The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved listing and trading options on some of the spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Several Wednesday filings show investors can now trade options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), Bitwise Ethereum ETF, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust, and Ethereum Mini Trust.
Options are financial derivatives that give the buyer the right to buy or sell the underlying asset, ETH in this case, at a predetermined price within a set date.
James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that the approval was “100% expected,” and the Commission had until April 9 to decide on the approval.
Further, Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, said that more such launches are to come.
“Like w/ BTC ETFs, expect to see a bunch of new launches from issuers,” he wrote on X. “Covered call strategy ETH ETFs, buffer ETH ETFs, etc.”
SEC’s Delayed Decision Over Ether ETF Options
The US financial watchdog’s approval of ETHA options on Wednesday, comes after the agency initially postponed its decision on allowing options. Nasdaq ISE filed for the options on July 22, 2024.
Following Nasdaq’s filing on BlackRock’s behalf, a letter from Better Markets, warned the SEC to be careful before allowing options trading for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, citing their high volatility.
Last October, the SEC approved options trading on 11 Bitcoin ETFs for NYSE American, Nasdaq, and Cboe Exchange.
The recent approvals offer a hedging vehicle for investors to meet their needs in connection with Ether-related products and positions, the Commission’s approval note read.
“The Exchange believes that offering options on Ether Funds will benefit investors by providing them with an additional, relatively lower-cost investing tool to gain exposure to the price of Ether.”
ETH Price Soars Over 14% on ETFs and Trump’s Tariff Pause
Following the SEC’s options approval on the ETH ETFs and the recent 90-day Trump tariff pause, Ethereum price spiked 14% in the past 24 hours. Coinmarketplace data shows that Ethereum is now trading for $1,641 at press time.
Per Farside Investors data, the SEC’s approval comes at a time when ETH ETF holders are seeing increased losses. The funds were down over 50% YTD, and the trend has affected ETH ETF flows, which saw only four days of inflows since February 20.
On the other hand, two -2x ETH ETFs are the best-performing ETFs so far in 2025, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas noted. These products represent a 2x leverage short positioning on ETH ETFs.
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