The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an advisory through its Division of Clearing and Risk stating it would no longer have a role in clearing Bitcoin ETF options.
The agency is transferring this responsibility to the Options Clearing Corporation, according to a prepared statement.
“[..] In light of relevant precedents in the courts, it is substantially likely these spot commodity ETF shares would be held to be securities. Therefore, DCR’s position is the listing of these shares on SEC-registered national securities exchanges does not implicate the CFTC’s jurisdiction.”
CFTC staff advisory.
According to the commission, the OCC, which serves as the “sole issuer of all equity options” in the U.S., now holds the final authority to decide whether these options will be listed.
Experts believe the OCC’s approval could be imminent, with ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicting it will come “very soon.”
Meanwhile, market commentator Andrew said the CFTC’s move came much quicker than expected, as approval was initially anticipated by late Q1 2025, but this decision could speed things up.
Bitwise Invest’s Jeff Park suggested that while he was optimistic about the chances of a year-end approval, he wouldn’t “short the odd.”
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The advisory follows the SEC’s approval last month, which cleared applications from the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange to list and trade Bitcoin ETF options.
Options contracts give investors the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price before a set date. The SEC believes options trading could bring “better price efficiency” and “less volatility” to Bitcoin ETFs, helping to stabilize the market while making it more transparent and efficient overall.
Bitcoin advocates view the approval of Bitcoin ETF options as a game-changer, bringing more liquidity to the market. See below.
CFTC issues advisory to clear options on Spot Commodity ETFs opening door to approval of #Bitcoin options – huge liquidity injection. https://t.co/Nm8CPgs5pz pic.twitter.com/RWhU5Yctam
— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) November 16, 2024
Earlier this year, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein advocated for the swift approval of Bitcoin ETF options, saying that these offerings could pull in more players, like broker-dealers, and deepen Bitcoin’s ties with traditional finance.
Crypto influencer Mario Nawfal, in a recent social media post, highlighted the buzz around Bitcoin ETF options, saying institutional investors are “drooling” over the opportunities.
BITCOIN SPOT ETF OPTIONS GET THE GREEN LIGHTThe CFTC approved Bitcoin spot ETF options, and institutional investors are drooling.⁰BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF will trade as “IBIT,” and everyone’s hyped about more “big fish” jumping in.BTC spiked to $91,000 after a dip to $87,100… pic.twitter.com/qJCtH7hJpm
— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) November 16, 2024
“This is your mainstream finance world, now featuring Bitcoin,” he wrote.
Bitcoin reacted positively to the development, breaking past the $91,000 resistance level it struggled with over the past two days. At press time, the flagship cryptocurrency was trading at $91,293, up 2.4%.
Read more: Spot Bitcoin ETFs see negative day with $400.6m net outflows
