The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the trading of options tied to spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The Wall Street regulator has approved a filing from Nasdaq ISE that asked for permission to list options contracts on BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Options are a popular trading vehicle to leverage and hedge risk, and are highly prized by large institutional investors that are looking to control big blocks of shares.
The SEC faced a deadline of April 9 to decide on Ethereum ETF options trading, and financial markets had priced in the approval. The options apply specifically to BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETHA, meaning that BlackRock’s product is the only spot Ethereum ETF that options can currently be traded on.
Other Applications
However, several other asset managers and funds have applied to offer Ethereum ETF options trading and those applications are also expected to be approved by the regulator. Ethereum is currently trading at $1,500, having fallen 55% so far this year.
News of the approval of the Ethereum ETF options trading comes on an otherwise down day for the crypto sector. All the major cryptocurrencies are down at mid-day on April 10, with Bitcoin’s (BTC) price hovering right around $78,000. BTC has traded as low as $77,000 in recent days.
Is ETH a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on Ethereum, so we’ll look at the cryptocurrency’s three-month performance instead. As one can see in the chart below, the price of ETH has declined 55.75% in the last 12 weeks.
