options when their broker routes complex orders to the venue with the best net price after fees and rebates. Crypto traders use BZX Digital Assets for spot BTC and ETH execution with institutional-grade custody and regulatory oversight.
Limitations and common misconceptions
BZX does not operate a floor or provide price discovery in the same way as the NYSE. It is a pure electronic venue; all orders execute against displayed liquidity or hidden pegs. Traders cannot assume BZX provides best execution for every order. Fee models change quarterly, and the net price after fees and rebates determines the true execution cost. BZX Digital Assets does not offer margin, futures, or derivatives; it is a spot-only venue. The exchange does not guarantee price improvement on retail orders; the retail program only applies when a market maker opts to compete.