The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Nasdaq's launch of options products based on a Bitcoin price index, signaling a faster integration of Wall Street with the digital asset market. According to documents released by the SEC on Friday, the product received "accelerated approval." This marks a significant step in the further opening of traditional U.S. financial markets to crypto assets and indicates that American investors will have new ways to participate in Bitcoin trading in the future.
Unlike the currently dominant Bitcoin ETF options, the newly approved product is a "cash-settled European-style option." This means investors do not need to hold Bitcoin directly and are not exposed to the early exercise risks common in ETF options. These options will operate based on the "CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index," which updates every 200 milliseconds and integrates real-time data from multiple cryptocurrency exchanges.
Although the SEC has approved the product, its formal listing and trading still require final authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The U.S. market already has Bitcoin-related options products; for example, CME Group has offered Bitcoin futures options since 2020. However, the key difference with Nasdaq's new product is that it formally introduces Bitcoin options into the U.S. equity options market system, which is expected to broaden investor participation.
David Barrett, head of Nasdaq's U.S. options business, stated that the SEC's conditional approval "is an important step in expanding regulated, transparent access to digital asset derivatives." In recent years, U.S. regulators have gradually shifted toward a more open stance on crypto assets. The current SEC chair has been a proactive supporter of developing the U.S. crypto asset market.
Currently, most global crypto derivatives trading remains concentrated on overseas platforms, including exchanges like Binance and Hyperliquid. The SEC chair previously noted publicly that the 2022 collapse of FTX demonstrated the significant risks of keeping digital asset trading outside of overseas regulation for an extended period. In a speech on May 8, he emphasized, "The rapid overseas expansion and eventual collapse of FTX show that if the U.S. fails to actively embrace innovative technologies and establish a regulatory framework, it will only drive related business overseas, ultimately harming U.S. investors."
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