The American stock exchange Nasdaq is reportedly seeking regulators’ approval to offer options on a Bitcoin index. On Aug. 27, the exchange announced its plans to introduce these options, providing institutions and traders with a new way to manage their Bitcoin investments.
Bitwise’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, emphasized that having different options for Bitcoin is crucial for the asset class to become fully mainstream. He pointed out a gap in the current liquidity landscape, which could be filled by introducing exchange-traded fund (ETF) options.
Bitcoin Index Options tied to real-time
Options are financial methods that let traders buy or sell assets like stocks, indexes, and ETFs at a specific price on a certain date. They help institutions manage risks and give traders more flexibility with their investments
The new Bitcoin Index Options would use the CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index, created by CF Benchmarks. This index tracks Bitcoin futures and options traded on CME Group’s platform. The SEC hasn’t approved any options trading for the spot Bitcoin ETFs that got the green light in January. This includes Nasdaq’s request to trade options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF from BlackRock.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF sees record inflow
The announcement arrives just as BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, experienced its biggest daily net inflow in 35 days. On Aug. 26, the ETF saw a net inflow of $224.1 million, marking the largest increase since July. 22. This surge indicates that investors may take advantage of a small dip in Bitcoin’s price after a recent rally.
BlackRock’s IBIT brought in enough cash to push the total daily inflow for the 10 US spot Bitcoin ETFs to $202.6 million. Meanwhile, ETFs from other companies like Bitwise, Fidelity, and VanEck experienced a combined net outflow of $32.1 million. Crypto investment products experienced their highest inflows in five weeks, with $533 million added from Aug. 18 to 24, according to CoinShares data.
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