SEC Gives Green Light to Nasdaq's Bitcoin Options

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Nasdaq's proposal to list options tied directly to a Bitcoin price index. The contracts will be traded on Nasdaq PHLX under the ticker QBTC and track the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index, which pulls valuations from major spot venues every 200 milliseconds.

The approval widens the menu for institutional and retail traders in the US, who until now had limited options beyond Bitcoin futures options at CME Group and options tied to spot funds such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. The new contracts are cash-settled, European-style options, meaning traders settle gains and losses in dollars and can exercise only at expiration.

The launch date remains uncertain due to the need for clearance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). David Barrett, Nasdaq's head of US options, called the decision an important step in expanding regulated, transparent access to digital asset derivatives. The approval is seen as part of a broader push by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to pull crypto activity into the regulated US financial system.