The Nasdaq stock exchange, in partnership with the reference index provider company CF Benchmarks, has applied for Bitcoin index options to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If the application is accepted, investors will have the right to indirectly invest or sell Bitcoin at a certain price on a certain day at the prices followed by the index.

Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options will move according to the price seen on the CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index. This index, created by CF Benchmarks, the index provider, to track Bitcoin futures and options contracts traded on the CME, will now also serve for this product of Nasdaq.

So far, the SEC has not authorised an options product based on ETFs that move based on the spot Bitcoin price. Nasdaq had also applied for options following IBIT, BlackRock’s ETF, and recently withdrew it to keep up with some rule changes.

“We’re missing a part of the liquidity picture that ETF options would provide”

Speaking to Reuters on the subject, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of asset management company Bitwise, said:

“It’s important for options on bitcoin to be available for this asset class to be fully normalized. We’re missing a part of the liquidity picture that ETF options would provide.”