PANews reported on March 23 that, according to The Block, NYSE Arca and NYSE American, subsidiaries of the New York Stock Exchange, have submitted rule changes to the SEC to eliminate the 25,000-contract position and exercise limit for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF options. The SEC waived the standard 30-day waiting period for these two filings, making the changes effective immediately upon submission. This marks the completion of this adjustment by all major U.S. options exchanges.
The rule change covers 11 crypto ETFs, including BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, ARK 21Shares ARKB, Grayscale Bitcoin and Ethereum Trust, and Bitwise's Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF. These products can now set position limits according to each exchange's standard framework, with large, liquid ETFs allowed 250,000 units or more. This will help institutional investors implement hedging strategies and basis trading more efficiently. In addition, the Nasdaq ISE has submitted a proposal to increase the position limit for IBIT-specific options to 1 million contracts, which is currently under review by the U.S. SEC. If passed, this proposal would bring IBIT's holdings closer to those of the largest equity ETFs. The comment period for the relevant documents ends on April 13.