According to a report by The Block, exchange Nasdaq and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, plan to list and trade options for their ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETF).
In a filing posted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website on Tuesday (6th), BlackRock and Nasdaq proposed a rule change to list the iShares Ethereum Trust (ticker: ETHA) option rights and conduct transactions. The document reads:
“The exchange believes that offering the option of the trust will be beneficial to investors, providing them with an additional, relatively low-cost investment vehicle to gain exposure to Ethereum spot, as well as a way to satisfy their interest in Ethereum. Hedging tools for investment needs of products and positions.
BlackRock’s Ethereum spot ETF was approved in May and began trading on July 23, along with eight other ETFs.
The proposal has a 21-day comment period. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart wrote in this regard that the SEC’s final ruling on the proposal may be made in early April 2025.
Nasdaq and BlackRock's filing to add options on Ethereum ETFs has hit the SEC site. Final SEC decision on this from SEC likely to be around April 9th, 2025.(SEC is not the only decision maker on adding options here. Also need signoff from OCC & CFTC) https://t.co/K4HunUPp7S pic.twitter.com/5kQH0mljTz
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) August 6, 2024
Nate Geraci, president of investment advisory company The ETF Store, wrote earlier today that Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs still face huge regulatory obstacles, with no in-kind creation/redemption mechanism and no option trading. , and Ethereum ETFs cannot participate in staking. Even so, these products are still challenging and breaking the records of the ETF industry, which should illustrate the needs of investors.
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