95264 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Notices 

51 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

52 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

53 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

54 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6)(iii) requires a self-regulatory organization to 

give the Commission written notice of its intent to 

file the proposed rule change, along with a brief 

description and text of the proposed rule change, 

at least five business days prior to the date of filing 

of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time 

as designated by the Commission. The Commission 

waives this requirement. 

55 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

56 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

57See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

101128 (September 20, 2024), 89 FR 78942 

(September 26, 2024) (SR–ISE–2024–03) (SelfRegulatory Organizations; Nasdaq ISE, LLC; Notice 

of Filing of Amendment Nos. 4 and 5 and Order 

Granting Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule 

Change, as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1, 4, and 

5, to Permit the Listing and Trading of Options on 

the iShares Bitcoin Trust). See also Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 101387 (October 18, 

2024), 89 FR 84948 (October 24, 2024) (SR–Cboe– 

2024–035) (Notice of Filing of Amendment Nos. 2 

and 3 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of 

a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by 

Amendment Nos. 2 and 3, To Permit the Listing and 

Trading of Options on Bitcoin Exchange-Traded 

Funds). 

58For purposes only of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay, the Commission has also 

considered the proposed rule’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

59 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The Exchange has filed the proposed 

rule change pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 51 and Rule 

19b–4(f)(6) thereunder.52 Because the 

foregoing proposed rule change does 

not: (i) significantly affect the protection 

of investors or the public interest; (ii) 

impose any significant burden on 

competition; and (iii) become operative 

for 30 days from the date on which it 

was filed, or such shorter time as the 

Commission may designate, it has 

become effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 53 and 

subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4 

thereunder.54

A proposed rule change filed under 

Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 55 under the Act does 

not normally become operative prior to 

30 days after the date of the filing. 

However, pursuant to Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6)(iii),56 the Commission may 

designate a shorter time if such action 

is consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. The 

Exchange has requested that the 

Commission waive the 30-day operative 

delay so that the proposal may become 

operative immediately upon filing. The 

Commission previously approved the 

listing of options on the iShares Bitcoin 

Trust, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin 

Fund, and the ARK21Shares Bitcoin 

ETF.57 The Exchange has provided 

information regarding the underlying 

Bitcoin Funds, including, among other 

things, information regarding trading 

volume, the number of beneficial 

holders, and the market capitalization of 

the Bitcoin Funds. The proposal also 

establishes position and exercise limits 

for options on the Bitcoin Funds and 

provides information regarding the 

surveillance procedures that will apply 

to Bitcoin Fund options. The 

Commission believes that waiver of the 

operative delay could benefit investors 

by providing an additional venue for 

trading Bitcoin Fund options. Therefore, 

the Commission believes that waiver of 

the 30-day operative delay is consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest. Accordingly, the 

Commission hereby waives the 30-day 

operative delay and designates the 

proposed rule change as operative upon 

filing.58

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include file number SR– 

NYSEAMER–2024–73 on the subject 

line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to file 

number SR–NYSEAMER–2024–73. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

internet website (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–NYSEAMER–2024–73 and should 

be submitted on or before December 23, 

2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.59

Vanessa A. Countryman, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28107 Filed 11–29–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–101735; File No. SR–BOX– 

2024–27] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; BOX 

Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed 

Rule Change To Amend Rules 3120 

(Position Limits) and 5020 (Criteria for 

Underlying Securities) To Permit 

Trading of iShares Bitcoin ETF Options 

November 25, 2024. 

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on November 

21, 2024, BOX Exchange LLC 

(‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BOX Options’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I and II below, which Items have 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
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3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101128 

(September 20, 2024) (Notice of Filing of 

Amendment Nos. 4 and 5 and Order Granting 

Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule Change, 

as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1, 4, and 5, to 

Permit the Listing and Trading of Options on the 

iShares Bitcoin Trust), 89 FR 78942 (September 26, 

2024) (‘‘ISE Approval Order’’). 

4On January 10, 2024, the Commission approved 

proposals by NYSE Arca, Inc., The Nasdaq Stock 

Market LLC, and Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. to list 

and trade the shares of 11 bitcoin-based 

commodity-based trust shares and trust units, 

including the iShares Bitcoin Trust. See Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 99306 (January 10, 2024), 

89 FR 3008 (Jan. 17, 2024) (order approving File 

Nos. SR–NYSEARCA–2021–90; SR–NYSEARCA– 

2023–44; SR–NYSEARCA–2023–58; SR–NASDAQ– 

2023–016; SR–NASDAQ–2023–019; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–028; SR–CboeBZX–2023–038; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–040; SR–CboeBZX–2023–042; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–044; SR–CboeBZX–2023–072) (‘‘Bitcoin ETP 

Order’’). The Exchange represents it would not list 

options on the Trust unless it satisfied all 

applicable criteria in Rule 5020. 

5Rule 5020(h)(1) states that the Exchange-Traded 

Fund Shares either (i) meet the criteria and 

guidelines set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 

Rule 5020 above; or (ii) the Exchange-Traded Fund 

Shares are available for creation or redemption each 

business day from or through the issuing trust, 

investment company, commodity pool or other 

entity in cash or in kind at a price related to net 

asset value, and the issuer is obligated to issue 

Exchange-Traded Fund Shares in a specified 

aggregate number even if some or all of the 

investment assets and/or cash required to be 

deposited have not been received by the issuer, 

subject to the condition that the person obligated 

to deposit the investment assets has undertaken to 

deliver them as soon as possible and such 

undertaking is secured by the delivery and 

maintenance of collateral consisting of cash or cash 

equivalents satisfactory to the issuer of the 

Exchange-Traded Fund Shares, all as described in 

the Exchange-Traded Fund Shares’ prospectus; and 

meet other criteria. 

6Specifically, the Exchange proposes to amend 

Rule 5020(h) to include the name of the Trust to 

enable options to be listed on the Trust on BOX. 

7See SR–NASDAQ–2023–016 for a complete 

description of the Trust. 

been prepared by the Exchange. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rules 3120 (Position Limits), 5020 

(Criteria for Underlying Securities) to 

permit trading of iShares Bitcoin ETF 

options. Additionally, the Exchange 

proposes to amend Rule 5055 (FLEX 

Equity Options). The text of the 

proposed rule change is available from 

the principal office of the Exchange, at 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room and also on the Exchange’s 

internet website at https://

rules.boxexchange.com/rulefilings. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

Exchange included statements 

concerning the purpose of and basis for 

the proposed rule change and discussed 

any comments it received on the 

proposed rule change. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange has prepared summaries, set 

forth in sections A, B, and C below, of 

the most significant aspects of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rules 3120 (Position Limits) and 5020 

(Criteria for Underlying Securities) to 

permit trading of iShares Bitcoin ETF 

options on BOX. Additionally, the 

Exchange proposes to amend Rule 5055 

(FLEX Equity Options). This is a 

competitive filing that is based on a 

proposal recently submitted by Nasdaq 

ISE, LLC (‘‘Nasdaq ISE’’) and approved 

by the Commission.3

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rule 5020, Criteria for Underlying 

Securities, to allow the Exchange to list 

and trade options on iShares Bitcoin 

Trust (the ‘‘Trust’’) 4 as an ETF deemed 

appropriate for options trading on BOX. 

Specifically, the Exchange proposes to 

amend Rule 5020(h) to allow BOX to list 

and trade options on the Trust. 

Currently, Rule 5020(h) provides that 

securities deemed appropriate for 

options trading shall include shares or 

other securities (‘‘Exchange-Traded 

Fund Shares’’) that are traded on a 

national securities exchange and are 

defined as an ‘‘NMS stock’’ under Rule 

600 of Regulation NMS and that (i) 

represent interests in registered 

investment companies (or series thereof) 

organized as open-end management 

investment companies, unit investment 

trusts or similar entities that hold 

portfolios of securities and/or financial 

instruments, including, but not limited 

to, stock index futures contracts, options 

on futures, options on securities and 

indices, equity caps, collars and floors, 

swap agreements, forward contracts, 

repurchase agreements and reverse 

repurchase agreements (the ‘‘Financial 

Instruments’’) and money market 

instruments, including, but not limited 

to, U.S. government securities and 

repurchase agreements (the ‘‘Money 

Market Instruments’’) comprising or 

otherwise based on or representing 

investments in broad-based indexes or 

portfolios of securities and/or Financial 

Instruments and Money Market 

Instruments (or that hold securities in 

one or more other registered investment 

companies that themselves hold such 

portfolios of securities and/or Financial 

Instruments and Money Market 

Instruments); or (ii) represent interests 

in a trust that holds a specified non-U.S. 

currency deposited with the trust or 

similar entity when aggregated in some 

specified minimum number may be 

surrendered to the trust by the 

beneficial owner to receive the specified 

non-U.S. currency or currencies and 

pays the beneficial owner interest and 

other distributions on the deposited 

non-U.S. currency or currencies, if any, 

declared and paid by the trust 

(‘‘Currency Trust Shares’’); or (iii) 

represent commodity pool interests 

principally engaged, directly or 

indirectly, in holding and/or managing 

portfolios or baskets of securities, 

commodity futures contracts, options on 

commodity futures contracts, swaps, 

forward contracts and/or options on 

physical commodities and/or non-U.S. 

currency (‘‘Commodity Pool ETFs’’); or 

(iv) represent interests in the SPDR®

Gold Trust, the iShares COMEX Gold 

Trust, the iShares Silver Trust, the ETFS 

Gold Trust, the ETFS Silver trust, the 

ETFS Palladium Trust, the ETFS 

Platinum Trust or the Sprott Physical 

Gold Trust. In addition to the 

aforementioned requirements, Rules 

5020(h)(1) and (2) must be met to list 

options on ETFs.5

Proposal 

The Exchange proposes to expand the 

list of ETFs that are appropriate for 

options trading on the Exchange in Rule 

5020(h) to include the Trust.6

Description of the Trust 7

The Shares are issued by the Trust, a 

Delaware statutory trust. The Trust 

operates pursuant to a trust agreement 

(the ‘‘Trust Agreement’’) between the 

Sponsor, BlackRock Fund Advisors (the 

‘‘Trustee’’) as the trustee of the Trust 

and Wilmington Trust, National 

Association, as Delaware trustee (the 

‘‘Delaware Trustee’’). The Trust issues 

Shares representing fractional 

undivided beneficial interests in its net 

assets. The assets of the Trust consist 

only of Bitcoin, held by a custodian on 

behalf of the Trust except under limited 

circumstances when transferred through 

the Trust’s prime broker temporarily 

(described below), and cash. Coinbase 

Custody Trust Company, LLC (the 

‘‘Bitcoin Custodian’’) is the custodian 

for the Trust’s Bitcoin holdings, and 


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8The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in 

blocks of 40,000 or integral multiples thereof. A 

block of 40,000 Shares is called a ‘‘Basket.’’ These 

transactions take place in exchange for Bitcoin. 

9The term ‘‘cold storage’’ refers to a safeguarding 

method by which the private keys corresponding to 

the Trust’s Bitcoin are generated and stored in an 

offline manner, subject to layers of procedures 

designed to enhance security. Private keys are 

generated by the Bitcoin Custodian in offline 

computers that are not connected to the internet so 

that they are more resistant to being hacked. 

10See Rule 5020(h)(iv). 

11Rule 5030(b)(6) provides, ‘‘The underlying 

security ceases to be an ‘‘NMS stock’’ as defined in 

Rule 600 of Regulation NMS under the Exchange 

Act.’’ 

12See Rule 5030(h). 

maintains a custody account for the 

Trust (‘‘Custody Account’’); Coinbase, 

Inc. (the ‘‘Prime Execution Agent’’), an 

affiliate of the Bitcoin Custodian, is the 

prime broker for the Trust and 

maintains a trading account for the 

Trust (‘‘Trading Account’’); and Bank of 

New York Mellon is the custodian for 

the Trust’s cash holdings (the ‘‘Cash 

Custodian’’ and together with the 

Bitcoin Custodian, the ‘‘Custodians’’) 

and the administrator of the Trust (the 

‘‘Trust Administrator’’). Under the Trust 

Agreement, the Trustee may delegate all 

or a portion of its duties to any agent, 

and has delegated the bulk of the dayto-day responsibilities to the Trust 

Administrator and certain other 

administrative and record-keeping 

functions to its affiliates and other 

agents. The Trust is not an investment 

company registered under the 

Investment Company Act of 1940, as 

amended, (the ‘‘1940 Act’’). 

The investment objective of the Trust 

is to reflect generally the performance of 

the price of Bitcoin. The Trust seeks to 

reflect such performance before 

payment of the Trust’s expenses and 

liabilities. The Shares are intended to 

constitute a simple means of making an 

investment similar to an investment in 

Bitcoin through the public securities 

market rather than by acquiring, holding 

and trading Bitcoin directly on a peerto-peer or other basis or via a digital 

asset exchange. The Shares have been 

designed to remove the obstacles 

represented by the complexities and 

operational burdens involved in a direct 

investment in Bitcoin, while at the same 

time having an intrinsic value that 

reflects, at any given time, the 

investment exposure to the Bitcoin 

owned by the Trust at such time, less 

the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. 

Although the Shares are not the exact 

equivalent of a direct investment in 

Bitcoin, they provide investors with an 

alternative method of achieving 

investment exposure to Bitcoin through 

the public securities market, which may 

be more familiar to them. 

Custody of the Trust’s Bitcoin 

An investment in the Shares is backed 

by Bitcoin held by the Bitcoin 

Custodian on behalf of the Trust. All of 

the Trust’s Bitcoin will be held in the 

Custody Account, other than the Trust’s 

Bitcoin which is temporarily 

maintained in the Trading Account 

under limited circumstances, i.e., in 

connection with creation and 

redemption Basket 8 activity or sales of 

Bitcoin deducted from the Trust’s 

holdings in payment of Trust expenses 

or the Sponsor’s fee (or, in extraordinary 

circumstances, upon liquidation of the 

Trust). The Custody Account includes 

all of the Trust’s Bitcoin held at the 

Bitcoin Custodian, but does not include 

the Trust’s Bitcoin temporarily 

maintained at the Prime Execution 

Agent in the Trading Account from time 

to time. The Bitcoin Custodian will keep 

all of the private keys associated with 

the Trust’s Bitcoin held in the Custody 

Account in ‘‘cold storage.’’ 9 The 

hardware, software, systems, and 

procedures of the Bitcoin Custodian 

may not be available or cost-effective for 

many investors to access directly. As 

provided in the ISE Approval Order, the 

Exchange believes that offering options 

on the Trust will benefit investors by 

providing them with an additional, 

relatively lower cost investing tool to 

gain exposure to spot Bitcoin as well as 

a hedging vehicle to meet their 

investment needs in connection with 

Bitcoin products and positions. Similar 

to other commodity ETFs in which 

options may be listed on BOX (e.g., 

SPDR® Gold Trust, the iShares COMEX 

Gold Trust, the iShares Silver Trust, the 

ETFS Gold Trust, the ETFS Silver trust, 

the ETFS Palladium Trust, the ETFS 

Platinum Trust or the Sprott Physical 

Gold Trust),10 the proposed ETF is a 

trust that essentially offers the same 

objectives and benefits to investors. 

Options on the Trust will trade in the 

same manner as options on other ETFs 

on BOX. Exchange Rules that currently 

apply to the listing and trading of all 

options on ETFs on BOX, including, for 

example, rules that govern listing 

criteria, expirations, exercise prices, 

minimum increments, position and 

exercise limits (including as proposed 

herein), margin requirements, customer 

accounts, and trading halt procedures 

will apply to the listing and trading of 

options on the Trust on BOX. Today, 

these rules apply to options on the 

various commodities ETFs deemed 

appropriate for options trading on BOX 

pursuant to Rule 5020(h)(iv). The 

Exchange’s initial listing standards for 

ETFs on which options may be listed 

and traded on BOX will apply to the 

Trust. The initial listing standard as set 

forth in Rule 5020(a) provides that: 

Underlying securities with respect to 

which put or call options contracts are 

approved for listing and trading on the 

Exchange must meet the following 

criteria: (1) the security must be 

registered and be an ‘‘NMS stock’’ as 

defined in Rule 600 of Regulation NMS 

under the Exchange Act; and (2) the 

security shall be characterized by a 

substantial number of outstanding 

shares that are widely held and actively 

traded. Pursuant to Rule 5020, ETFs on 

which options may be listed and traded 

must satisfy the listing standards set 

forth in Rule 5020(h). Specifically, the 

Trust must meet either: (1) the criteria 

and guidelines for underlying securities 

set forth in Rules 5020(a) and (b), or (2) 

it must be available for creation or 

redemption each business day from or 

through the issuing trust, investment 

company, commodity pool or other 

entity in cash or in kind at a price 

related to net asset value, and the issuer 

is obligated to issue Exchange-Traded 

Fund Shares in a specified aggregate 

number even if some or all of the 

investment assets and/or cash required 

to be deposited have not been received 

by the issuer, subject to the condition 

that the person obligated to deposit the 

investment assets has undertaken to 

deliver them as soon as possible and 

such undertaking is secured by the 

delivery and maintenance of collateral 

consisting of cash or cash equivalents 

satisfactory to the issuer of the 

Exchange-Traded Fund Shares, all as 

described in the Exchange-Traded Fund 

Shares’ prospectus, and meet other 

criteria. Options on the Trust will also 

be subject to the Exchange’s continued 

listing standards for options on ETFs set 

forth in Rule 5030(h). Specifically, 

options approved for trading pursuant 

to Rule 5020(h) will not be deemed to 

meet the requirements for continued 

approval, and the Exchange shall not 

open for trading any additional series of 

option contracts of the class covering 

such ETFs if the ETFs are delisted from 

trading as provided in Rule 5030(b)(6) 11

or the ETFs are halted or suspended 

from trading on their primary market.12

In addition, the Exchange shall consider 

the suspension of opening transactions 

in any series of options of the class 

covering ETFs in any of the following 

circumstances: (1) in the case of options 

covering Exchange-Traded Fund Shares 

approved pursuant to Rule 5020(h)(1)(i), 

in accordance with the terms of 


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13Rules 5030(b)(1)–(3) and (6) provide, if: (1) 

there are fewer than 6,300,000 shares of the 

underlying security held by persons other than 

those who are required to report their security 

holdings under Section 16(a) of the Act, (2) there 

are fewer than 1,600 holders of the underlying 

security, (3) the trading volume (in all markets in 

which the underlying security is traded) has been 

less than 1,800,000 shares in the preceding twelve 

(12) months, or (6) the underlying security ceases 

to be an ‘NMS stock’ as defined in Rule 600 of 

Regulation NMS under the Exchange Act. 

14See Rule 5010, Rights and Obligations of 

Holders and Writers, which provides that the rights 

and obligations of holders and writers shall be as 

set forth in the Rules of the Clearing Corporation. 

See also OCC Rules, Chapter VIII, which governs 

exercise and assignment, and Chapter IX, which 

governs the discharge of delivery and payment 

obligations arising out of the exercise of physically 

settled stock option contracts. OCC Rules can be 

located at: https://www.theocc.com/getmedia/ 

9d3854cd-b782-450f-bcf7-33169b0576ce/occ_

rules.pdf. 

15See IM–5050–6. 

16See IM–5050–13. 

17See IM–5050–4. 

18See Rule 5070. 

19See Rule 5050(d)(6). 

20See IM–5050–6. 

21See IM–5050–2. 

22See IM–5050–5. 

23See IM–5050–3. 

24Options that are eligible to participate in the 

Penny Interval Program have a minimum increment 

of $0.01 below $3.00 and $0.05 above $3.00. See 

Rule 7260. 

25See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

101128 (September 20, 2024), 89 FR 78942 

(September 26, 2024) (SR–ISE–2024–03) (Order 

Granting Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule 

Change, as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1, 4, and 

5, to Permit the Listing and Trading of Options on 

the iShares Bitcoin Trust) (Exhibit 3) (‘‘IBIT 

Approval Order’’) (letter from Angela Dunn, Nasdaq 

ISE, LLC, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission, dated August 21, 2024) (‘‘ISE Letter’’). 

subparagraphs (b)(1), (2), (3) and (6) of 

Rule 5030; 13 (2) in the case of options 

covering Fund Shares approved 

pursuant to Rule 5020(h)(1)(ii), 

following the initial twelve-month 

period beginning upon the 

commencement of trading in the 

Exchange-Traded Fund Shares on a 

national securities exchange and are 

defined as an ‘‘NMS stock’’ under Rule 

600 of Regulation NMS, there were 

fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial 

holders of such Exchange-Traded Fund 

Shares for 30 or more consecutive 

trading days; (3) the value of the index 

or portfolio of securities or non-U.S. 

currency, portfolio of commodities 

including commodity futures contracts, 

options on commodity futures contracts, 

swaps, forward contracts, options on 

physical commodities and/or Financial 

Instruments and Money Market 

Instruments, on which the ExchangeTraded Fund Shares are based is no 

longer calculated or available; or (4) 

such other event occurs or condition 

exists that in the opinion of the 

Exchange makes further dealing in such 

options on BOX inadvisable. Options on 

the Trust would be physically settled 

contracts with American-style 

exercise.14 Consistent with current Rule 

5050, which governs the opening of 

options series on a specific underlying 

security (including ETFs), the Exchange 

will open at least one expiration month 

for options on the Trust and may also 

list series of options on the Trust for 

trading on a weekly,15 monthly,16 or 

quarterly 17 basis. The Exchange may 

also list long-term equity option series 

(‘‘LEAPS’’) 18 that expire from twelve to 

one hundred eighty months from the 

time they are listed. 

Pursuant to Rule 5050(d)(4), which 

governs strike prices of series of options 

on ETFs, the interval between strike 

prices of series of options on ETFs 

approved for options trading pursuant 

to Rule 5020(h) shall be fixed at a price 

per share which is reasonably close to 

the price per share at which the 

underlying security is traded in the 

primary market at or about the same 

time such series of options is first open 

for trading on the Exchange, or at such 

intervals as may have been established 

on another options exchange prior to the 

initiation of trading on BOX. With 

respect to the Short Term Options Series 

or Weekly Program, during the month 

prior to expiration of an option class 

that is selected for the Short Term 

Option Series Program, the strike price 

intervals for the related non-Short Term 

Option (‘‘Related non-Short Term 

Option’’) shall be the same as the strike 

price intervals for the Short Term 

Option.19 Specifically, the Exchange 

may open for trading Short Term Option 

Series at strike price intervals of (i) 

$0.50 or greater where the strike price 

is less than $100, and $1 or greater 

where the strike price is between $100 

and $150 for all option classes that 

participate in the Short Term Options 

Series Program; (ii) $0.50 for option 

classes that trade in one dollar 

increments and are in the Short Term 

Option Series Program; or (iii) $2.50 or 

greater where the strike price is above 

$150.20 Additionally, the Exchange may 

list series of options pursuant to the $1 

Strike Price Interval Program,21 the 

$0.50 Strike Program,22 and the $2.50 

Strike Price Program.23 Rule 7050 

governs the minimum increment for 

bids and offers for options traded on 

BOX. Pursuant to Rule 7050, where the 

price of a series of options for the Trust 

is less than $3.00 the minimum 

increment will be $0.05, and where the 

price is $3.00 or higher, the minimum 

increment will be $0.10 24 consistent 

with the minimum increments for 

options on other ETFs listed on BOX. 

Any and all new series of Trust options 

that BOX lists will be consistent and 

comply with the expirations, strike 

prices, and minimum increments set 

forth in Rules 5050 and 7050, as 

applicable. Position and exercise limits 

for options on ETFs, including options 

on the Trust, are determined pursuant to 

Rules 3120 and 3140, respectively. 

Position and exercise limits for ETFs 

options vary according to the number of 

outstanding shares and the trading 

volumes of the underlying ETF over the 

past six months, where the largest in 

capitalization and the most frequently 

traded ETFs have an option position 

and exercise limit of 250,000 contracts 

(with adjustments for splits, recapitalizations, etc.) on the same side of 

the market; and smaller capitalization 

ETFs have position and exercise limits 

of 200,000, 75,000, 50,000 or 25,000 

contracts (with adjustments for splits, 

re-capitalizations, etc.) on the same side 

of the market. Notwithstanding the 

position limits in Rule 3120 and 

exercise limits in Rule 3140, the 

Exchange proposes the position and 

exercise limits for the options on the 

Trust to be 25,000 contracts on the same 

side pursuant to proposed IM–3120–2. 

Capping the position and exercise limits 

at 25,000 contracts, the lowest limits 

available in options, would address 

concerns related to manipulation and 

protection of investors as this number is 

extremely conservative for the Trust and 

is more than appropriate given its 

liquidity. 

For purposes of addressing position 

and exercise limits, the Exchange 

applies position and exercise limits for 

options for each underlying security and 

does not aggregate position and exercise 

limits. In considering the appropriate 

position and exercise limits for the 

Trust, the Exchange reviewed the data 

presented by ISE in its filing, 

specifically in Exhibit 3 of the filing,25

where ISE measured the Trust’s market 

capitalization and ADV against other 

industry data as explained further 

below. The Commission should 

consider the position and exercise limits 

for options on the Trust exclusive of 

other options on Bitcoin. In its filing, 

ISE considered the Trust’s market 

capitalization and ADV, and prospective 

position limit in relation to other 

securities. In measuring the Trust 

against other securities, ISE aggregated 

market capitalization and volume data 

for securities that have defined position 

limits utilizing data from The Options 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
95268 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Notices 

26The computations are based on OCC data from 

August 6, 2024. Data displaying zero values in 

market capitalization or ADV were removed. 

27The Trust has one asset and therefore is not 

comparable to a broad based ETF where there are 

typically multiple components. 

28See ISE Letter at 10. 

29 ISE acquired this figure as of August 13, 2024. 

See https://www.ishares.com/us/products/333011/ 

ishares-bitcoin-trust. The global supply of Bitcoin 

grows each day Bitcoin are minted. 

30See ISE Letter at 10. 

31See, e.g., iShares® iBoxx® $ High Yield 

Corporate Bond ETF (‘‘HYG’’) with a market 

capitalization of 13,859,235,000 dollars as of 

November 4, 2024. See https://www.ishares.com/ 

us/products/239565/ishares-iboxx-high-yieldcorporate-bond-etf. The Exchange notes that HYG 

has a position limit of 500,000 contracts. 

32See ISE Letter at 10. 

33 Id. 

34CME Bitcoin Futures are described in Chapter 

350 of CME’s Rulebook. 

35See the Position Accountability and Reportable 

Level Table in the Interpretations & Special Notices 

Section of Chapter 5 of CME’s Rulebook. 

36See https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ 

BTC%3DF/history/?guccounter=1&guce_

referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29

vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_

sig=AQAAAM7ngaS6ZQS9c2Wzx7JW2IUe-_-_

1FnLyr8T-Qw4jjkleHyCENfSMIEpPPt2hCzPDEry

TVyB78NIwxkwFB5Fuw-jA-YiuSmYJHBri

WbV6dYn91VQfzQNt3p0I2RkYLD3HhzXP

wu4AP5as-_WzHNpEBon4sk5sUZXgkapMrZR--CS. 

37Each bitcoin futures contract is valued at 5 

bitcoins as defined by the CME CF Bitcoin 

Reference Rate (‘‘BRR’’). See CME Rule 35001. 

38See ISE Letter at 11. 

39See https://www.cmegroup.com/education/ 

courses/market-regulation/position-limits/ 

positionlimits-aggregation-of-contracts-andtable.htm. 

40 Id. 

Clearing Corporations (‘‘OCC’’).26 This 

pool of data took into consideration 

3,984 options on single stock securities, 

excluding broad based ETFs.27 Next, ISE 

aggregated the data based on market 

capitalization and ADV and grouped 

option symbols by position limit 

utilizing statistical thresholds for ADV 

and market capitalization that were one 

standard deviation above the mean for 

each position limit category (i.e., 25,000, 

50,000 to 65,000, 75,000, 100,000 to less 

than 250,000, 250,000 to 400,000, 

450,000 to 1,000,000, and greater than 

or equal to 1,000,000) (sic).28 Rule 

3120(d) sets out position limits for 

various contracts. For example, on the 

Exchange like on ISE, a 25,000 contract 

limit applies to those options having an 

underlying security that does not meet 

the requirements for a higher options 

contract limit. ISE performed an 

exercise to demonstrate the Trust’s 

position limit relative to other options 

symbols in terms of market 

capitalization and ADV. For reference 

the market capitalization for the Trust 

was 19,789,068 billion 29 with an ADV, 

for the preceding three months prior to 

August 7, 2024, of greater than 26 

million shares.30 Today, by comparison, 

other options symbols with similar 

market capitalization and ADV have a 

position limit in excess of 400,000.31

Therefore, the proposed 25,000 same 

side position limit for options on the 

Trust is extremely conservative relative 

to these options symbols which are a 

full standard deviation above the mean 

in comparison. Second, ISE reviewed 

the Trust’s data relative to the market 

capitalization of the entire Bitcoin 

market in terms of exercise risk and 

availability of deliverables. Utilizing 

data as of August 3, 2024, there were 

19,737,193 Bitcoins in circulation.32 ISE 

took a price of $57,000 that equates to 

a market capitalization of greater than 

1.125 trillion US dollars, and applied 

that to a position limit of 400,000 for 

options on the Trust.33 If a position 

limit of 400,000 options were 

considered (the position limit that 

would be typically assigned based upon 

data) the exercisable risk would 

represent only 6.6% of the outstanding 

shares of the Trust. The 25,000 position 

limit being sought only represents 0.4% 

of the outstanding shares of the Trust. 

Since the Trust has a creation and 

redemption process managed through 

the issuer, additionally it can be 

compared the position limit sought to 

the total market capitalization of the 

entire Bitcoin market. In this case, the 

exercisable risk for options on the Trust 

would be less than 0.01% of the market 

capitalization of all outstanding Bitcoin. 

Assuming a scenario where all options 

on the Trust’s shares were exercised 

given the proposed 25,000 per same side 

position limit, this would have a 

virtually unnoticed impact on the entire 

Bitcoin market. This analysis 

demonstrates that the proposed 25,000 

per same side position limit is also 

extremely conservative and more than 

appropriate for options on the Trust. 

Third, ISE reviewed the proposed 

position limit by comparing it to 

position limits for derivative products 

regulated by the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (‘‘CFTC’’). While 

the CFTC, through the relevant 

Designated Contract Markets, only 

regulates options positions based upon 

delta equivalents (creating a less 

stringent standard), ISE examined 

equivalent Bitcoin futures position 

limits. In particular, ISE looked at the 

CME Bitcoin futures contract 34 that has 

a position limit of 2,000 futures.35 On 

August 7, 2024, CME Bitcoin futures 

settled at $55,000.36 Taking the position 

limit of 2,000 futures at a $5 

multiplier 37 equates to $550 million of 

notional value for Bitcoin futures. By 

way of comparison, on August 7, 2024, 

the Trust settled at $31.19 per share, 

which would equate to 17,633,857 

shares of the Trust 38 if the CME 

notional position limit were utilized. 

Since substantial portions of any 

distributed options portfolio are likely 

to be out of the money on expiration, an 

options position limit equivalent to the 

CME position limit for Bitcoin futures 

(considering that all options deltas are 

<=1.00) should be a bit higher than the 

CME implied 176,338 limit. Of note, 

unlike options contracts, CME position 

limits are calculated on a net futures 

equivalent basis by contract and include 

contracts that aggregate into one or more 

base contracts according to an 

aggregation ratio(s).39 Therefore, if a 

portfolio includes positions in options 

on futures, CME would aggregate those 

positions into the underlying futures 

contracts in accordance with a table 

published by CME on a delta equivalent 

value for the relevant spot month, 

subsequent spot month, single month 

and all month position limits.40 If a 

position exceeds position limits because 

of an option assignment, CME permits 

market participants to liquidate the 

excess position within one business day 

without being considered in violation of 

its rules. Additionally, if at the close of 

trading, a position that includes options 

exceeds position limits for futures 

contracts, when evaluated using the 

delta factors as of that day’s close of 

trading, but does not exceed the limits 

when evaluated using the previous 

day’s delta factors, then the position 

shall not constitute a position limit 

violation. Considering CME’s position 

limits on futures for bitcoin, the 

Exchange believes that that the 

proposed 25,000 per same side position 

limit is conservative and more than 

appropriate for options on the Trust. 

In analyzing the proposed position 

limit for options on the Trust, ISE also 

considered the supply of Bitcoin. 

Specifically, ISE examined the number 

of market participants with position 

limits that would need to exercise in 

unison to put the underlying asset 

under stress. In the case of options on 

the Trust, the proposed 25,000 same 

side position limit effectively restricts a 

market participant from holding 

positions that could be exercised in 

excess of 2,500,000 shares of the Trust. 

Utilizing data from August 12, 2024, the 

Trust had 611,040,000 shares 

outstanding, therefore 244 market 

participants would have to 

simultaneously exercise position limits 

in order to create a scenario that may 

put the underlying asset (the Trust) 


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41See https://www.ishares.com/us/products/ 

333011/ishares-bitcoin-trust. 

42This figure was acquired as of August 13, 2024. 

See https://www.ishares.com/us/products/333011/ 

ishares-bitcoin-trust. The global supply of bitcoin 

grows each day bitcoin are minted. 

43As of August 13, 2024, GLD had 294,000,000 

shares outstanding and SLV had 510,200,000 shares 

outstanding. See https://www.ssga.com/us/en/ 

intermediary/etfs/funds/spdr-gold-shares-gld and 

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239855/ 

ishares-silver-trust-fund. 

44A recent article suggested that the remaining 

supply will take over 100 years to fully mint. See 

Sen, Vivek. ‘‘94% of Bitcoin’s Supply Has Now 

Been Issued.’’ Bitcoin Magazine, https://bitcoin

magazine.com/business/94-of-bitcoins-supply-hasnow-been-issued. August 19, 2024. 

45A supply consideration would likely be 

valuable for an option symbol that had far less 

liquidity than the Trust. 

46See https://companiesmarketcap.com/usa/ 

largest-companies-in-the-usa-by-market-cap/. 

47See Rule 5055(e)(2)(i). 

48The Exchange would be required to submit a 

separate rule filing to permit the Exchange to 

authorize for trading FLEX Equity Options on the 

Trust (which filing may propose changes to existing 

FLEX Equity Option position limits for such 

options if appropriate). 

49See proposed Rule 5055(e)(2)(i). 

50The surveillance program includes real-time 

patterns for price and volume movements and posttrade surveillance patterns (e.g., spoofing, marking 

the close, phishing). 

51Section 19(g)(1) of the Act, among other things, 

requires every SRO registered as a national 

securities exchange or exchange or national 

securities association to comply with the Act, the 

rules and regulations thereunder, and the SRO’s 

own rules, and, absent reasonable justification or 

excuse, enforce compliance by its members and 

persons associated with its members. See 15 U.S.C. 

78q(d)(1) and 17 CFR 240.17d–2. Section 17(d)(1) 

of the Act allows the Commission to relieve an SRO 

of certain responsibilities with respect to members 

of the SRO who are also members of another SRO 

(‘‘common members’’). Specifically, Section 

17(d)(1) allows the Commission to relieve an SRO 

of its responsibilities to: (i) receive regulatory 

reports from such members; (ii) examine such 

members for compliance with the Act and the rules 

and regulations thereunder, and the rules of the 

SRO; or (iii) carry out other specified regulatory 

responsibilities with respect to such members. 

under stress.41 As unlikely an 

occurrence as all market participants 

exercising their position limits in 

unison would be, if it were to occur, it 

should be noted that even such an 

occurrence would not likely put the 

Trust under stress as economic 

incentives, would induce the creation of 

more shares through the ETF creation 

and redemption process. By way of 

example, given that the current global 

supply of Bitcoin, the underlying asset 

of the Trust, is 19,789,068 42 and that 

each Bitcoin can currently be redeemed 

for 1,755 shares of the Trust, another 

34,729,814,340 shares of the Trust could 

be created. To exhaust this supply of the 

Trust, 13,891 market participants would 

have to simultaneously exercise their 

position limit. Comparing the Trust to 

the SPDR® Gold Shares (‘‘GLD’’) ETF or 

the iShares Silver Trust (‘‘SLV’’) ETF, 

which have position limits of 250,000 or 

ten times the proposed position limit for 

the Trust as well as lower shares 

outstanding in both products,43 it is 

unjustified to mandate a different level 

of stringency with respect to a position 

limit for options on the Trust. The 

supply of Bitcoin does have a limit, 

which will take years to fully mint.44

The Exchange notes that Bitcoin is a 

viable economic alternative to 

traditional assets. The price of goods 

denominated by Bitcoin has actually 

declined. This dynamic not only makes 

a fixed supply desirable, but a necessary 

condition of the value added by this 

asset in the broader economy. Further, 

the Exchange notes that corporations 

have a limited number of outstanding 

shares. Corporations may authorize 

additional shares, repurchase shares or 

split their shares. Similarly, ETFs, like 

the Trust, may also create, redeem, or 

split shares to suit the demand of the 

marketplace. Importantly, because the 

supply of Bitcoin is much larger than 

the available supply of most securities 

and the proposed 25,000 contract 

position limit is so conservative, the 

Exchange believes that evaluating the 

available supply of Bitcoin in 

establishing a position limit for options 

on the Trust would demonstrate that the 

proposed limit is safe for investors and 

the market.45 The Trust constitutes less 

than 2% of the entire Bitcoin supply. 

When comparing the market 

capitalization of Bitcoin against the 

largest securities, Bitcoin would rank 

7th among those securities.46 Further, 

the Exchange believes that its proposal 

to list options on the Trust with a 

position limit of 25,000 on the same 

side is a conservative position limit that 

does not lend itself to manipulation in 

the market given the ample market 

capitalization and liquidity in the Trust. 

If we look to the liquidity statistics of 

similar instruments and their 

concomitant position limits, we are able 

to extrapolate a reasonable standard for 

arriving at a position limit for a new 

product. In this case we can look to 

GLD, SLV, and the ProShares Bitcoin 

Strategy ETF (‘‘BITO’’). These products 

have volume statistics and ‘‘float’’ 

statistics, which gauge liquidity, which 

are in line, yet slightly lower than the 

Trust. All three of these reference 

products have position limits of 250,000 

contracts. These reference products are 

remarkably similar in nature to the 

Trust; they are exchange-traded 

products (‘‘ETPs’’) holding one asset in 

a trust. 

Further, Rule Series 10100, which 

governs margin requirements applicable 

to the trading of all options on BOX 

including options on ETFs, will also 

apply to the trading of the Trust options. 

Lastly, Rule 5055(e)(2)(i) permits the 

Exchange to authorize for trading a 

FLEX Equity Option class on any equity 

security if it may authorize for trading 

a Non-FLEX Equity Option class on that 

equity security pursuant to Rule 5020.47

At this time, the Exchange is not 

proposing to permit Trust options to 

trade as FLEX Equity Options.48 The 

Exchange therefore proposes to modify 

Rule 5055(e)(2)(i) to specify this 

exception, which will add clarity and 

transparency to the Exchange Rules.49

The Exchange represents that the 

same surveillance procedures applicable 

to all other options on other ETFs 

currently listed and traded on the 

Exchange will apply to options on the 

Trust. Also, the Exchange represents 

that it has the necessary systems 

capacity to support the new option 

series. The Exchange believes that its 

existing surveillance and reporting 

safeguards are designed to deter and 

detect possible manipulative behavior 

which might potentially arise from 

listing and trading options on ETFs, 

including the proposed Trust options. 

Today, the Exchange has an adequate 

surveillance program in place for 

options. The Exchange intends to apply 

those same program procedures to 

options on the Trust that it applies to 

the Exchange’s other options 

products.50 The Exchange would review 

activity in the underlying Trust when 

conducting surveillances for market 

abuse or manipulation in the options on 

the Trust. Additionally, the Exchange is 

a member of the Intermarket 

Surveillance Group (‘‘ISG’’) under the 

Intermarket Surveillance Group 

Agreement. The Exchange would be 

able to obtain information regarding 

trading in shares of the Trust from 

Nasdaq and other markets that trade 

shares of the Trust through ISG. ISG 

members work together to coordinate 

surveillance and investigative 

information sharing in the stock, 

options, and futures markets. In 

addition, the Exchange has a Regulatory 

Services Agreement with the Financial 

Industry Regulatory Authority 

(‘‘FINRA’’). Pursuant to a multi-party 

17d–2 joint plan, all options exchanges 

allocate regulatory responsibilities to 

FINRA to conduct certain optionsrelated market surveillance that are 

common to rules of all options 

exchanges.51

The underlying shares of spot Bitcoin 

ETPs, including the Trust, are also 

subject to safeguards related to 

addressing market abuse and 

manipulation. As the Commission 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
95270 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Notices 

52See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99306 

(January 10, 2024), 89 FR 3008, 3009 (January 17, 

2024) (File Nos. SR–NYSEArca–2021–90; SR– 

NYSEArca–2023–44; SR–NYSEArca–2023–58; SR– 

NASDAQ–2023–016; SR–NASDAQ–2023–019; SR– 

CboeBZX–2023–028; SR–CboeBZX–2023–038; SR– 

CboeBZX–2023–040; SR–CboeBZX–2023–042; 

SRCboeBZX–2023–044; and SR–CboeBZX–2023– 

072) (Order Granting Accelerated Approval of 

Proposed Rule Changes, as Modified by 

Amendments Thereto, to List and Trade BitcoinBased Commodity-Based Trust Shares and Trust 

Units). 

53See Bitcoin ETP Order, 89 FR at 3010–11. 

54See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99295 

(January 8, 2024), 89 FR 2321, 2334–35 (January 12, 

2024) (SR–NASDAQ–2023–016) (Notice of Filing of 

Amendment No. 1 to a Proposed Rule Change To 

List and Trade Shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust 

Under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d)). 

55Effective October 1, 2018, ETFS Gold Trust was 

renamed Aberdeen Standard Gold ETF Trust. See 

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1450923/ 

000138713118005292/ex10-2.htm. Effective March 

31, 2022, Aberdeen Standard Gold ETF Trust was 

renamed abrdn Gold ETF Trust. See https://

www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1450923/ 

000138713122003628/ex10-2.htm. 

56Effective October 1, 2018 ETFS Silver Trust 

was renamed Aberdeen Standard Silver ETF Trust. 

See https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/ 

1450922/000138713118005294/ex10-2.htm. 

Effective March 31, 2022 Aberdeen Standard Silver 

ETF Trust was renamed abrdn Silver ETF Trust. See 

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1450922/ 

000138713122003632/ex10-2.htm. 

57Effective October 1, 2018 ETFS Palladium 

Trust was renamed Aberdeen Standard Palladium 

ETF Trust. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/ 

data/1459862/000138713118005304/ex10-2.htm. 

Effective March 31, 2022 Aberdeen Standard 

Palladium ETF Trust was renamed abrdn Palladium 

ETF Trust. See https://www.sec.gov/Archives/ 

edgar/data/1459862/000138713122003629/ex10- 

2.htm. 

58Effective October 1, 2018 ETFS Platinum Trust 

was renamed Aberdeen Standard Platinum ETF 

Trust. See https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/ 

data/1460235/000138713118005301/ex10-2.htm. 

Effective March 31, 2022 Aberdeen Standard 

Platinum ETF Trust was renamed abrdn Platinum 

ETF Trust. See https://www.sec.gov/Archives/ 

edgar/data/1460235/000138713122003633/ex10- 

2.htm. 

59 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

60 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

stated in its orders approving proposals 

of several exchanges to list and trade 

shares of spot bitcoin-based exchangetraded products (‘‘Bitcoin ETP Order’’): 

Each Exchange has a comprehensive 

surveillance-sharing agreement with the 

CME via their common membership in 

the Intermarket Surveillance Group. 

This facilitates the sharing of 

information that is available to the CME 

through its surveillance of its markets, 

including its surveillance of the CME 

bitcoin futures market.52 Given the 

consistently high correlation between 

the CME Bitcoin futures market and the 

spot Bitcoin market, as confirmed by the 

Commission through robust correlation 

analysis, the Commission was able to 

conclude that such surveillance sharing 

agreements could reasonably be 

‘‘expected to assist in surveilling for 

fraudulent and manipulative acts and 

practices in the specific context of the 

[Bitcoin ETPs].’’ 53 In light of 

surveillance measures related to both 

options and futures as well as the 

underlying Trust,54 the Exchange 

believes that existing surveillance 

procedures are designed to deter and 

detect possible manipulative behavior 

which might potentially arise from 

listing and trading the proposed options 

on the Trust. 

The Exchange has also analyzed its 

capacity and represents that it believes 

the Exchange and the Options Price 

Reporting Authority or ‘‘OPRA’’ have 

the necessary systems capacity to 

handle the additional traffic associated 

with the listing of new series that may 

result from the introduction of options 

on the Trust up to the number of 

expirations currently permissible under 

the Exchange Rules. Because the 

proposal is limited to one class, the 

Exchange believes any additional traffic 

that may be generated from the 

introduction of the Trust options will be 

manageable. 

Finally, the Exchange proposes a 

technical amendment to Rule 

5020(h)(iv) to amend the names ‘‘ETFS 

Gold Trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn Gold ETF 

Trust,’’ 55 ‘‘ETFS Silver trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn 

Silver ETF Trust,’’ 56 ‘‘ETFS Palladium 

Trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn Palladium ETF 

Trust,’’ 57 and ‘‘ETFS Platinum Trust’’ to 

‘‘abrdn Platinum ETF Trust.’’ 58 In 2018 

and again in 2022 these trusts were 

renamed. As such, the Exchange 

proposes to amend the names of the 

ETFs to reflect their current names. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposal is consistent with the 

requirements of Section 6(b) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’),59 in general, and Section 6(b)(5) 

of the Act,60 in particular, in that it is 

designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, to foster cooperation and 

coordination with persons engaged in 

facilitating transactions in securities, to 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system, and, in 

general to protect investors and the 

public interest. 

In particular, the Exchange believes 

that the proposal to list and trade 

options on the Trust will remove 

impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system and, in 

general, protect investors because 

offering options on the Trust will 

provide investors with a greater 

opportunity to realize the benefits of 

utilizing options on an ETF based on 

spot Bitcoin, including cost efficiencies 

and increased hedging strategies. The 

Exchange believes that offering options 

on a competitively priced ETF based on 

spot Bitcoin will benefit investors by 

providing them with an additional, 

relatively lower cost risk management 

tool allowing them to manage, more 

easily, their positions, and associated 

risks, in their portfolios in connection 

with exposure to spot Bitcoin. Today, 

BOX lists options on other commodity 

ETFs structured as a trust, which 

essentially offer the same objectives and 

benefits to investors, and for which the 

Exchange has not identified any issues 

with the continued listing and trading of 

options on those ETFs. The Exchange 

also believes the proposal to permit 

options on the Trust will remove 

impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system because 

options on the Trust will comply with 

current Exchange Rules. As discussed 

above, options on the Trust must satisfy 

the initial listing standards and 

continued listing standards currently in 

the Exchange Rules, applicable to 

options on all ETFs, including options 

on other commodity ETFs already 

deemed appropriate for options trading 

on BOX pursuant to Rule 5020(h). 

Further, Exchange Rules that currently 

govern the listing and trading of options 

on ETFs, including permissible 

expirations, strike prices, minimum 

increments, position and exercise limits 

(including as proposed herein), and 

margin requirements will govern the 

listing and trading of options on the 

Trust. The proposed position and 

exercise limits for options on the Trust 

is 25,000 contracts. These position and 

exercise limits are the lowest position 

and exercise limits available in the 

options industry, are extremely 

conservative and more than appropriate 

given the Trust’s market capitalization, 

average daily volume, and high number 

of outstanding shares. The proposed 

position limit, and exercise limit, is 

consistent with the Act as it addresses 

concerns related to manipulation and 

protection of investors because the 

position limit (and exercise limit) is 

extremely conservative and more than 

appropriate given the Trust is actively 

traded. In support of the proposed 

position and exercise limits for options 

on the Trust of 25,000 contracts, the 

Exchange is citing the in depth analysis 

ISE did in its filing. As noted above, in 

the IBIT Approval Order, ISE 

considered the: (i) Trust’s market 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
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61See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 39489 

(December 24, 1997), 63 FR 276 (January 5, 1998) 

(SR–CBOE–1997–11). 

62The Exchange would need to submit a separate 

rule filing to permit the Exchange to authorize for 

trading FLEX Equity Options on the Trust (which 

filing may propose changes to existing FLEX Equity 

Option position limits for such options if 

appropriate). 

63The surveillance program includes real-time 

patterns for price and volume movements and posttrade surveillance patterns (e.g., spoofing, marking 

the close, phishing). 

64Section 19(g)(1) of the Act, among other things, 

requires every SRO registered as a national 

securities exchange or national securities 

association to comply with the Act, the rules and 

regulations thereunder, and the SRO’s own rules, 

and, absent reasonable justification or excuse, 

enforce compliance by its members and persons 

associated with its members. See 15 U.S.C. 

78q(d)(1) and 17 CFR 240.17d–2. Section 17(d)(1) 

of the Act allows the Commission to relieve an SRO 

of certain responsibilities with respect to members 

of the SRO who are also members of another SRO 

(‘‘common members’’). Specifically, Section 

17(d)(1) allows the Commission to relieve an SRO 

of its responsibilities to: (i) receive regulatory 

reports from such members; (ii) examine such 

members for compliance with the Act and the rules 

and regulations thereunder, and the rules of the 

SRO; or (iii) carry out other specified regulatory 

responsibilities with respect to such members. 

65See supra note 4. 

66See Bitcoin ETP Order, 89 FR at 3010–11. 

67See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99295 

(January 8, 2024), 89 FR 2321, 2334–35 (January 12, 

2024) (SR–NASDAQ–2023–016) (Notice of Filing of 

Amendment No. 1 to a Proposed Rule Change To 

List and Trade Shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust 

Under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d)). 

68See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57897 

(May 30, 2008), 73 FR 32061 (June 5, 2008) (SR– 

Amex–2008–15; SR–CBOE–2005–11; SR–ISE–2008– 

12; SR–NYSEArca–2008–52; and SR–Phlx–2008– 

17) (Order Granting Approval of a Proposed Rule 

Change, as Modified, and Notice of Filing and 

Order Granting Accelerated Approval of Proposed 

Rule Changes, as Modified, Relating to Listing and 

Trading Options on the SPDR Gold Trust). 

69See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59055 

(December 4, 2008), 73 FR 75148 (December 10, 

2008) (SR–Amex–2008–68; SR–BSE–2008–51; SR– 

CBOE–2008–72; SR–ISE–2008–58; SR–NYSEArca– 

2008–66; and SR–Phlx–2008–58) (Notice of Filing 

and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of 

Proposed Rule Changes Relating to the Listing and 

Trading Options on Shares of the iShares COMEX 

Gold Trust and the iShares Silver Trust). 

70 Id. 

71See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61483 

(February 3, 2010), 75 FR 6753 (February 10, 2010) 

(SR–CBOE–2010–007; SR–ISE–2009–106; SR– 

NYSEAmex–2009–86; and SR–NYSEArca–2009– 

110) (Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule 

Changes and Notice of Filing and Order Granting 

Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule Change 

Relating to Listing and Trading Options on the 

ETFS Gold Trust and the ETFS Silver Trust). 

72 Id. 

73See supra note 3. 

capitalization and ADV, and prospective 

position limit in relation to other 

securities; (ii) market capitalization of 

the entire Bitcoin market in terms of 

exercise risk and availability of 

deliverables; (iii) proposed position 

limit by comparing it to position limits 

for derivative products regulated by the 

CFTC; and (iv) supply of Bitcoin. Based 

on the Exchange’s review of IBIT 

Approval Order, the Exchange believes 

that setting position and exercise limits 

for options on the Trust of 25,000 

contracts is more than appropriate for 

the Trust. The proposed position and 

exercise limits reasonably and 

appropriately balance the liquidity 

provisioning in the market against the 

prevention of manipulation. The 

Exchange believes these proposed limits 

are effectively designed to prevent an 

individual customer or entity from 

establishing options positions that could 

be used to manipulate the market of the 

underlying as well as the Bitcoin 

market.61

The Exchange believes the proposed 

rule change to exclude options on the 

Trust from being eligible for trading as 

FLEX Equity Options is consistent with 

the Act because, without this 

prohibition, trading a FLEX Equity 

Option in the Trust would otherwise 

establish different position and exercise 

limits than those proposed herein.62

The Exchange represents that BOX 

has the necessary systems capacity to 

support options on the Trust. The 

Exchange believes that its existing 

surveillance and reporting safeguards 

are designed to deter and detect possible 

manipulative behavior which might 

arise from listing and trading options on 

ETFs, including the Trust options. 

Today, the Exchange has an adequate 

surveillance program in place for 

options. The Exchange intends to apply 

those same program procedures to 

options on the Trust that it applies to 

the Exchange’s other options 

products.63 The Exchange will review 

activity in the underlying Trust when 

conducting surveillances for market 

abuse or manipulation in the options on 

the Trust. Additionally, the Exchange is 

a member of the ISG under the 

Intermarket Surveillance Group 

Agreement. ISG members work together 

to coordinate surveillance and 

investigative information sharing in the 

stock, options, and futures markets. The 

Exchange will be able to obtain 

information from Nasdaq, LLC and other 

markets through ISG. In addition, the 

Exchange has a Regulatory Services 

Agreement with FINRA. Pursuant to a 

multi-party 17d–2 joint plan, all options 

exchanges allocate regulatory 

responsibilities to FINRA to conduct 

certain options-related market 

surveillance that are common to rules of 

all options exchanges.64

The underlying shares of spot bitcoin 

ETPs, including the Trust, are also 

subject to safeguards related to 

addressing market abuse and 

manipulation. As the Commission 

stated in Bitcoin ETP Order: 

Each Exchange has a comprehensive 

surveillance-sharing agreement with the 

CME via their common membership in 

the Intermarket Surveillance Group. 

This facilitates the sharing of 

information that is available to the CME 

through its surveillance of its markets, 

including its surveillance of the CME 

bitcoin futures market.65

Given the consistently high 

correlation between the CME Bitcoin 

futures market and the spot Bitcoin 

market, as confirmed by the 

Commission through robust correlation 

analysis, the Commission was able to 

conclude that such surveillance sharing 

agreements could reasonably be 

‘‘expected to assist in surveilling for 

fraudulent and manipulative acts and 

practices in the specific context of the 

[Bitcoin ETPs].’’ 66

In light of surveillance measures 

related to both options and futures as 

well as the underlying Trust,67 the 

Exchange believes that existing 

surveillance procedures are designed to 

deter and detect possible manipulative 

behavior which might potentially arise 

from listing and trading the proposed 

options on the Trust. Further, the 

Exchange represents that it will 

implement any new surveillance 

procedures it deems necessary to 

effectively monitor the trading of 

options on the Trust. 

Finally, the Commission has 

previously approved the listing and 

trading of options on other commodity 

ETFs structured as a trust, such as 

SPDR® Gold Trust,68 the iShares 

COMEX Gold Trust 69 the iShares Silver 

Trust,70 the ETFS Gold Trust,71 and the 

ETFS Silver Trust.72

Further, the Exchange’s proposal to 

amend the names ‘‘ETFS Gold Trust’’ to 

‘‘abrdn Gold ETF Trust,’’ ‘‘ETFS Silver 

trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn Silver ETF Trust,’’ 

‘‘ETFS Palladium Trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn 

Palladium ETF Trust,’’ and ‘‘ETFS 

Platinum Trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn Platinum 

ETF Trust’’ in Rule 5020(h)(iv) is 

consistent with the Act and the 

protection of investors as this 

amendment reflects the current names 

of these products. 

The Exchange notes that the proposed 

rule change is substantively the same as 

a rule change proposed by Nasdaq ISE 

which the Commission recently 

approved.73

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will impose 

any burden on competition not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 


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74 Id. 

75 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

76 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6)(iii) requires a self-regulatory organization to 

give the Commission written notice of its intent to 

file the proposed rule change, along with a brief 

description and text of the proposed rule change, 

at least five business days prior to the date of filing 

of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time 

as designated by the Commission. The Commission 

waives this requirement. 

77 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

78See supra note 3. 

79For purposes only of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay, the Commission has also 

considered the proposed rule’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

of the purposes of the Act. In this regard 

and as indicated above, the Exchange 

notes that the rule change is being 

proposed as a competitive response to a 

filing submitted by Nasdaq ISE that was 

recently approved by the Commission.74

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will impose 

any burden on intramarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act 

as options on the Trust will be subject 

to initial listing standards and 

continued listing standards the same as 

other options on ETFs listed on BOX. 

Further, options on the Trust will be 

subject to Exchange Rules that currently 

govern the listing and trading of options 

on ETFs, including permissible 

expirations, strike prices, minimum 

increments, position and exercise limits 

(including as proposed to modify 

herein), and margin requirements. 

Options on the Trust will be equally 

available to all market participants who 

wish to trade such options. Also, and as 

stated above, the Exchange already lists 

options on other commodity ETFs 

structured as a trust. The Exchange does 

not believe that the proposal to list and 

trade options on the Trust will impose 

any burden on intermarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

To the extent that permitting options on 

the Trust to trade on BOX may make 

BOX a more attractive marketplace to 

market participants, such market 

participants are free to elect to become 

market participants on BOX. 

Additionally, other options exchanges 

are free to amend their listing rules, as 

applicable, to permit them to list and 

trade options on the Trust. The 

Exchange believes that the proposed 

rule change may relieve any burden on, 

or otherwise promote, competition as it 

is designed to increase competition for 

order flow on BOX in a manner that is 

beneficial to investors by providing 

them with a lower-cost option to hedge 

their investment portfolios. The 

Exchange notes that it operates in a 

highly competitive market in which 

market participants can readily direct 

order flow to competing venues that 

offer similar products. Ultimately, the 

Exchange believes that offering options 

on the Trust for trading on BOX will 

promote competition by providing 

investors with an additional, relatively 

low-cost means to hedge their portfolios 

and meet their investment needs in 

connection with spot Bitcoin prices and 

Bitcoin related products and positions. 

Additionally, the Exchange’s proposal 

to amend the names ‘‘ETFS Gold Trust’’ 

to ‘‘abrdn Gold ETF Trust,’’ ‘‘ETFS 

Silver trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn Silver ETF 

Trust,’’ ‘‘ETFS Palladium Trust’’ to 

‘‘abrdn Palladium ETF Trust,’’ and 

‘‘ETFS Platinum Trust’’ to ‘‘abrdn 

Platinum ETF Trust’’ in Rule 5020(h)(iv) 

does not impose an undue burden on 

competition as this amendment reflects 

the current names of these products. 

Finally, the proposed rule change to 

exclude options on the Trust from being 

eligible for trading as FLEX Equity 

Options does not impose an undue 

burden on competition as no BOX 

Participant will be able to transact a 

FLEX Equity Option on the Trust. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

The Exchange neither solicited nor 

received written comments on the 

proposed rule change. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

Because the foregoing proposed rule 

change does not: (i) significantly affect 

the protection of investors or the public 

interest; (ii) impose any significant 

burden on competition; and (iii) become 

operative for 30 days from the date on 

which it was filed, or such shorter time 

as the Commission may designate, it has 

become effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 75 and Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6) thereunder.76

A proposed rule change filed 

pursuant to Rule 19b–4(f)(6) under the 

Act normally does not become operative 

for 30 days after the date of its filing. 

However, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) 77 permits 

the Commission to designate a shorter 

time if such action is consistent with the 

protection of investors and the public 

interest. The Exchange has requested 

that the Commission waive the 30-day 

operative delay so that the proposal may 

become operative immediately upon 

filing. The Commission previously 

approved the listing of options on the 

shares of the Trust.78 The Exchange has 

provided information regarding the 

underlying Trust, including, among 

other things, information regarding 

trading volume, the number of 

beneficial holders, and the market 

capitalization of the Trust. The proposal 

also establishes position and exercise 

limits for options on the Trust and 

provides information regarding the 

surveillance procedures that will apply 

to options on the Trust. In addition, the 

proposal updates the names of certain 

commodity-based trusts, as described 

above, which will ensure that the 

Exchange’s rules identify these trusts by 

their current names. The Commission 

believes that waiver of the operative 

delay could benefit investors by 

providing an additional venue for 

trading Bitcoin Fund options and 

helping to ensure that the accuracy of 

the Exchange’s rules. Therefore, the 

Commission believes that waiver of the 

30-day operative delay is consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest. Accordingly, the 

Commission hereby waives the 30-day 

operative delay and designates the 

proposed rule change operative upon 

filing.79

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of such proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include file number SR– 

BOX–2024–27 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to file 

number SR–BOX–2024–27. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Notices 95273 

80 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12), (59). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99306 

(January 10, 2024), 89 FR 3008, 3009 (January 17, 

2024) (SR–NYSEArca–2021–90; SR–NYSEArca– 

2023–44; SR–NYSEArca–2023–58; SR–NASDAQ– 

2023–016; SR–NASDAQ–2023–019; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–028; SR–CboeBZX–2023–038; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–040; SR–CboeBZX–2023–042; SR–CboeBZX– 

2023–044; and SR–CboeBZX–2023–072) (Order 

Granting Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule 

Changes, as Modified by Amendments Thereto, to 

List and Trade Bitcoin-Based Commodity-Based 

Trust Shares and Trust Units) (‘‘Bitcoin ETP 

Approval Order’’). 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 

101128 (September 20, 2024), 89 FR 78942 

(September 26, 2024) (SR–ISE–2024–03) (‘‘ISE 

Approval’’); and 101386 (October 18, 2024), 89 FR 

84960 (October 24, 2024) (SR–NYSEAMER–2024– 

49) (‘‘NYSE American Approval’’). 5See Rule 19.3(i) which permits options trading 

on Fund Shares that (1) represent interests in 

registered investment companies (or series thereof) 

organized as open-end management investment 

companies, unit investment trusts or similar 

entities, and that hold portfolios of securities 

comprising or otherwise based on or representing 

investments in indexes or portfolios of securities (or 

that hold securities in one or more other registered 

investment companies that themselves hold such 

portfolios of securities) (‘‘Funds ’’) and/or financial 

instruments including, but not limited to, stock 

index futures contracts, options on futures, options 

on securities and indexes, equity caps, collars and 

floors, swap agreements, forward contracts, 

repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase 

agreements (the ‘‘Financial Instruments’’), and 

money market instruments, including, but not 

limited to, U.S. government securities and 

repurchase agreements (the ‘‘Money Market 

Instruments’’) constituting or otherwise based on or 

representing an investment in an index or portfolio 

of securities and/or Financial Instruments and 

Money Market Instruments, or (2) represent 

commodity pool interests principally engaged, 

directly or indirectly, in holding and/or managing 

portfolios or baskets of securities, commodity 

futures contracts, options on commodity futures 

contracts, swaps, forward 477 contracts and/or 

options on physical commodities and/or non-U.S. 

currency (‘‘Commodity Pool ETFs’’) or (3) represent 

interests in a trust or similar entity that holds a 

specified non-U.S. currency or currencies deposited 

with the trust or similar entity when aggregated in 

some specified minimum number may be 

surrendered to the trust by the beneficial owner to 

receive the specified non-U.S. currency or 

currencies and pays the beneficial owner interest 

and other distributions on the deposited non-U.S. 

currency or currencies, if any, declared and paid by 

the trust (‘‘Currency Trust Shares’’), or (4) represent 

interests in the SPDR Gold Trust or are issued by 

the iShares COMEX Gold Trust, iShares Silver 

Trust, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (the 

‘‘Fidelity Fund’’), or the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF 

(the ‘‘Ark 21 Fund’’). 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

internet website (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change between the 

Commission and any person, other than 

those that may be withheld from the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 

available for website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–BOX–2024–27 and should be 

submitted on or before December 23, 

2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.80

Vanessa A. Countryman, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28105 Filed 11–29–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–101740; File No. SR– 

CboeBZX–2024–121] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change To List Options 

on Certain Bitcoin ETFs 

November 25, 2024. 

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on November 

21, 2024, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. 

(‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX Options’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I and II below, which Items have 

been prepared by the Exchange. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX Options’’) 

proposes to amend Rule 19.3. The text 

of the proposed rule change is provided 

in Exhibit 5. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is also available on the Exchange’s 

website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/), at 

the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, 

and at the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

Exchange included statements 

concerning the purpose of and basis for 

the proposed rule change and discussed 

any comments it received on the 

proposed rule change. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange has prepared summaries, set 

forth in sections A, B, and C below, of 

the most significant aspects of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rule 19.3 regarding the criteria for 

underlying securities. Specifically, the 

Exchange proposes to amend Rule 

19.3(i)(4) to allow the Exchange to list 

and trade options on shares or other 

securities (‘‘Fund Shares’’) that are 

principally traded on a national 

securities exchange and are defined as 

an ‘‘NMS stock’’ under Rule 600 of 

Regulation NMS and that represent 

interests the iShares Bitcoin Trust (the 

‘‘iShares Fund’’), the Grayscale Bitcoin 

Trust (the ‘‘Grayscale Fund’’), the 

Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (the 

‘‘Grayscale Mini Fund’’), or the Bitwise 

Bitcoin ETF (the ‘‘Bitwise Fund’’ and, 

together with the iShares Fund, the 

Grayscale Fund, and the Grayscale Mini 

Fund, the ‘‘Bitcoin Funds’’).3 This is a 

competitive filing based on similar 

proposals submitted by Nasdaq ISE, LLC 

(‘‘ISE’’) (with respect to the iShares 

Fund) and NYSE American, LLC 

(‘‘NYSE American’’) (with respect to the 

Grayscale Fund, the Grayscale Mini 

Fund, and the Bitwise Fund), which 

were recently approved by the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(the ‘‘Commission’’).4 Current Rule 

19.3(i) provides that, subject to certain 

other criteria set forth in that Rule, 

securities deemed appropriate for 

options trading include Fund Shares 

that represent certain types of interests,5

including interests in certain specific 

trusts that hold financial instruments, 

money market instruments, precious 

metals (which are deemed 


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