Nasdaq has asked regulators to allow options trading on BlackRock's spot ETH ETF product, iShares Ethereum Trust [ETHA].
The official filing to the SEC read,
"The Exchange believes that offering options on the Trust will benefit investors by providing them with an additional, relatively lower cost investing tool to gain exposure to spot ether as well as a hedging vehicle to meet their investment needs in connection with Ether products and positions.”
The agency will have to comment on the proposal within 21 days. Meanwhile, the final SEC decision will be due around April 9, 2025, Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart pointed out.
Usually, the SEC caters to technical rule changes that exchanges must make to list options. However, Seyffart clarified that the apex securities regulatory agency is not the only decision-maker in this case.
To add options trading, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency [OCC] and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] will also have to give their formal approval and authorization, he said.
Exchanges and asset managers have already filed for options trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs. However, the SEC has not yet sanctioned it. Towards the end of last month, the agency notified that it needed additional time to make a decision.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US renewed their negative streak on Tuesday. They registered $148.5 million in net outflows. Ethereum ETFs, meanwhile, recorded net inflows, flashing a daily positive flow of $98.3 million.
In Bitcoin’s case, Fidelity’s FBTC led outflows yesterday with $64.48 million, while in Ether’s case, BlackRock’s ETHA single-handedly registered the heftiest inflow of $109.89 million
