SEC approves options for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave Nasdaq the go-ahead to list and trade shares of options for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF. In a Sept. 20 notice, the SEC approved options trading for the iShares Bitcoin Trust under the ticker symbol IBIT on Nasdaq. According to Nasdaq, the exchange will allow trading for options on the Bitcoin ETF “in the same manner” as other ETF options, subject to the same rules. “Options on IBIT will be physically settled with American-style exercise,” said the SEC notice. “The Exchange stated that options on IBIT will be subject to the Exchange’s respective initial and continued listing standards. The Exchange’s initial listing standards require, among other things, that the security underlying a listed option be ‘characterized by a substantial number of outstanding shares that are widely held and actively traded.’”

More approvals incoming?

At the time of publication, it’s unclear whether the commission will move forward with approving the listing and trading of options for spot BTC ETFs with other US exchanges. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas speculated on X that more offerings would be “approved in short order.” “This is just one stage of approval, the OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] has to approve as well before they officially list,” said Balchunas. “The other two don’t have a ‘clock’ so not sure when they’ll be approved. A big step tho nonetheless that the SEC came around.” On Aug. 5, the trading volume for the IBIT Bitcoin ETF hit more than $875 million, and the total for all spot BTC investment vehicles was more than $1.3 billion. Nasdaq has also filed with the SEC to request options trading for spot Ethereum ETFs be allowed on the exchange.