Overview
- The SEC issued an expedited order that authorizes Nasdaq PHLX to list European-style, cash-settled options tied to the Nasdaq Bitcoin Index under Release No. 34-105549, with the approval published after filings in September 2025 and a review process that concluded on May 22, 2026.
- The contracts will trade under the ticker QBTC, can only be exercised at expiration, settle in US dollars rather than Bitcoin, use $0.01 price increments, and carry a position limit of 24,000 contracts per side.
- The Nasdaq Bitcoin Index sources prices from the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index (BRTI) and uses the CME CF Cryptocurrency Reference Rate New York Variant (BRRNY) to determine settlement values.
- CME Group argued the instruments fall under CFTC authority and the SEC countered that concurrent oversight is lawful under Dodd-Frank Section 717, leaving trading blocked until the CFTC grants exemptive relief or the agencies resolve jurisdictional issues.
- If the CFTC approves exemptive relief, the options would give institutional and retail investors a direct, exchange-based way to hedge or take positions on Bitcoin price moves without ETFs or physical delivery and could broaden U.S. market access to crypto-linked derivatives.