The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to delay its ruling on allowing options trading for BlackRock and Bitwise’s spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) until mid-November, as per filings made on Sept. 24.
The new deadlines for BlackRock and Bitwise have been set for Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, respectively. The SEC mentioned that it required more time to review the proposals and extended the initial 45-day review period. Nasdaq filed for the rule change for the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF on July 22, which led to the extension for BlackRock.
Bitwise’s ETHW also faced a delay in its decision date to Nov. 11 since its proposed rule change was filed a day after BlackRock’s.
Options trading is a significant development for crypto ETFs. Following the approval of options trading for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by the SEC on Sept. 20, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described it as a “huge win” for Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs. This move is expected to attract more liquidity and institutional investors to the market.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, shared a report by K33 Research on Sept. 24, highlighting that the Bitcoin derivatives market is significantly smaller compared to its equity and commodity counterparts. The Bitcoin options volume traded on the top five centralized crypto exchanges totaled around $33.3 billion between Sept. 1 and Sept. 22.
In contrast, Ethereum options’ volume during the same period was only $9.2 billion, indicating that there is room for growth with the addition of options trading for Ethereum ETFs by the SEC.
It is crucial to note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of CryptoSlate. Readers are advised to conduct their own research and due diligence before making any investment decisions in the cryptocurrency space. Trading cryptocurrencies carries inherent risks, and individuals should proceed with caution.