Exchange Fees for Invisible Digital Ports: Traders, Budget Up!
Published Date: 8/12/2025
Notice
Summary
Cboe BZX Exchange is rolling out new fees for special digital connections called Unitized Logical Ports on its equity options platform. Traders and firms using these new ports will see these fees start right away, helping the Exchange cover costs for this fresh connectivity option. The changes kick in immediately, so users should get ready to adjust their budgets!
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 5 costs, 0 mixed.
New per‑port monthly fees for unitized ports
If your firm buys a Unitized Logical Port on BZX Options, the Exchange charges monthly fees of $350 per BOE Unitized Logical Port, $550 per Bulk Unitized Logical Port, and $400 per Purge Unitized Logical Port. These fees apply immediately as adopted in the filing dated July 31, 2025.
Tiered monthly pricing for port sets
BZX Options charges tiered monthly prices for Unitized Logical Port Sets: for BOE sets $2,500/month for the 1st and 2nd set, $3,000/month for the 3rd–14th set, and $3,500/month for the 15th–30th set; Bulk sets are $5,500/month for 1st and 2nd, $6,000/month for 3rd–14th, and $6,500/month for 15th–30th; Purge sets follow $2,500/$3,000/$3,500 tiers. The Exchange gives an example that 11 BOE sets would total $32,000 per month under this structure.
Market makers must use unitized ports to quote
Options Market Makers on BZX must quote via a Unitized Logical Port (they may not use only convenience-layer ports for quoting). Non‑Market Makers are not required to use Unitized Logical Ports and may continue using existing ports.
New ADO and ADQ volume‑based fees
BZX adopted Average Daily Order (ADO) and Average Daily Quote (ADQ) fees. Each Member may submit up to 2,000,000 ADO and up to 250,000,000 ADQ per calendar month without fee; if those levels are exceeded, incremental usage is charged (ADQ charges per 20,000‑quote increments at $0.05, $0.075, $0.10 and $0.20 across higher tiers; ADO charges per 1,000‑order increments at $1.00, $1.50, $2.00 and $2.50 across higher tiers). A Member's ADO and ADQ are aggregated with affiliates sharing at least 75% common ownership.
Monthly fees billed in full, not prorated
The Exchange will assess Unitized Logical Port monthly fees in their entirety and will not prorate monthly charges. That means if you acquire a port mid‑month you will be charged the full monthly fee for that port.
Higher cap on unitized ports per matching engine
BZX raised the maximum to 30 Unitized Logical Ports per Member, per Matching Unit, per port type (up from the previously-proposed 20). Members may still purchase ports individually or as sets under this cap.
Exchange provides free daily order/activity reports
The Exchange will provide Members daily reports, free of charge, that detail their order and trade activity so firms can monitor whether they are approaching ADO or ADQ fee thresholds.
Existing non‑unitized ports remain available
Non‑Market Maker Members may continue to use existing convenience‑layer logical ports (FIX or BOE) at current rates instead of purchasing Unitized Logical Ports; the Exchange states unitized ports are optional for non‑Market Makers.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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