Grayscale to Launch Bitcoin ETF Options Following BlackRock’s Record Debut

Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments plans to roll out options trading on its spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday amid the first glimpses of solid investor appetite for such products.The announcement comes a day after BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) achieved record-breaking activity on its first day of options trading, pushing Grayscale will Grayscale is thrilled that Options trading on both $GBTC and $BTC will begin tomorrow – further developing the ecosystem around our US-listed #Bitcoin ETPs. pic.twitter.com/i7kFpOiogq— Grayscale (@Grayscale) November 19, 2024Following the Options Clearing Corporation’s (OCC) The tooling aims to generate income by employing a covered call strategy—writing and buying options contracts on Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) while holding Bitcoin or GBTC as collateral.Bloomberg ETF analyst Seyffart called attention to the speed of Grayscale’s response following the OCC’s clearance, “They’ve filed an updated prospectus for their Bitcoin Covered Call ETF,” Seyffart tweeted. “The fund will offer exposure to $GBTC & $BTC while writing &/or buying options contracts on Bitcoin ETPs for income.”Grayscale follows the unprecedented debut of Seyffart shared details on The ratio indicates that a significantly larger number of investors placed bets on Bitcoin’s price rise (calls) compared to those hedging against a potential price drop (puts). “These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new Bitcoin all-time highs today,” Seyffart wrote, referring to Bitcoin’s surge to $94,041 on Tuesday.Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas characterized the $1.9 billion trading volume as “unheard of” for any given options trading within an ETF during its first day.“$For context, BITO did $363 million, and that’s been around for four years,” Balchunas wrote on Roughly 73,000 options contracts were traded in the first Grayscale’s launch comes a year after its major legal victory This ruling was a turning point for crypto ETFs, challenging regulatory resistance that had stalled their approvals for nearly a decade.Edited by Sebastian Sinclair