US SEC Delays Decision on Bitcoin ETF Options

The SEC has set a deadline for providing comments on the subject of options on spot Bitcoin ETFs, with 21 days for initial comments and 35 days for rebuttals. The agency is considering whether options on these ETFs should adhere to the same rules as stocks, including the imposition of position limits based on the available supply in the bitcoin markets. Several exchanges, such as Cboe Exchange, Inc., BOX Exchange LLC, MIAX International Securities Exchange LLC, Nasdaq ISE, LLC, and NYSE American LLC, have submitted applications to permit options trading on the recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC’s upcoming decision on whether to approve or delay the launch of options-based ETFs is scheduled for May 29.

According to Sonnenshein, companies are facing significant hurdles in gaining SEC approval for this type of investment product. He likened the complexity of obtaining approval for options-based ETFs to that of launching cryptocurrency ETFs.