The SEC processing of options products
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expeditiously considering spot Bitcoin ETF-based options products. According to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, there’s a possibility of accelerated timeline and potential approval by the end of February.
The Decision in 27+ days
The SEC has officially confirmed the filing of 19b-4 for options products based on spot Bitcoin ETFs. James Seyffart notes that this pace is much faster than the SEC’s usual timelines of processing 19b-4s filings, which mostly takes 14 days. His anticipated approval date is before the end of February. He further clarifies that with the earliest decision expected to come around in 27+ days, the maximum deadline is set to be around September 21, 2024.
Key Filings and Dates
Several filings have been made, including SR-NYSEARCA-2024-06 by NYSE Arca, SR-ISE-2024-03 by Nasdaq ISE, LLC, and SR-CBOE-2024-005 by Cboe Exchange, Inc. Each filing seeks approval for options trading related to Bitcoin ETFs, with comments from the public invited within 21 days of publication in the Federal Register. Nasdaq’s proposal for options trading on BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF is currently under the SEC’s scrutiny. The SEC has initiated a 21-day public comment period, considering amendments to trading criteria to facilitate options trading on iShares Bitcoin Trust.
What’s Next?
In addition to Bitcoin, major firms like BlackRock and Fidelity are vying for approval of a spot in Ethereum ETF. The SEC has extended Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund decision deadline until March 5. Fidelity cites a previous court ruling questioning the SEC’s inconsistency in approving futures-based products while rejecting spot crypto ETFs without clear rationale.
Hot Take
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision-making process regarding spot Bitcoin ETF-based options products has the potential to significantly impact the cryptocurrency market, with the accelerated timeline indicating possible approval by the end of February.
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