Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin Gets Mega-Cap Treatment as Nasdaq Quadruples Options Limits

Nasdaq is seeking regulatory approval to quadruple the trading limits for options tied to BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a move that underscores Bitcoin's growing integration into mainstream institutional finance. The exchange's International Securities Exchange (ISE) filed a proposal with the U.S. SEC to raise position and exercise limits on IBIT options from 250,000 to one million contracts. This adjustment aligns the Bitcoin ETF with high-liquidity assets like the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) and SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), reflecting surging demand and the product's rapid maturation as a financial instrument.

The proposal follows a year of explosive growth for IBIT, which has become the largest market for Bitcoin options open interest, surpassing even established crypto derivatives platforms like Deribit. Nasdaq cited IBIT's robust trading volumes - averaging 44.6 million shares daily as of September 2025 - and its $86.2 billion market capitalization as justification for the increase. The exchange emphasized that exercising one million contracts would account for just 0.284% of Bitcoin's total supply, posing minimal systemic risk.

The move has drawn widespread support from industry experts. Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise Asset Management, noted the previous 250,000-contract cap was "too low" to accommodate institutional demand. Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, called the adjustment a long-overdue step toward treating Bitcoin as a "mega-cap asset" alongside traditional benchmarks like Apple and Microsoft. Vincent Liu of Kronos Research added that higher limits would likely reduce bid-ask spreads and improve market efficiency, enabling more sophisticated hedging and income-generating strategies.

Nasdaq's filing also seeks to remove position and exercise limits for physically settled FLEX options on IBIT, a customization widely used by large funds for tailored hedging. This would place IBIT on par with commodity ETFs like GLD, which already enjoy limit-free trading. The exchange argued that such flexibility is critical for attracting institutional capital, which increasingly views Bitcoin as a strategic asset for diversification and macroeconomic hedging.

The SEC has opened a public comment period until December 17, 2025, to evaluate the proposal. If approved, the change would mark a pivotal milestone in Bitcoin's journey toward institutional legitimacy. By expanding access to IBIT options, Nasdaq is not only addressing current demand but also positioning the market for future growth, as institutional players seek to leverage Bitcoin's volatility in structured products and portfolio strategies.