Warrants differ from options because the issuing corporation creates new stock

Evidence

Instead, the main focus of attention was on warrants, a particular form of call options that were traded in more liquid, organized markets particularly the American Exchange and for which market prices were available. Like an ordinary call option, a warrant gives its holder the right to buy stock at a fixed price. However, ordinary call options are written (that is, issued) by investors or traders, and if the holder of such an option exercises it, option writers supply the holder with existing stock that the writer either must already possess or must buy in the market. Warrants, in contrast, are issued by corporations, and if the holder of a warrant exercises it, the corporation creates new stock to issue to the warrant holder. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 531

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the warrant-versus-call-option distinction: who writes the instrument dictates whether new shares are created or existing ones change hands.