The spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund managed by asset management BlackRock has been approved for listing and trading on the Nasdaq by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of US.
On Friday, the regulator notified that options trading for BlackRock’s fund, iShares Bitcoin Trust, with ticker symbol “IBIT,” has been permitted.
Institutional investors and traders would have an additional opportunity to hedge their exposure to the biggest cryptocurrency in the world via index options, which are listed derivatives that provide a rapid and low-cost means of increasing exposure to bitcoin.
Another move in the right direction for cryptocurrencies, which was long seen to be a nascent asset class, is the permission for listing and trading options linked to an ETF focused on bitcoin.
Since the introduction of bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, cryptocurrency has become more widely accepted.
The right to purchase or sell an asset, such as stock or an exchange-traded product, at a predetermined price by a predetermined date is granted to holders of options.
Exchanges started to file for the spot bitcoin ETF options as soon as it became evident that the SEC would approve the underlying ETFs in January,
Exchanges need to make technical rule adjustments in order to list options are supervised by the SEC. Additionally, the regulator stated that IBIT options will be subject to its current surveillance protocols.
SEC said, “IBIT is the most liquid spot Bitcoin ETF and the 11th most liquid ETF in the U.S. by average volume (34,825,921 shares) and 18th largest by average notional ($1,246,060,738). As of May 22, 2023, IBIT had approximately 193,956 shareholders.”
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