SEC Approves Nasdaq QBTC Cash Bitcoin Index Options on PHLX

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq’s application to list cash-settled Bitcoin index options on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, expanding the menu of regulated cryptocurrency derivatives available to investors. The approval was granted on an accelerated basis and published on the agency’s website.

The new contracts, which will trade under the ticker QBTC, are European-style options tied to the Nasdaq Bitcoin Index. This benchmark tracks a fraction of the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index, which aggregates price data from major cryptocurrency exchanges and updates approximately every 200 milliseconds. At expiration, holders will receive a cash payment equal to the difference between the Bitcoin spot price and the strike price. No physical Bitcoin will be delivered, and there is no risk of early assignment, offering a streamlined way for traders to gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements.

Each contract will have a minimum price increment of 0.01. The SEC’s order sets a position limit of 24,000 contracts per side, which officials noted corresponds to roughly 0.12% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply.

Despite the SEC’s clearance, trading cannot begin...