Nasdaq's SEC proposal sets common criteria for crypto ETF options listings, requiring $700 million liquidity and 85% derivative-backed assets to bypass separate product approvals.
Nasdaq wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to make it easier to list options on crypto ETFs. The exchange filed a proposal that sets common criteria for funds holding digital commodities, rather than requiring separate approval for each product.
The proposal, filed as rule change SR-ISE-2026-42, lays out a single framework. At least 85% of a fund's net asset value must rest on assets that back derivative contracts traded on markets with surveillance and data-sharing agreements, or those covered by the Intermarket Surveillance Group. Another 15% can hold digital commodities that do not meet those derivative-market requirements, but the assets still need liquidity. Each relevant digital commodity must show an average daily global market value of at least $700 million over the past twelve months.
Nasdaq also wants to swap the terminology. The term "crypto-asset" would become "digital commodity," linking the asset's value to cryptographic system mechanics and supply-and-demand dynamics, the filing said. The rulebook changes sit under rule 5711(d).
The goal is to standardize the options listing procedure, the filing said. Fund issuers could skip the step of seeking separate SEC approval for each product that meets the new criteria.
The proposal lands as U.S. crypto regulation remains unfinished. The CLARITY Act is stuck in the Senate. The SEC is weighing its own crypto regulatory program. Without a settled federal framework, Nasdaq's bid to define eligibility criteria – which underlying assets, minimum liquidity, what qualifies as a digital commodity – is an effort to reduce that uncertainty before the rules are final.
Industry interest in crypto vehicles remains high. BlackRock's Robert Mitchnick said the decoupling of Bitcoin from stocks is a positive signal for its role as a diversifier and potential hedge. He also cited Bitcoin's resilience during July's selloff, triggered by AI-sector concerns. ETF flows back that up: over the past 24 hours, BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF saw inflows large enough to offset cumulative outflows from several other major funds.
Nasdaq's proposal now enters the SEC's review process. Whether the criteria become the new standard for crypto ETF options depends on how the agency responds.
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