Transitions, disruptions and outright change are not new to the futures and options industry, but at this year’s FIA Expo, those themes seemed to loom especially large.

FIA EXPO rolled into the Hilton on South Michigan Avenue Tuesday night as it does about this time every year. Ending midway through Thursday afternoon, it seems shorter this year, with fewer sessions, attendees and exhibitors.

Short vol trades, CME’s response to the notorious Vanity Fair article, bitcoin options competition, and Cboe decommissions its legacy physical port connectivity for Cboe Futures and Cboe Options.

Hester Peirce’s arrival to the main stage at the Block(Legal)Tech Conference in Chicago on October 24 felt like the arrival of a celebrity. Her awareness of the esteem in which the audience held her was apparent as she opened with the joke, “My opinions are my own; they do not represent the feelings of the SEC…but I’m working on it.”