A Brief History of Tastytrade
Tastytrade has been around since 2017. Initially, its focus was on options on stocks, even though it also had options on futures. This focus on stock options led to limitations for futures options traders, such as the inability to adjust options on futures in any desired way and the lack of closing order types besides day orders.
The Challenge for Futures Options Traders
For traders specializing in trading options on futures, this was a significant disappointment. When addressed with Tastytrade, they provided a workaround that required traders to know how to adjust using the same width between each option leg or simply take off and put back on. You can check out this video we made to help traders understand this requirement here.
The Long Wait for Improvements
The workaround was better than nothing, but it was clear that Tastytrade didn’t prioritize options on futures. They mentioned the ability to adjust was coming almost every year, but nothing seemed to change for futures options traders.
A Step in the Right Direction: Good-to-Cancel Orders
In 2023, Tastytrade started offering Good-to-Cancel orders on options on futures. This was a positive change, signaling a shift in their focus towards options on futures.
The Potential of Tastytrade’s Platform
At Dorian Trader, we were thrilled to see this change. The Tastytrade platform is already an excellent trading platform that could become the best options trading platform in the world. We believe improving their options on futures offering is smart business. Why? Because commissions on shares have become free, and commissions on stock options have significantly lowered in recent years. Seeking more revenue from options on futures is a smart move.
The Impact of SEC Rule Changes
However, we think the biggest reason Tastytrade started focusing on options on futures is the SEC’s changes to the pattern day trading rule, making it more difficult for the average retail trader. Options on futures don’t have a pattern day trading rule, allowing retail traders to day trade freely without account blocks.
The Game-Changer: 2024 Platform Update
We believe that in 2024, Tastytrade updated their platform to allow traders to adjust options on futures in any desired way. With this upgrade, Tastytrade has become the best options platform in the world in our eyes at Dorian Trader. It is super fast. We challenge anyone on any other platform to try to adjust options faster than on Tastytrade. For instance, Tastytrade’s ability to adjust is at least three times faster than on Thinkorswim.
The Future of Tastytrade
Tastytrade did the right thing by focusing on options on futures. Now they are ready to dominate the retail trading space.
Learn with Dorian Trader
If you are interested in learning how to trade using Tastytrade, we can help here at Dorian Trader. We use the platform daily during live member-only calls.
