Spot Bitcoin ETF Options Will Start Trading Very Soon

Spot bitcoin ETF options could launch on Tuesday in the U.S. time zone, according to Nasdaq, which market participants believe will attract more institutional interest in crypto.

“Our goal at Nasdaq is to list these options as early as tomorrow and begin trading,” Alison Hennessy, head of ETP listings at Nasdaq, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “I think the launch of these options listed on IBIT will be very exciting for investors because this is the product they have been talking about the most for a long time.”

Of the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs currently on the market, only one (BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust) is listed on Nasdaq, so IBIT may be the product that will have the option.

Options are a form of derivative that allows investors to buy or sell an underlying asset (in this case, IBIT) at a predetermined price within a certain period of time. They are products of interest because they allow traders not only to make leveraged bets, but also to hedge other positions.

The SEC approved the listing of IBIT options in September. It also approved rule changes made by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Cboe Global Markets, which lists some of the other spot bitcoin ETFs.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart said options based on other bitcoin ETFs could also begin trading in the next few days.

“It is likely that products will begin trading this week, potentially even within the next day or two. “As far as we understand, all regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles have been eliminated.”

It is not yet clear how the leverage and hedging associated with options will affect price movement.