Jim Bianco Warns Zero-Day Options Have Turned Equity Markets Into "Outright Gambling"

Macro strategist and Bianco Research founder Jim Bianco issued a sharp critique of short-dated derivatives trading, warning that the explosion of zero-day-to-expiration (0DTE) contracts has divorced equity pricing from traditional fundamental investing and transformed public exchanges into speculative casinos.
Bianco argued that the proliferation of ultra-short-term options creates excessive intraday volatility, drawing direct comparisons to event prediction platforms. "Nobody wants to go public early in the process and have their stock gyrate around like a Kalshi betting market," Bianco noted, emphasizing that speculative derivative flows are actively deterring private companies from pursuing early IPOs.
The surge in 0DTE volume over recent years has concentrated liquidity into hyper-short timeframes, forcing market makers into rapid, high-frequency gamma hedging. Strategists warn this dynamic amplifies directional price swings, destabilizes intraday price discovery, and accelerates the broader financialization and gamification of equity markets.