- Nasdaq’s head of ETP listing, Allison Hennessy, said options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) could begin trading on the exchange as soon as tomorrow.
- The listing comes after 10 months of work by Nasdaq, BlackRock and regulators to work through all the bureaucratic and regulatory hurdles.
- It’s expected the addition of options will expand the range of investment strategies available to Bitcoin ETF investors, driving an increase in trading volume.
Options trading on Bitcoin spot ETFs are set to launch soon, possibly tomorrow, according to Nasdaq’s head of ETP listings, Allison Hennessy.
Speaking on Bloomberg’s ETF IQ program on Monday, Hennessy said the exchange plans to list options on BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as soon as Tuesday US time:
Our intent at Nasdaq is to list and trade these options as early as tomorrow. Getting these options listed on IBIT into the market I think will be very exciting for investors because that’s really what we have heard from them.
Alison Hennessy, head of ETP listings at NasdaqOptions trading for IBIT was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September and then by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last Friday. In response to CFTC’s approval, the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced yesterday that it’s going through the process of preparing IBIT options for launch.
Related: Nasdaq and BlackRock Propose Options for iShares Ethereum Trust
Options Expand Trading Possibilities for ETF Investors
Hennessy said the launch of IBIT options is the culmination of 10 months of work behind the scenes by Nasdaq, BlackRock and the market regulators. She added that the launch of IBIT options is an important step in allowing ETF investors more flexibility in how they invest in digital assets:
It was exciting enough to have these spot Bitcoin ETFs launched earlier this year, and then we had the Ethereum ETFs in July, so I think this next step is just rounding out that digital asset ecosystem for ETF investors.
Alison Hennessy, head of ETP listings at NasdaqBloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, echoed Hennessy’s thoughts, saying that adding options to the spot Bitcoin ETFs will open up new trading possibilities which will ultimately mean increased trading volume and investment in these products:
These group of ETFs did not need this. They are successful on their own merit. But this is a pretty big tailwind to an already juggernaut situation. Options allow you have [sic] to express opinions on something with more specificity.
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at BloombergRelated: Breaking: US Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Record-Shattering US$1.37 Billion in Daily Inflows
Investopedia defines options as “financial contracts that give the holder the right to buy or sell a financial instrument at a specific price for a certain period of time”. They’re derivatives that investors use to generate income, to speculate, and to hedge risk.
At the time of writing, IBIT held just over US$43 billion (AU$66b) in net assets and its price was up just over 95% since its launch in January.
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