HedgeStreet

Nadex (Northern American Derivatives Exchange), formerly known as HedgeStreet, is US-based retail-focused online binary options exchange. It offers retail trading of binary options and spreads on the most heavily traded forex, commodities and markets.

Nadex originally was known as “HedgeStreet” and was based in San Mateo, California. The Exchange was launched in 2004 offering an electronic marketplace that offered trading in financial derivatives to retail investors. HedgeStreet shut down its business in late 2007. Shortly thereafter, UK-based IG Group Holdings plc. agreed to purchase HedgeStreet, Inc. for $6 million and began restructuring the exchange, its technology, and its products. In 2009 HedgeStreet was renamed as the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex).

HedgeStreet was the first Internet-based event futures/derivatives exchange to be regulated in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The company operates the HedgeStreet Exchange, which launched in October 2004 and provides traders with a place where they can hedge against or speculate on economic events and price movements. The reasoning behind the creation of HedgeStreet was that with the rise of individual private investment in stocks, there might be a similar appetite for individuals to invest in derivatives. This focus on small investors created sufficient confusion that John Nafeh, founder of HedgeStreet, created the term "hedgelet" to help explain the company's business model.

In 2007, UK based IG Group announced intent to acquire HedgeStreet and later in the year completed the purchase of the company. Subsequent to the purchase, Nadex began to offer binary options similar to those already available on IG's platform.

Nadex binary option and spread contracts span a range of underlying markets, from commodity futures and spot forex rates to economic indicators and equity index futures. Contracts are available for a wide range of strike prices with intraday, daily and weekly expirations.