In a notice published on Sept. 20, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Nasdaq’s request to list and trade options for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The regulatory body granted approval for options trading on the iShares Bitcoin Trust, which will trade under the ticker symbol IBIT on Nasdaq. The exchange confirmed that these options would be traded similarly to other ETF options, adhering to the same rules.
According to the SEC notice, “Options on IBIT will be physically settled with American-style exercise.” Nasdaq also clarified that options on IBIT will be subject to its initial and ongoing listing standards. Among these requirements is the expectation that the underlying security for listed options must have a “substantial number of outstanding shares that are widely held and actively traded.”
