The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally requested public comment on NASDAQ's proposal to regulate BlackRock's spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart shed light on the SEC's unusually quick response to the proposal. “The SEC has already processed form 19b-4 requesting the ability to trade options on spot Bitcoin ETFs. This is faster than the SEC typically moves,” Seyffart said.
He also predicted that if the SEC maintains its current pace, approval for the options could be granted before the end of February. However, he also warned that the options could come into force in about 27 days at the earliest.
An option is known as a financial derivative that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying asset (in this case the Bitcoin Spot ETF) at a certain price within a certain period of time.
BTC Spot ETFs were finally accepted by the SEC on Wednesday last week. However, it was noteworthy that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler gave the critical vote required for approval. However, Gensler stated that he did not praise Bitcoin in any way in his statement.
*This is not investment advice.