According to CryptoPotato, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on the New York Stock Exchange's proposal for options trading on Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This decision directly affects the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF because they hold BTC on the New York Stock Exchange. The SEC cited in its April 8 filing that it would take longer to act on the proposed rule changes to allow for sufficient time for deliberation.

It is worth noting that the next deadline for the SEC to postpone, approve or reject the proposed rule change is May 29. The rule change proposal was submitted to the SEC in February 2024 and was then open for public feedback. The proposal would allow options trading on certain Bitcoin ETFs by amending Rule 915. Options are a type of financial derivative that allows investors to speculate on the movement of underlying assets, bringing hedging and leverage.

Last month, Nasdaq requested options trading on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), and Grayscale and Bitwise also received the same extension. In addition, the SEC is still considering seven spot Ethereum ETFs, and the decision has been postponed to May 23, which is also the deadline for VanEck's ETF application.

Recently, equity funds in mainland China have submitted applications through their Hong Kong subsidiaries to introduce spot Bitcoin ETFs. One of the funds, the Hong Kong branch of Harvest Fund Management, has been waiting for approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) since January.