Exchange MIAX, MIAX Pearl and BOX Exchange withdraw proposals to list and trade options on spot bitcoin ETFs

Quick Take

  • Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC, or MIAX, withdrew its proposed rule change on Aug. 1, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Others followed suit including MIAX PEARL, LLC and BOX Exchange LLC. 
  • Other exchanges are also looking to allow for options trading, but have not yet gotten the SEC’s sign-off.

National securities exchange MIAX, along with others, has withdrawn its proposal to list and trade options on spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC, or MIAX, withdrew its proposed rule change on Aug. 1, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing posted on Thursday. MIAX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other exchanges also withdrew similar proposals according to filings posted on Thursday, including MIAX PEARL, LLC and BOX Exchange LLC. BOX Options did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

MIAX first proposed the rule change in January, shortly after the SEC approved several spot bitcoin ETFs, including from firms such as BlackRock, Grayscale and Fidelity. Other exchanges are also looking to allow for options trading, but have not yet gotten the SEC's sign-off. Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst James Seyffart said the agency could potentially approve options for spot bitcoin ETFs by the end of next month.

"We think the #Bitcoin ETF options happen in 4th quarter this year. Final deadline for SEC decision is ~Sept. 21 but there's more steps needed after that from OCC & CFTC," Seyffart said on Thursday in a post on X.

Seyffart said he was not reading too much into the exchanges' move to withdraw.

"Not gonna read much into it for now," Seyffart said in a post on X. "The exchange filings that matter IMO are the ones that list the ETFs -- Nasdaq, NYSE, & CBOE." 

Comment letters

All three received a comment letter on its proposed rule change from Better Markets, a non-partisan organization founded after the 2008 financial crisis, which urged the SEC to not approve of options on spot bitcoin ETFs.

"The SEC should proceed especially cautiously because options on spot bitcoin ETPs will expose retail investors to a tremendous amount of risk. Options on spot bitcoin ETPs also pose systemic risks to the financial system that the SEC must be careful to guard against," Better Markets said in its letter.

In other related comment letters, some say approving options is the next "natural step."

"It stands to reason that, now that spot Bitcoin ETPs have been approved for trading on NYSE Arca pursuant to the Rule 19b-4 process, the natural next step is the approval of options on spot Bitcoin ETPs—in the same manner that options on spot gold ETPs were approved for listing and trading pursuant to the Rule 19b-4 process after spot gold ETPs were first approved for listing and trading pursuant to the Rule 19b-4 process," said former Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein in a letter supporting NYSE Arca Inc.'s proposal.

Update: Aug. 8:35 p.m. UTC to include other exchanges' move to withdraw proposals


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Sarah is a reporter at The Block covering policy, regulation and legal happenings. Before, Sarah was a reporter with CQ Legal writing about securities regulation, which is where she first started reporting on crypto. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other finance-related publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri and earned a degree in print and digital journalism. Sarah is based in Washington D.C., and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.

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