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SEC Approves Trading of Ether ETF Options

The regulator had initially postponed a decision back in February but ETF analyst James Seyffart said the approval wasn’t a surprise.

By Helene Braun|Edited by Nikhilesh De
Updated Apr 9, 2025, 10:01 p.m. Published Apr 9, 2025, 8:25 p.m. 1 min read
Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)
Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

What to know:

  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved options trading for Blackrock's ether exchange-traded fund.
  • Nasdaq ISE filed for the product last July.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light for the trading of options tied to ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On Wednesday, the regulator approved a filing from Nasdaq ISE, filed last July, which asked to list options contracts on the BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Options are a popular trading vehicle to leverage and hedge risk and are especially attractive to institutional investors who are looking to control large amounts of shares.

The Commission had until today to make a decision. James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said the approval was “100% expected.”

The options apply specifically to ETHA, meaning that BlackRock’s product is the only spot ether ETF that options can be traded on.

Other funds are listed on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca and Cboe. Cboe has also filed an application to list options on the ETFs it lists.

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