SEC seeks more time to deliberate on options for Ethereum ETFs, extends review to April 9

4 months ago

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed connected Feb. 7 its determination connected whether to o.k. options trading connected Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), extending the reappraisal play until Apr. 9. 

The decision, outlined successful a Feb. 7 filing, impacts proposals related to Bitwise’s ETHW, Grayscale’s ETHE and Ethereum Mini Trust, and BlackRock’s ETHA.

The SEC cited the request for further clip to measure the connection and measure imaginable marketplace implications. The regulator has postponed its determination 3 times now, with the archetypal 2 being successful September 2024 and November 2024.

The Commission has invited nationalist comments for the adjacent 21 days, allowing marketplace participants to taxable arguments successful favour of oregon against approving options for Ethereum ETFs.

Beyond SEC approval, the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) indispensable besides supply approval, on with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), earlier trading tin begin.

Much-needed tools

Options contracts are fiscal derivatives that let buyers and sellers to hold to acquisition oregon merchantability an plus astatine a predetermined terms wrong a specified clip frame. Like futures contracts, organization investors often usage options contracts for hedging and hazard management.

Bloomberg elder ETF analyst Eric Balchunas antecedently stated that the availability of options tends to pull greater liquidity and organization investors, referred to arsenic “big fish” successful the market. 

The motorboat of options successful spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs was stellar. By midday, the measurement of BlackRock’s IBIT options trading debut reached $1.6 billion. Balchunas called it “a ton” for the archetypal day.

Despite their singular start, the presumption bounds for options contracts connected spot Bitcoin ETFs is lone 25,000, acold beneath the just magnitude of 400,000 based connected estimates shared by Bitwise caput of alpha strategies Jeffrey Park.

Nasdaq recently filed to raise the declaration bounds to 250,000, equivalent to an exercisable hazard of 2.89%, but inactive beneath the just magnitude estimated by Park. 

If approved, Ethereum options are apt to look akin regulatory restrictions.

The station SEC seeks much clip to deliberate connected options for Ethereum ETFs, extends reappraisal to April 9 appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.

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