US exchange Nasdaq has filed a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission to remove limits on options tied to spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds, in a move to align crypto ETF options with rules applied to other commodity-based funds.
The proposal, filed on Jan. 7 and made effective on Wednesday, lifts the existing 25,000-contract limits on options linked to a range of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs listed on Nasdaq, including products from BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, Grayscale, ARK/21Shares and VanEck, according to the filing.
The SEC waived its standard 30-day waiting period, allowing the rule change to take effect immediately, while retaining the authority to suspend the change within 60 days if it determines further review is warranted.
Options are financial contracts that give traders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a set price before a certain date. Exchanges and regulators typically impose limits on options trading to reduce the risk of excessive speculation, market manipulation and concentrated positions that could amplify volatility or threaten market stability.
Nasdaq said the change would allow the exchange to treat digital assets “in the same manner as all other options that qualify for listing,” arguing that the proposal would eliminate unequal treatment without compromising investor protection.
The SEC has opened a comment period on the proposal, with a final determination expected by late February unless the rule is suspended for further review.
The filing builds on Nasdaq’s approval late in 2025 to list options on single-asset crypto ETFs as commodity-based trusts, a move that allowed Bitcoin and Ether ETF options to trade on the exchange but left existing position and exercise limits in place.
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Nasdaq expands its role in crypto markets
Nasdaq has been steadily expanding its role in crypto markets, from pushing tokenized equities and unifying crypto indexes to loosening derivatives rules around Bitcoin ETFs.
In November, Nasdaq filed a proposal with the SEC to raise position limits on options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from 250,000 contracts to 1 million, citing growing demand and arguing that the existing cap constrained hedging and other trading strategies.
The same month, Nasdaq’s head of digital assets strategy, Matt Savarese, told CNBC the exchange was prioritizing regulatory approval to offer tokenized versions of its listed stocks, pledging to move quickly through the SEC’s review process as public comments and agency feedback are addressed.
In January, Nasdaq and CME Group announced plans to unify their crypto benchmarks, rebranding the Nasdaq Crypto Index as the Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index, a multi-asset index that tracks major cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA) and Avalanche (AVAX).
Nasdaq is a US stock exchange operator that runs electronic markets for equities, derivatives and exchange-traded products and is a major listing venue for technology and growth-oriented companies.
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