Nasdaq ISE Seeks to Quadruple Trading Limits on BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Options
Nasdaq’s International Securities Exchange (ISE) has proposed to the U.S. SEC to increase position limits on options for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from 250,000 to 1,000,000 contracts, aligning IBIT with high-volume equities and ETFs like Apple and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. The proposal aims to ease restrictions on trading and hedging, allowing institutional traders to create larger, more sophisticated positions and products, potentially increasing market depth, liquidity, and capital allocation to Bitcoin ETFs. The filing also seeks to eliminate position limits for customized physically-delivered “FLEX” options, aiming to shift trading from opaque OTC markets to regulated exchanges. IBIT boasts a market cap of $86.2 billion and an average daily volume of 44.6 million shares. The proposal, now under SEC review with a comment period open until December 17, 2025, reflects growing institutional demand for Bitcoin derivatives. Although the immediate impact on Bitcoin’s price is expected to be limited, the change would enable lower-risk, allocation-driven trading by institutions and may compress volatility over time, further integrating Bitcoin into mainstream financial markets.
