According to a regulatory filing on November 25, MIAX Sapphire Options Exchange has submitted revised regulations to commence the listing of options on three Bitcoin ETFs.
According to a regulatory filing on November 25, the MIAX Sapphire Options Exchange has submitted revised regulations to commence the listing of options on three Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
MIAX Sapphire to list Bitcoin ETF Options
The filing stated that the rule modification allows MIAX Sapphire to list options on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB).
MIAX Sapphire, which is a component of Miami International Holdings’ collection of United States exchanges, has joined the ranks of industry leaders such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in offering listing options for spot BTC ETFs.
MIAX Sapphire provides access to a variety of commodity exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including those that invest in gold, silver, and platinum.
Nasdaq’s electronic securities exchange was authorized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September to list options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT).
The agency authorized options on spot BTC ETFs for US trading for the first time.
In October, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued comparable authorizations to two additional exchanges: NYSE and Cboe.
Subsequently, in November, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) also approved BTC ETF options, thereby removing the final obstacle for exchanges to list the financial derivative products.
The total exposure of options contracts on BlackRock’s IBIT was nearly $2 billion on the first day of listing, Nov. 18.
Options are contracts granting the right to buy or sell — “call” or “put” in trader parlance — an underlying asset at a certain price. In the US, if one party fails to uphold the agreement, the OCC intervenes and settles the trade.
The US debut of spot BTC ETF options is anticipated by investment managers to expedite institutional adoption and potentially unlock “extraordinary upside” for BTC holders.
According to Jeff Park, Bitwise Invest’s head of alpha strategies, the listing of spot BTC ETF options on regulated US exchanges, where the OCC protects traders from counterparty risk, is a “monumental advancement” in cryptocurrency markets and presents “extremely compelling opportunities” for investors. This was stated in a Sept. 20 X post.
In January, Spot BTC ETFs were listed and surpassed $100 billion in net assets by November.