XTB has written options trading into the terms of service governing its Polish platform. The move clears a step toward offering one of the most profitable, and riskiest, products in retail brokerage.
The updated rules take effect June 29, according to a notice the broker sent platform users. XTB has not said whether Polish clients will be able to trade the instrument from that date.
The change closes a gap that left XTB selling options across much of Europe while its home market waited. The push also follows a penalty Poland's regulator levied on the broker earlier this year, tied to exactly this kind of product.
What the Terms Allow
The revised rules reference both American and European options. The underlying instruments may include stocks, contracts for difference, ETFs, indices, currencies and commodities.
A broker margin of 0.25% would apply to each purchase and sale, with no currency-conversion fee.
- XTB Lets Polish Investors Pick Which Shares to Sell, Bypassing FIFO Tax Rule
- XTB Stock Falls 8% as Investors Fear KNF Will Deepen Its CFD Review
- XTB Extends Options Rollout to France, Portugal, Czech Republic and Slovakia
Those terms describe a wider product than XTB has actually launched elsewhere. In its other markets, the company offers American-style options on 110 US-listed stocks and ETFs, cash-settled and buy-only, as it did in Germany and Spain.
That means clients can buy contracts but cannot write them. Whether Poland receives the same limited version is not yet clear.
A Late Arrival at Home
XTB has spent 2026 extending options across the continent. Cyprus went live in January under CySEC supervision, the broker's first options market.
Germany and Spain followed in April. France, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were added weeks ago, bringing the total to seven markets.
Poland, where XTB is headquartered and listed, had been the holdout, pending regulatory clearance. The company, founded in 2002 and led by Chief Executive Omar Arnaout, served more than two million clients globally at the end of 2025.
Why Brokers Want Options
The appeal is in the economics. At Robinhood, options produced $314 million in transaction revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, about 40% of the firm's transaction-based total and up 41% from a year earlier, according to its earnings statement.
XTB is moving into a Polish market already in a price war. Trade Republic, the German neobroker that offers leveraged derivatives such as knock-outs and warrants, entered Poland in September 2025.
Interactive Brokers and IG Group compete for the same active traders.
Kris Abramowicz, an analyst who writes as @marketrev_eu, expects options to become a major earner for XTB, citing its marketing reach. He called the product "a new gambling toy" for retail investors in a post on X.
The Regulatory Backdrop
The timing is pointed. Poland's Financial Supervision Authority, known as KNF, fined XTB 20 million zlotys in a decision dated March 30.
The penalty covered shortcomings between January 2022 and September 2023, including inadequately checking whether clients understood the risks of complex instruments.
XTB filed for the case to be reconsidered in May, so the decision is not final and carries no immediate obligation to pay. The company has already booked the amount in its first-quarter estimates.
Options rank among the complex, leveraged products that European regulators watch most closely.
Broadening the Menu
XTB has added several features this year as it competes for deposits. The broker recently introduced crypto exchange-traded notes and a caller-identity check for client phone support.
In a separate update, it extended trading hours on 745 ETFs, ETNs and ETCs to a 07:30-to-22:00 window, up from 09:00 to 17:30. The change covers widely held funds that track the S&P 500 and global equity indices.
