United States Regulators Review Request to List the First Options Tied to Spot Ether ETH $2,972.62 ETFs on NYSE American’s Securities Exchange

If approved, NYSE would be authorized to list options on Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH), and “any trust that holds Ether,” the filing said.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reviewing a request to list the first options tied to spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on NYSE American’s securities exchange, according to a Nov. 8 filing.

If approved, NYSE would be authorized to list options on Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH), and “any trust that holds Ether,” the filing said.

The SEC's decision is the latest sign the agency may be softening its stance on cryptocurrency products, particularly after crypto-friendly Donald Trump's Nov. 5 presidential election win.

In September and October, the SEC approved applications from three exchanges — NYSE American, Nasdaq, and Cboe Exchange — to trade options on 11 Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, including Bitwise and Grayscale's.

The same three exchanges asked the SEC for permission to list ETH ETF options in August.

Listing spot BTC options on regulated US exchanges will mark a “monumental advancement” in cryptocurrency markets and creates “extremely compelling opportunities” for investors,” Jeff Park, Bitwise Invest's head of alpha strategies, said in a Sept. 20 X-post.

To commence trading, the exchanges still need signoff from two other oversight bodies — the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).

On Oct. 11, SEC delayed deciding on a proposed rule change permitting Cboe Exchange to list options tied to several popular spot ETH funds, the filing said.

The deadline for a ruling from the agency has been pushed back from Oct. 19 to Dec. 3, according to the filing.

Options are contracts granting the right to buy or sell — “call” or “put” in trader parlance — an underlying asset at a certain price.

Top ETF launches in 2024. Source: The ETF Store

Trump's presidential win is also a greenlight for more than half a dozen proposed crypto ETFs waiting on regulatory approval to list in the US.

In 2024, asset managers submitted a flurry of regulatory filings to list ETFs holding altcoins, including Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC) among others.

Issuers are also waiting on approval for several planned crypto index ETFs designed to hold diverse baskets of tokens.

On Nov. 4, the SEC began reviewing Grayscale's request to list the first ETF to hold a diverse basket of cryptocurrencies, including several altcoins.