(Bloomberg) -- The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq Inc.’s application to list options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, marking the clearing of an important hurdle before derivatives tied to the product can begin trading.
The contracts still need to be approved by the Options Clearing Corp. and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before trading can begin. Other exchanges have also filed applications to list options on the iShares fund and other spot-Bitcoin ETFs.
“Getting the SEC to come around is a big step toward listing options, which can be a huge help for attracting more and larger investors as well as bringing in more liquidity around the ETFs,” said Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
The ETF, which trades under the ticker IBIT, is the largest exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin. It’s gathered about $22.7 billion in assets since it and competing products were approved by the SEC in January following a lengthy legal battle by Grayscale Investments, an issuer of crypto funds.
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