Synopsis
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission SEC approves options trading on Ethereum exchange-traded funds and this approval is coming nearly a year after the initial approval of spot ETH-ETFs which began trading last summer. The approval was issued on April 9 after the SEC reviewed a rule change proposal submitted by various asset management firms for their respective ETFs. ETH price has shown a significant surge after the options trading approval.
The U.S. SEC Has Approved Trading Options To The Sopt ETH ETFs
The SEC, a U.S. independent federal government regulatory agency, has approved options trading for Blackrock’s, Grayscale’s, and Bitwise’s Ether exchange-traded funds. The regulator approved the filing on Wednesday, submitted by Nasdaq ISE last July. The commission had time until April 10 to make a final decision and one of the prominent ETF analysts James Seyffart stated that the approval was 100 percent expected. He responded through his X account and the post stated that there was good news and that Ethereum ETF options had been approved, which was 100% expected. He mentioned that today was the final deadline and expressed that he personally did not see it on the SEC website yet, but they would be shocked if it weren’t true.
The filings approved on Wednesday display that the commission approved the trading options for Blackrock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), Grayscale’s Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH MINI), and Ethereum Trust (ETHE). The approval was granted through a hastened process after the regulatory agency was satisfied that the proposed rule changes met the necessary requirements under the Securities Act. The approval of trading options to the Ethereum ETFs allows investors to attain exposure to digital assets without buying and keeping the virtual tokens themselves. These ETF options could provide investors the right to purchase and sell a particular asset at a previously decided price by a set date. Cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds managed by asset management firms like Grayscale, Blackrock, and Bitwise give large-scale and retail investors the provision to invest in crypto assets in an easy and strictly regulated way.
ETH Has Surged More Than 14% Over The Past 24 Hours
The news of the approval of options trading on spot Ethereum ETFs has incited the market performance of ETH. The Ethereum market swiftly responded to the regulatory shift on Wednesday and reportedly rose over 14% in 24 hours. The token was trading at $1400 and reached approximately $1650 on Wednesday following the SEC approval. The bullish momentum in the market facilitated a short-term pause in the U.S. tariffs recently announced by Donald Trump. Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency (ETH) is trading at $1609.78 at the time of writing and displaying an 80% bullish trend in the crypto market. This market fluctuation caused by the SEC approval of ETH-ETFs is considered one of the biggest gains at the time of a market freezing caused by the trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.
A Glimpse Of The Official Press Release of The SEC On Approving The Trading Options On The Ethereum ETFs
The press release starts with a statement that officially approves the proposed rule changes imposed by the asset management firms. The Commission stated that it had received comments regarding the proposed rule change. On March 3, 2025, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 1 to the proposal. The Commission indicated that it was publishing a notice to solicit comments on Amendment No. 1 from interested persons and approved the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No.1, on an accelerated basis.
The exchanges involved in the filing ensured that the trust would provide investors with an additional, relatively lower-cost investing tool to gain exposure to spot ether as well as a hedging vehicle to meet their needs in connection with ether products and positions. They stated that options on the Trust would be physically settled with American-style exercise and would be subject to the Exchange’s initial and continued listing standards. They added that the Exchange’s initial listing standards required, among other things, that the security underlying a listed option be “characterized by a substantial number of outstanding shares that are widely held and actively traded.”