US CFTC Approves Bitcoin Spot ETF Options Listing… Institutional Fund Inflow Expected

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved the listing of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) options. On the 15th (local time), the CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) stated that "ETF options are cleared and settled by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), the sole issuer of all stock options." The agency believes that spot commodity ETF options are highly likely to be considered securities, and therefore the listing of such ETF options is outside of CFTC's jurisdiction. OCC is an institution responsible for clearing and settling U.S. stock, ETF, and index options, and is regulated by the SEC. The industry expects that Bitcoin spot ETF options will be listed soon. Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, said, "The ball is now in OCC's court," and predicted that Bitcoin spot ETF options will soon be traded. The listing of Bitcoin spot ETF options that can hedge risks is expected to further facilitate the inflow of institutional funds. Nick Foster, the founder of Deribit, said that "given the limited supply of Bitcoin, the introduction of ETF options could have a significant impact on the market."