The push from the Nasdaq to increase option limits for the BlackRock Bitcoin fund shows Bitcoin markets are “breaking out of their training wheels.”
The Nasdaq International Securities Exchange has filed a proposal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to increase the position limits for options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund to 1 million.
Position limits exist to prevent any one investor from controlling too many option contracts on the same stock, thereby reducing the risk of manipulative schemes that could affect prices, according to the notice and copy of the filing from the SEC on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq has requested in its filing, which it sent on Nov. 13, to increase the BlackRock ETF limit from 250,000 contracts to 1 million, as the exchange has seen an ongoing increase in demand for IBIT, and the lower limit will impede trading activity and the strategies of investors, such as the use of effective hedging vehicles or an income-generating strategy.
