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SEC lets Nasdaq ISE list options on digital commodity ETPs

SEC lets Nasdaq ISE list options on digital commodity ETPs

Rule Changes

A single rule filing replaces case-by-case approval with a $700 million liquidity test and a surveillance test, opening listed options to 19 crypto assets

Yesterday: SEC approves the digital commodity options rule

Overview

Updated 11 hours ago

Options on crypto exchange-traded products have meant Bitcoin, and since March, Ether. On November 10 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cleared Nasdaq ISE to list them on trusts holding any of 19 digital commodities, including Solana, XRP, Dogecoin and Chainlink, without the exchange returning to the agency for each new product.

The gate is now money and surveillance rather than paperwork. Every asset inside a qualifying trust needs an average daily market value of at least $700 million over the prior 12 months, and 85% of the trust's net asset value must sit in assets that underlie derivatives on a market ISE shares surveillance with. That points at CME and Coinbase Derivatives, with a 15% allowance for the rest.

Why it matters

Listed options turn a crypto ETP into something funds can hedge, size and earn income against — on a cleared exchange instead of over the counter.

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Key Indicators

19
Digital commodities named by the SEC and CFTC
Sixteen from the March 2026 joint interpretation, plus Algorand, LBRY Credits and Canton Coin.
$700M
Minimum average daily market value per asset
Measured over the prior 12 months for each digital commodity a trust holds.
85%
Trust NAV that must sit in surveillance-linked assets
Each of those assets must underlie a derivatives contract on an ISE-surveilled market.
15%
NAV allowed outside the surveillance test
Assets in this slice still have to clear the $700 million threshold.
1,000,000
IBIT options position and exercise limit
Raised from 250,000 contracts in April 2026, showing the demand curve for crypto options.

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Organizations Involved

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Federal regulator
Approved the ISE rule filing on November 10, 2026

The agency that decides which crypto assets count as commodities and which exchange products can carry listed options.
NA
Nasdaq ISE, LLC
Securities options exchange
Can list options on qualifying digital commodity trusts without further SEC approval

The options exchange that wrote the eligibility tests and will decide which trusts actually trade.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Federal regulator
Co-authored the digital commodity definition the rule relies on

The futures regulator whose commodity classification and surveillance markets underpin the options tests.

Timeline

September 2024 November 2026

12 events Latest: Yesterday Showing 8 of 12
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. SEC approves the digital commodity options rule

    Latest Approval

    ISE can now list options on qualifying trusts without returning for each product.

  2. Canton Coin added to the list

    No-action letter

    SEC staff add CC as the 19th digital commodity, with limits on the letter's reach.

  3. Filing published, no comments filed

    Notice

    The SEC opens the comment period; the record closes empty.

  4. ISE swaps 'crypto asset' for 'digital commodity'

    Filing

    SR-ISE-2026-42 rewrites Options 4, Section 3(h) eligibility tests.

  5. Nasdaq's trust listing rule wins approval

    Approval

    The SEC clears the amended Rule 5711(d) that ISE's options rule mirrors.

  6. IBIT options limit quadruples

    Approval

    The SEC raises IBIT's position and exercise limit to 1,000,000 contracts.

  7. Nasdaq rewrites its trust listing standard

    Filing

    Nasdaq files SR-NASDAQ-2026-032 to amend Rule 5711(d) on commodity-based trust shares.

  8. Multi-asset options framework approved

    Approval

    The SEC approves SR-ISE-2025-30 for trusts holding several crypto assets.

  9. SEC and CFTC name 16 digital commodities

    Interpretation

    Joint guidance, Release 33-11412, takes effect and sets the shared vocabulary.

  10. Single-asset framework takes effect

    Rule

    Options on trusts holding one crypto asset become possible without per-product approval.

  11. ISE files for trusts holding several crypto assets

    Filing

    The exchange asks the SEC for listing criteria covering multi-asset commodity trusts.

  12. Options arrive for Bitcoin, and only Bitcoin

    Approval

    ISE wins approval to list options on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, ticker IBIT.

Scenarios

1

Multi-asset trusts clear the tests and options trade

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: ISE's filing and trade-press coverage, which expect issuers to design trusts around the thresholds

An issuer lists a trust under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) whose holdings all clear $700 million in average daily market value and sit on CME or Coinbase Derivatives. ISE then lists options on it without a fresh SEC order. The first likely candidates are trusts weighted to Ether or Solana, which have deep futures markets. Trigger: a Form S-1 or 19b-4 filing describing a basket that passes both tests.

2

Only Bitcoin and Ether trusts ever get options

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Genfinity's analysis of the $700 million threshold and the 85% surveillance test

The per-asset liquidity floor does the filtering the SEC used to do case by case. Smaller names on the 19-asset list, including Algorand and LBRY Credits, lack CFTC-regulated futures and would have to sit in the 15% buffer, which caps their weight. Issuers keep launching single-asset Bitcoin and Ether products because those are the only baskets that pass comfortably. Trigger: two or more years with no non-BTC/ETH trust listing.

3

SEC staff add more assets to the digital commodity list

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Coverage noting the Canton Coin letter showed the 19-asset list can grow

The Canton Coin no-action letter set a template: staff decline to recommend enforcement on narrow facts without deciding whether the asset is a security. More issuers ask for the same treatment, and each letter widens the pool of trusts ISE could support. The constraint is that new assets still need $700 million in average daily value and a derivatives market to clear the surveillance test.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2025

Generic listing standards for commodity trusts (2025)

The SEC approved rule changes at three national exchanges creating generic listing standards for exchange-traded products holding spot commodities, digital assets included. Instead of voting on each product, exchanges got a template.

Then

Exchanges could list qualifying commodity trusts under published criteria rather than bespoke orders.

Now

The same template logic moved to the options layer, where ISE aligned its text with Nasdaq's trust standard.

Why this matters now

SR-ISE-2026-42 is the options-side copy of that shift: standard tests replace case-by-case review.

September 2024

Options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust (2024)

ISE won approval to list options on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust in September 2024, months after crypto exchange-traded products themselves began trading. In April 2026 the SEC raised the contract limit from 250,000 to 1,000,000.

Then

Bitcoin ETP holders gained a listed hedging tool on a cleared venue.

Now

Trading volume justified a fourfold limit increase, which became the argument for extending the model to other assets.

Why this matters now

The two-year Bitcoin sequence is the proof of demand behind ISE's push into the other 18 assets.

March 2026

SEC and CFTC joint interpretation (2026)

Release 33-11412 took effect on March 23, 2026, naming 16 crypto assets as digital commodities. A footnote added Algorand and LBRY Credits; staff later added Canton Coin.

Then

The two agencies settled on shared vocabulary for which tokens are commodities.

Now

That list became the eligibility pool for exchange-traded products and the options written on them.

Why this matters now

ISE's rule change is only meaningful because the interpretation narrowed 'crypto asset' to a defined legal category.

Sources

(7)
+2
Genfinity U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Crypto Briefing Cointribune SimpleFX U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission