(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the listing and trading of options for asset manager BlackRock's (NYSE:) bitcoin cash exchange-traded fund on the Nasdaq.
Options trading for BlackRock's iShares Trust fund has been approved under the ticker symbol “IBIT,” the regulator said in a notice on Friday.
Index options – exchange-traded derivatives that offer a quick and inexpensive way to gain exposure to bitcoin – on a bitcoin index would give institutional investors and traders an alternative way to hedge their exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
The approval for listing and trading of options linked to a bitcoin ETF represents another positive step for the cryptocurrency, which was once considered a nascent asset class.
Cryptocurrency has moved closer to mainstream acceptance since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Options give holders the right to buy or sell an asset, such as a stock or exchange-traded commodity, at a predetermined price on a set date.
Exchanges began soliciting spot bitcoin ETF options as soon as it became clear that the SEC would approve the underlying ETFs in January.
The SEC oversees changes to the technical rules that exchanges must follow to list options. The regulator also said its current oversight procedures will apply to IBIT options.
