Options Exchanges Filed for Spot Bitcoin ETF Options. ETF options usually go through a rigorous bureaucratic process before being launched.
Now that spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds have launched, investors are turning to the next crypto product Wall Street could launch — spot Bitcoin ETF options.
Bitcoin ETF options allow investors to buy or sell Bitcoin on a predetermined date as easily as buying options for stocks – without the need to sign up on crypto-specific options platforms like ByBit.
Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyfart estimate that Bitcoin ETF options have a 70% chance of seeing the light of day by the end of the year.
“There are whole ETFs that hold bitcoin derivatives. Covered call bitcoin, leveraged bitcoin, leveraged ethereum, actively managed ETFs — they all already have options,” Seyfart said. Explained During the webinar on Wednesday.
“We don't think the Securities and Exchange Commission should reject it,” he added. “They have no reason to turn it down and there is a lot of demand and interest.”
The problem, Seyfart said, is that the SEC doesn't have the final say. Once the agency approves the product, it is sent back to the Options Clearing Corporation and eventually the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
And there are no deadlines for completing the OCC or CFTC process.
ETF options are “like going to the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles. You will be stuck there for days,” Balchunas said. “A couple agencies are involved. It's just a pain.”
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“I don't think they are delaying for any nefarious reasons,” he added. “It's just government, bureaucratic slowness.”
Some of Seyfart's gold ETFs — the first of which was launched in the 90s — still lack options. And some platinum ETFs have been waiting to accept options since 2010.
However, both analysts are optimistic about the prospects of Bitcoin ETF options.
On Thursday, the Chicago Board Options Exchange withdrew their application for Bitcoin ETF options and immediately refiled it again.
Notably, the new version is 44 pages long versus the original's 15 pages — an indication that the SEC gave feedback to Exchange, Seyfart. wrote that.
“Just as 'comments from the SEC' is a good sign in our ETF approval odds, we think it's a good sign here,” Balchunas said. has been posted On X.
“Because if they completely refuse, why engage?” he added.
Tom Carreras is a market correspondent at News. Got a tip about Bitcoin ETFs and options? Reach [email protected]