CBOE Global Markets announced plans to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum continuous futures contracts on Nov. 10, pending regulatory review.

According to a Sept. 9 announcement, the new product suite debuts on CBOE Futures Exchange with contracts structured as single, long-dated instruments featuring 10-year expirations.

This design eliminates periodic rolling requirements that characterize traditional futures contracts, simplifying position management for traders seeking long-term digital asset exposure.

The continuous futures will be cash-settled and aligned to real-time spot market prices through daily cash adjustments using a transparent funding rate methodology.

CBOE Clear US, a derivatives clearing organization regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will clear the contracts within the exchange’s regulated framework.

Global head of derivatives at CBOE, Catherine Clay, said the launch brings perpetual-style utility that gained adoption in offshore markets to US traders.

She noted that the products target institutional participants, existing Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) customers, and retail traders seeking access to crypto derivatives.

Regulatory opening

The announcement coincides with increased regulatory coordination between the SEC and CFTC, which will hold a joint roundtable on Sept. 29 to advance digital asset oversight harmonization.

The agencies acknowledged in a Sept. 5 statement that fragmented regulation had discouraged innovation and driven crypto activity overseas.

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SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham emphasized that coordination failures created uncertainty, hindering economic activity even for legally permissible products.

The regulators stressed that harmonization can lower barriers, improve efficiency, and reaffirm US leadership in financial markets.

The Sept. 29 roundtable will examine measures to align US markets with the global economy, including expanded trading hours, frameworks for perpetual contracts, and portfolio margining coordination.

The agencies plan to review exemptions providing safe harbors for decentralized finance projects while maintaining investor protection standards.

CBOE’s continuous futures launch builds on the exchange’s expanding CFE product suite, which includes VIX futures and products based on equity volatility, crypto, and global fixed income.

The introduction represents a step toward onshoring compliant perpetual swap trading that currently operates primarily on offshore platforms.

CBOE’s Options Institute will host public educational courses on continuous futures on Oct. 30 and Nov. 20 to prepare market participants for the new contracts.

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Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) filed on March 25 to trade a spot Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF) issued by Fidelity through the registration of a 19b-4 form. The move comes four days after Fidelity registered a Solana fund in Delaware.

As of Dec. 31, Fidelity registered $5.9 trillion in assets under management, making it the third-largest asset manager in the world. 

The firm also registers the second-largest inflows from spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs traded in the US, amassing nearly $13 billion per Farside Investors’ data.

Notably, the move comes five days after the first SOL-related ETFs started trading in the US. Issuer Volatility Shares launched two products tracking the price of Solana futures contracts, one of which offers exposure with 2X leverage.

Solana ETF race

Fidelity joins the list of companies aiming to offer an SOL ETF in the US, along with 21shares, Canary Capital, Bitwise, VanEck, and Grayscale.

Comparing BTC and ETH exchange-traded products’ inflows to their market caps, JPMorgan estimated in January that SOL ETFs could see inflows between $3 billion and $6 billion.

Solana futures recently started trading in the US on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on March 17, and initial volume indicates that traders have a decent appetite for SOL. 

K33 head of research Vetle Lunde pointed out that SOL futures traded $12.3 million on March 17, an underwhelming amount compared to BTC’s $102.7 million and ETH’s $31 million.

However, using the assets’ market caps to normalize the volumes, Lunde noted that the interest in Solana futures aligns with Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Competitive ETF landscape

Asset managers are testing regulatory boundaries in the US after President Donald Trump took the White House for a second term.

Filings for altcoin-related ETFs range from major-cap cryptos such as Litecoin (LTC), XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Polkadot (DOT) to medium-cap assets such as Hedera (HBAR) and Axelar (AXL).

Recently, Canary Capital filed for the first ETF tracking the price of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The fund will be exposed to the PENGU token and Pudgy Penguins NFTs if approved.

Even memecoins are considered for ETFs. For example, Bitwise filed a Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF in January, expanding the ETF race to new assets.

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Cboe BZX Exchange, a US securities exchange, has requested permission to list a proposed Fidelity exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Solana (SOL), according to March 25 filings. 

The request now sits with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which must approve the filing before trading of the Fidelity Solana Fund can commence on the exchange.

This is the latest in a spate of filings with the federal agency by exchanges and fund sponsors seeking to launch ETFs holding SOL and other cryptocurrencies. 

On March 12, Cboe filed to list another spot SOL ETF sponsored by asset manager Franklin Templeton.

Related: Solana CME futures tip impending US ETF approvals — Exec

Numerous filings

Cboe’s filing comes after asset manager Volatility Shares launched an ETF using financial derivatives known as futures to track the performance of spot SOL. 

Launched in March, Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and the Volatility Shares 2X Solana ETF (SOLT) are the first ETFs providing US investors with exposure to Solana’s native token. The SOLT ETF tracks SOL’s performance with 2x leverage. 

Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence peg the odds at 70% that US regulators approve a spot SOL ETF this year, according to a February post on the X platform. 

Other asset managers seeking to list spot SOL ETFs include Grayscale, VanEck, 21Shares, Canary and Bitwise, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

On March 17, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the US’s largest derivatives exchange, launched SOL futures contracts. Experts say this is further indication that spot SOL ETFs will soon be approved in the US.

Roughly a dozen asset managers are seeking the SEC’s approval to launch altcoin ETFs in the US. The proposed ETFs for altcoins range from Litecoin (LTC) and XRP (XRP) to Dogecoin (DOGE) and Official Trump (TRUMP).

Issuers are also asking for the SEC to approve changes to existing ETFs, including allowances for staking, options and in-kind redemptions. 

The SEC eased its stance on cryptocurrency after US President Donald Trump began his second term in January. 

Under former President Joe Biden, the SEC brought upwards of 100 lawsuits against crypto firms, alleging various securities law violations. In 2024, the regulator greenlighted spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs but stymied proposed ETFs tied to other cryptocurrencies.

Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cboe-seeks-approval-for-fidelitys-solana-etf/feed/ 0 27175 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cboe-submits-four-spot-xrp-etf-applications/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cboe-submits-four-spot-xrp-etf-applications/#respond Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:34:12 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cboe-submits-four-spot-xrp-etf-applications/

Cboe has filed four separate 19b-4 applications with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The filings, submitted on behalf of WisdomTree, Bitwise, 21Shares, and Canary, mark a critical step in seeking regulatory approval to list and trade these investment products.

These 19b-4 applications follow the issuers’ S-1 filings, moving the proposals closer to regulatory consideration. Once the SEC acknowledges receipt, the agency has a 240-day window to review and decide whether to approve or reject the ETFs.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded to the filings with a clock emoji, suggesting the regulator’s decision is on the horizon. Garlinghouse has previously maintained that an XRP ETF is inevitable, reinforcing expectations that such investment products will eventually gain approval.

Ripple pointed out that the wave of ETF applications from so many issuers reflects the growing institutional interest in XRP-related investment products.

ETF filing details

The proposed XRP ETFs will track the price of XRP, the fourth-largest crypto, by market capitalization.

According to Cboe, authorized participants will not engage in direct XRP transactions during the creation or redemption of the ETF. Instead, the structure ensures exposure to XRP’s price movements without requiring fund managers to buy or hold the asset directly.

Additionally, the application compares the approval process of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

Cboe pointed out that while XRP does not have a futures market, the SEC had approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs despite the CME futures market for both assets not being considered of “significant size.”

The filing argues that alternative mechanisms exist to mitigate fraud and market manipulation risks, making a surveillance-sharing agreement unnecessary for XRP ETFs.

The filing stated:

“There are sufficient ‘other means’ of preventing fraud and manipulation that warrant dispensing of the surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size, as was done with both Spot Bitcoin ETPs and Spot ETH ETPs, and that this proposal should be approved.”

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