Nasdaq ISE Withdraws ETF Options Proposals

On Thursday, Exchange Nasdaq ISE, LLC announced the withdrawal of its proposals to list and trade options on both spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The withdrawal occurred on Tuesday, as per filings on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) website.

“The Proposal was published for comment in the Federal Register on August 12, 2024,” stated the Bitcoin ETF filing. “The Commission received no comments addressing the Proposal. On August 13, 2024, the Exchange withdrew the Proposal.”

Nasdaq did not provide immediate comments regarding this decision.

In the past week, various exchanges have also withdrawn similar proposals. MIAX, MIAX Pearl, and BOX Exchange pulled their proposals for listing and trading options on spot Bitcoin ETFs, while Cboe withdrew its application but subsequently re-filed it, suggesting potential engagement with the SEC. Notably, the SEC has yet to approve trading for options products for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

Additionally, NYSE American LLC withdrew its own proposals to list and trade options on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF on Thursday.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart anticipates that both Nasdaq and NYSE will soon refile their proposals for options trading on spot Bitcoin ETFs.

“NASDAQ & NYSE have joined CBOE in withdrawing their applications for allowing options to trade on the Bitcoin ETFs,” Seyffart noted on X. “I’m expecting them to re-file over the coming days or weeks like we saw from CBOE.”

Currently, Nasdaq still has pending proposals for listing and trading options for BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF and spot Bitcoin ETF.

Update: Aug. 16, 4 p.m. UTC to include details about other proposals.