2024-27987. Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To List Options on Certain Bitcoin ETFs

Bitcoin fund	Shares outstanding
Fidelity Fund	201,100,100
ARK 21 Fund	45,495,000

Each Bitcoin Fund had significantly more than 7,000,000 shares outstanding (approximately 29 and 6.5 times that amount, respectively), which is the minimum number of shares of a corporate stock that the Exchange generally requires to list options on that stock pursuant to Rule 19.3(b). The Exchange believes this demonstrates that each Bitcoin Fund is characterized by a substantial number of outstanding shares.

Further, the below table contains information regarding the number of beneficial holders of the Bitcoin Funds as of the specified dates:

Bitcoin fund	Beneficial holders	Date
Fidelity Fund	279,656	6/27/2024
ARK 21 Fund	69,425	6/26/2024

As this table shows, each Bitcoin Fund has significantly more than 2,000 beneficial holders (approximately 140 and 35 times more, respectively), which is the minimum number of holders the Exchange generally requires for corporate stock in order to list options on that stock pursuant to Rule 19.3(b). Therefore, the Exchange believes the shares of each Bitcoin Fund are widely held.^[9]

The Exchange also believes the shares of each Bitcoin Fund are actively traded. As of August 7, 2024, the total trading volume (by shares) for each fund for the six-month period of February 8 through August 7, 2024 and the approximate average daily volume (“ADV”) (in shares and notional) over the 30-day ( print page 94804) period of July 9 through August 7, 2024 for each Bitcoin Fund was as follows:

Bitcoin fund	6-month trading volume (shares)	30-day ADV (shares)	30-day ADV (notional $)
Fidelity Fund	1,112,861,581	6,014,335	250,354,755
ARK 21 Fund	297,360,739	1,893,335	90,484,307

As demonstrated above, despite the fact that the Bitcoin Funds had been trading for approximately seven months ^[10] only as of August 7, 2024, the six-month trading volume for each as of that date was substantially higher than 2,400,000 shares (approximately 464 and 124 times that amount, respectively), which is the minimum 12-month volume the Exchange generally requires for a corporate stock in order to list options on that security as set forth in Rule 19.3(b). Additionally, as of August 7, 2024, the trading volume for each Bitcoin Fund was in the top 5% of all ETFs that are currently trading. The Exchange believes this data demonstrates each Bitcoin Fund is characterized as having shares that are actively traded.

Options on the Bitcoin Funds will be subject to the Exchange's continued listing standards set forth in Rule 19.4(g) for Fund Shares deemed appropriate for options trading pursuant to Rule 19.3(i). Specifically, 19.4(g) provides that Fund Shares that were initially approved for options trading pursuant to Rule 19.3 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 Fund Shares if the security ceases to be an NMS stock (see Rule 19.4(b)(4)). Additionally, the Exchange will not open for trading any additional series of option contracts of the class covering Fund Shares in any of the following circumstances: (1) in the case of options covering Fund Shares approved for trading under Rule 19.3(i)(4)(A), in accordance with the terms of Rule 19.4(b)(1), (2) and (3); (2) in the case of options covering Fund Shares approved pursuant to Rule 19.3(i)(4)(B), following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading in the Fund Shares on a national securities exchange and are defined as NMS stock under Rule 600 of Regulation NMS, there were fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial holders of such Fund Shares for 30 consecutive days; (3) the value of the index, non-U.S. currency, portfolio of commodities including commodity futures contracts, options on commodity futures contracts, swaps, forward contracts and/or options on physical commodities and/or Financial Instruments or Money Market Instruments, or portfolio of securities on which the 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 the Exchange inadvisable.

Options on each Bitcoin Fund will be physically settled contracts with American-style exercise.^[11] Consistent with current Rule 19.6, which governs the opening of options series on a specific underlying security (including Fund Shares), the Exchange will open at least one expiration month for options on each Bitcoin Fund ^[12] at the commencement of trading on the Exchange and may also list series of options on a Bitcoin Fund for trading on a weekly,^[13] monthly,^[14] or quarterly ^[15] basis. The Exchange may also list long-term equity option series (“LEAPS”) that expire from 12 to 39 months from the time they are listed.^[16]

Pursuant to Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .01, which governs strike prices of series of options on Fund Shares, the interval of strikes prices for series of options on Bitcoin Funds will be $1 or greater when the strike price is $200 or less and $5 or greater where the strike price is over $200.^[17] Additionally, the Exchange may list series of options pursuant to the $1 Strike Price Interval Program,^[18] the $0.50 Strike Program,^[19] the $2.50 Strike Price Program,^[20] and the $5 Strike Program.^[21] Pursuant to Rule 21.5, where the price of a series of a Bitcoin Fund option 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.^[22] Any and all new series of Bitcoin Fund options that the Exchange lists will be consistent and comply with the expirations, strike prices, and minimum increments set forth in Rules 19.6 and 21.5, as applicable.

Bitcoin Fund options will trade in the same manner as any other Fund Share options on the Exchange. The Exchange Rules that currently apply to the listing and trading of all Fund Share options on the Exchange, including, for example, Rules that govern listing criteria, expirations, exercise prices, minimum ( print page 94805) increments, margin requirements, customer accounts, and trading halt procedures will apply to the listing and trading of Bitcoin Funds options on the Exchange in the same manner as they apply to other options on all other Fund Shares that are listed and traded on the Exchange, including the precious-metal backed commodity Fund Shares already deemed appropriate for options trading on the Exchange pursuant to current Rule 19.3(i).

Pursuant to Rules 18.7 and 18.9, the position and exercise limits, respectively, for each Bitcoin Fund option will be 25,000 same side option contracts.^[23] The Exchange believes these proposed position and exercise limits considering, among other things, the approximate six-month average daily volume (“ADV”) and outstanding shares of each underlying Bitcoin Fund (which as discussed above demonstrate that each Bitcoin Fund is widely held and actively traded and thus justify these conservatively proposed position limits), as set forth below, along with market capitalization (as of August 7, 2024):

Underlying bitcoin fund	Six-month ADV (shares)	Outstanding shares	Market capitalization ($)
Fidelity Fund	8,902,893	201,100,100	14,217,013,188
ARK 21 Fund	2,378,886	45,495,000	2,487,666,600

The Exchange then compared the number of outstanding shares of the Bitcoin Funds to those of other ETFs. The following table provides the approximate average position (and exercise limit) of ETF options with similar outstanding shares (as of August 27, 2024), compared to the proposed position and exercise limit for the Bitcoin Fund options:-^[24]

Underlying bitcoin fund	Average Limit of other ETF options (contracts)	Proposed limit (contracts)
Fidelity Fund	188,110	25,000
ARK 21 Fund	108,696	25,000

The Exchange considered current position and exercise limits of options on ETFs with outstanding shares comparable to those of each Bitcoin Fund, with the proposed limit significantly lower (between two and ten times lower) than the average limits of the options on the other ETFs. As discussed above, the Bitcoin Funds are actively held and widely traded: (1) each Bitcoin Fund (as of August 7, 2024) had significantly more than 7,000,000 shares outstanding, which is the minimum number of shares of a corporate stock that the Exchange generally requires to list options on that stock pursuant to Rule 19.3(b)(1); (2) each Bitcoin Fund (as of the dates listed above) had significantly more than 2,000 beneficial holders, which is the minimum number of holders the Exchange generally requires for corporate stock in order to list options on that stock pursuant to Rule 19.3(b)(2); and (3) each Bitcoin Fund had a six-month trading volume substantially higher than 2,400,000 shares, which is the minimum 12-month volume the Exchange generally requires for a security in order to list options on that security as set forth in Rule 19.3(b)(4).

With respect to outstanding shares, if a market participant held the maximum number of positions possible pursuant to the proposed position and exercise limits, the equivalent shares represented by the proposed position/exercise limit would represent the following approximate percentage of current outstanding shares:

Underlying bitcoin fund	Proposed position/ exercise limit (in equivalent shares)	Outstanding shares	Percentage of outstanding shares (%)
Fidelity Fund	2,500,000	201,100,100	1.2
ARK 21 Fund	2,500,000	45,495,000	5.5

As this table demonstrates, if a market participant held the maximum permissible options positions in one of the Bitcoin Fund options and exercised all of them at the same time, that market participant would control a small percentage of the outstanding shares of the underlying Bitcoin Fund.

Cboe Options Rule 8.30, Interpretation and Policy .02 (which governs position limits on the Exchange pursuant to Rule 18.7, provides two methods of qualifying for a position limit tier above 25,000 option contracts. The first method is based on six-month trading volume in the underlying security, and the second method is based on slightly lower six-month trading volume and number of shares outstanding in the underlying security. An underlying stock or ETF that qualifies for method two based on trading volume and number of shares outstanding would be required to have the minimum number of outstanding shares as shown in middle column of the table below.

The table, which provides the equivalent shares of the position limits applicable to equity options, including ETFs, further represents the percentages of the minimum number of outstanding shares that an underlying stock or ETF ( print page 94806) must have to qualify for that position limit (under the second method described above), all of which are higher than the percentages for the Bitcoin Funds.^[25]

Position/exercise limit (in equivalent shares)	Minimum outstanding shares	Percentage of outstanding shares (%)
2,500,000	6,300,000	40.0
5,000,000	40,000,000	12.5
7,500,000	120,000,000	6.3
20,000,000	240,000,000	8.3
25,000,000	300,000,000	8.3

The equivalent shares represented by the proposed position and exercise limits for each Bitcoin Fund as a percentage of outstanding shares of the underlying Bitcoin Fund is significantly lower than the percentage for the lowest possible position limit for equity options of 25,000 (under 6% compared to 40%) and is lower than that percentage for each current position limit bucket.^[26]

Further, the proposed position and exercise limits for each Bitcoin Fund option are significantly below the limits that would otherwise apply pursuant to current Rules 18.7 and 18.9 (by reference to Cboe Rules 8.30 and 8.42). 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 market capitalization, average daily volume, and high number of outstanding shares of the Bitcoin Funds.

All of the above information demonstrates that the proposed position and exercise limits for the Bitcoin Fund options are more than reasonable and appropriate. The trading volume, ADV, and outstanding shares of each Bitcoin Fund demonstrate that these funds are actively traded and widely held, and proposed position and exercise limits are well below those of other ETFs with similar market characteristics. The proposed position and exercise limits are the lowest position and exercise limits available for equity options in the industry, are extremely conservative, and are more than appropriate given each Bitcoin Fund's market capitalization, ADV, and high number of outstanding shares.

( print page 94807)

Today, the Exchange has an adequate surveillance program in place for options. Cboe intends to apply those same program procedures to options on the Bitcoin Funds that it applies to the Exchange's other options products.^[27] The Exchange's market surveillance staff would have access to the surveillances conducted by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.^[28] with respect to the Bitcoin Funds and would review activity in the underlying Bitcoin Funds when conducting surveillances for market abuse or manipulation in the options on the Bitcoin Funds. Additionally, the Exchange is a member of the Intermarket Surveillance Group (“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. In addition to obtaining information from its affiliated markets, the Exchange would be able to obtain information regarding trading in shares of the Bitcoin Funds from their primary listing markets and from other markets that trades shares of the Bitcoin Funds through ISG. In addition, the Exchange has a Regulatory Services Agreement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for certain market surveillance, investigation and examinations functions. Pursuant to a multi-party 17d-2 joint plan, all options exchanges allocate amongst themselves and FINRA responsibilities to conduct certain options-related market surveillance that are common to rules of all options exchanges.^[29]

The underlying shares of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (“ETPs”), including the Bitcoin Funds, are also subject to safeguards related to addressing market abuse and manipulation. As the Commission stated in its order approving proposals of several exchanges to list and trade shares of spot bitcoin-based ETPs, “[e]ach 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.^[30] The Exchange states that, 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].” ^[31] In light of surveillance measures related to both options and futures as well as the underlying Bitcoin Funds,^[32] 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 Bitcoin Funds. Further, the Exchange will implement any new surveillance procedures it deems necessary to effectively monitor the trading of options on Bitcoin ETPs.

The Exchange has also analyzed its capacity and represents that it believes the Exchange and 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 Bitcoin Funds up to the number of expirations currently permissible under the Rules. Because the proposal is limited to two classes, the Exchange believes any additional traffic that may be generated from the introduction of Bitcoin Fund options will be manageable.

The Exchange believes that offering options on Bitcoin Funds will benefit investors by providing them with an additional, relatively lower cost investing tool to gain exposure to the price of Bitcoin and hedging vehicle to meet their investment needs in connection with Bitcoin-related products and positions. The Exchange expects investors will transact in options on Bitcoin Funds in the unregulated over-the-counter (“OTC”) options market,^[33] but may prefer to trade such options in a listed environment to receive the benefits of trading listing options, including (1) enhanced efficiency in initiating and closing out positions; (2) increased market transparency; and (3) heightened contra-party creditworthiness due to the role of OCC as issuer and guarantor of all listed options. The Exchange believes that listing Bitcoin Fund options may cause investors to bring this liquidity to the Exchange, would increase market transparency and enhance the process of price discovery conducted on the Exchange through increased order flow. The Fund Shares that hold financial instruments, money market instruments, or precious metal commodities on which the Exchange may already list and trade options are trusts structured in substantially the same manner as Bitcoin Funds and essentially offer the same objectives and benefits to investors, just with respect to different assets. The Exchange notes that it has not identified any issues with the continued listing and trading of any Fund Share options, including Fund Shares that hold commodities ( i.e., precious metals) that it currently lists and trades on the Exchange.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.^[34] Specifically, ( print page 94808) the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) ^[35] requirements that the rules of an exchange be 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 regulating, clearing, settling, processing information with respect to, and 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. Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) ^[36] requirement that the rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.

In particular, the Exchange believes that the proposal to list and trade options on the Bitcoin Funds 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 Bitcoin Funds will provide investors with an opportunity to realize the benefits of utilizing options on a Bitcoin Fund, including cost efficiencies and increased hedging strategies. The Exchange believes that offering Bitcoin Fund options will benefit investors by providing them with a relatively lower-cost risk management tool, which will allow them to manage their positions and associated risk in their portfolios more easily in connection with exposure to the price of Bitcoin and with Bitcoin-related products and positions. Additionally, the Exchange's offering of Bitcoin Fund options will provide investors with the ability to transact in such options in a listed market environment as opposed to in the unregulated OTC options market, which would increase market transparency and enhance the process of price discovery conducted on the Exchange through increased order flow to the benefit of all investors. The Exchange also notes that it already lists options on other commodity-based Fund Shares,^[37] which, as described above, are trusts structured in substantially the same manner as Bitcoin Funds and essentially offer the same objectives and benefits to investors, just with respect to a different commodity ( i.e., Bitcoin rather than precious metals) and for which the Exchange has not identified any issues with the continued listing and trading of commodity-backed Fund Share options it currently lists for trading.

The Exchange also believes the proposed rule change will remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, because it is consistent with current Exchange Rules previously filed with the Commission. Options on the Bitcoin Funds satisfy the initial listing standards and continued listing standards currently in the Exchange Rules applicable to options on all Fund Shares, including Fund Shares that hold other commodities already deemed appropriate for options trading on the Exchange. Additionally, as demonstrated above, each Bitcoin Fund is characterized by a substantial number of shares that are widely held and actively traded. Bitcoin Fund options will trade in the same manner as any other Fund Share options—the same Exchange Rules that currently govern the listing and trading of all Fund Share options, including permissible expirations, strike prices and minimum increments, and applicable margin requirements, will govern the listing and trading of options on Bitcoin Funds in the same manner.

The Exchange believes the proposed position and exercise limits are designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and promote just and equitable principles of trade, as they are designed to address potential manipulative schemes and adverse market impacts surrounding the use of options, such as disrupting the market in the security underlying the options. The proposed position and exercise limits are 25,000 contracts, which is the lowest limit applicable to any equity options (including ETF and options on other Bitcoin ETFs).^[38] The Exchange believes the proposed position and exercise limits are extremely conservative for each Bitcoin Fund option given the trading volume and outstanding shares for each. The information above demonstrates that the average position and exercise limits of options on ETFs with comparable outstanding shares and trading volume to those of the Bitcoin Funds are significantly higher than the proposed position and exercise limits for Bitcoin Fund options. Therefore, the proposed position and exercise limits for the Bitcoin Fund options are conservative relative to options on ETFs with comparable market characteristics.

Further, given that the issuer of each Bitcoin Fund may create and redeem shares that represent an interest in Bitcoin, the Exchange believes it is relevant to compare the size of a position limit to the market capitalization of the Bitcoin market. As of August 27, 2024, the global supply of Bitcoin was 19,745,940, and the price of one Bitcoin was approximately $59,466.82,³⁹ which equates to a market capitalization of approximately $1.165 trillion. Consider the proposed position and exercise limit of 25,000 option contracts for each Bitcoin Fund option. A position and exercise limit of 25,000 same side contracts effectively restricts a market participant from holding positions that could result in the receipt of no more than 2,500,000 of Fidelity Fund shares or ARK 21 Fund shares, as applicable (if that market participant exercised all its options. The following table shows the share price of each Bitcoin Fund on August 27, 2024, the value of 2,500,000 shares of the Bitcoin Fund at that price, and the approximate percentage of that value of the size of the Bitcoin market:

Bitcoin fund	August 27, 2024 share price ($)	Value of 2,500,000 Shares of bitcoin fund ($)	Percentage of bitcoin market (%)
Fidelity Fund	54.33	135,825,000	0.01
ARK 21 Fund	62.08	155,200,000	0.01

( print page 94809)

Therefore, if a market participant with the maximum 25,000 same side contracts in either Fidelity Fund options or ARK 21 Fund options exercised all positions at one time, such an event would have no practical impact on the Bitcoin market.

The Exchange also believes the proposed limits are appropriate given position limits for Bitcoin futures. For example, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) imposes a position limit of 2,000 futures (for the initial spot month) on its Bitcoin futures contract.⁴⁰ On August 28, 2024, CME Aug 24 Bitcoin Futures settled at $58,950. A position of 2,000 CME Bitcoin futures, therefore, would have a notional value of $589,500,000. The following table shows the share price of each Bitcoin Fund on August 28, 2024 and the approximate number of option contracts that equates to that notional value:

Bitcoin fund	August 28, 2024 share price ($)	Number of option contracts
Fidelity Fund	51.47	114,532
ARK 21 Fund	58.83	100,203

The approximate number of option contracts for each Bitcoin Fund that equate to the notional value of CME Bitcoin futures is significantly higher than the proposed limit of 25,000 options contract for each Bitcoin Fund option. The fact that many options ultimately expire out-of-the-money and thus are not exercised for shares of the underlying, while the delta of a Bitcoin Future is 1, further demonstrates how conservative the proposed limits of 25,000 options contracts are for the Bitcoin Fund options.

The Exchange notes, 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).⁴¹ 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.⁴² 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 same side position limits are more than appropriate for the Bitcoin Fund options.

The Exchange believes the proposed position and exercise limits will have no material impact to the supply of Bitcoin. For example, consider again the proposed position limit of 25,000 option contracts for each Bitcoin Fund option. As noted above, a position limit of 25,000 same side contracts effectively restricts a market participant from holding positions that could result in the receipt of no more than 2,500,000 shares of the applicable Bitcoin Fund (if that market participant exercised all its options). As of August 7, 2024, the Bitcoin Funds had the number of shares outstanding set forth in the table below. The table below also sets forth the approximate number of market participants that could hold the maximum of 25,000 same side positions in each Bitcoin Fund that would equate to the number of shares outstanding of that Bitcoin Fund:

Bitcoin fund	Shares outstanding	Number of market participants with 25,000 same side positions
Fidelity Fund	201,100,100	80
ARK 21 Fund	45,495,000	18