The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially approved Nasdaq to launch an options product based on the Bitcoin price index, and the product has received "accelerated approval."

This move is seen as a key signal of the accelerated integration between Wall Street and the traditional digital asset market, as well as providing American investors with more regulated ways to trade BTC.

The approved product is a "cash-settled European-style option," which is distinctly different from existing Bitcoin ETF options.
Investors do not need to hold actual Bitcoin when trading and are also protected from the early exercise risk common in ETF options.
This option will be based on the "CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index," which updates every 200 milliseconds, integrating data from multiple major exchanges in real-time to ensure transparency and fairness of the price source.

Although the SEC has given the nod, the product's official trading launch still requires final approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Previously, CME Group had launched Bitcoin futures options, but Nasdaq's product marks the first time Bitcoin options are formally incorporated into the U.S. equity options market system, potentially greatly expanding participation channels for institutions and retail investors.

Nasdaq’s head of U.S. options business stated that this is an important step toward expanding the regulation and transparency of digital asset derivatives.
In the current context of gradually more open U.S. regulatory attitudes toward cryptocurrencies, this approval also reflects the regulatory authorities' intention to bring innovative businesses into the domestic framework and reduce the outflow of business to overseas unregulated platforms.