Nasdaq has filed a rule change with the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee looking for to take away place and train limits on choices tied to identify Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, a transfer that might additional combine crypto-linked merchandise into conventional derivatives markets.
The proposal, initially filed on Jan. 7 and made efficient this week on the twenty first, eliminates the present 25,000-contract cap on choices linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs listed on Nasdaq.
Affected merchandise embody funds from BlackRock, Constancy, Grayscale, Bitwise, ARK/21Shares and VanEck, in line with the submitting.
The SEC waived its customary 30-day ready interval, permitting the rule change to take impact instantly, whereas retaining the authority to droop it inside 60 days if additional overview is deemed needed.
A public remark interval is now open, with a last SEC dedication anticipated by late February until the rule is paused.
Nasdaq argued that lifting the boundaries would permit crypto ETF choices to be handled “in the identical method as all different choices that qualify for itemizing,” eliminating what it described as unequal remedy with out undermining investor protections.
The alternate mentioned the change would assist market effectivity whereas sustaining safeguards towards manipulation and extreme threat.
Choices are spinoff contracts that give merchants the fitting, however not the duty, to purchase or promote an asset at a predetermined worth earlier than a set expiration date. Place and train limits are usually imposed to stop concentrated positions that would amplify volatility or destabilize markets.
The submitting builds on Nasdaq’s approval in late 2025 to checklist choices on single-asset crypto ETFs as commodity-based trusts. Whereas that call allowed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF choices to commerce on the alternate, current place limits remained in place.
Nasdaq has steadily expanded its involvement in crypto markets lately.
Nasdaq’s bitcoin and digital asset push
In November, the alternate filed a separate proposal to lift place limits on choices tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief (IBIT) to as a lot as a million contracts, citing rising institutional demand and elevated use of choices for hedging methods.
The alternate has additionally pushed into crypto indexing and tokenization. In January, Nasdaq and CME Group introduced plans to unify their crypto benchmarks beneath the Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index, which tracks main digital belongings together with Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Cardano and Avalanche.
If authorised completely, the newest rule change would mark one other step towards normalizing Bitcoin derivatives inside U.S. regulated markets, additional blurring the road between conventional monetary devices and crypto-native belongings.
