BTC ETF 選擇權今年終於來到美國

經過幾個月的塵埃落定，在現貨比特幣（BTC）交易所交易基金（ETF）上列出選擇權的申請終於引起了監管機構的注意。

Applications to list options on spot Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have finally caught the attention of regulators after months of gathering dust. Expect BTC ETF options to start trading on United States exchanges this year. Options on Ethereum ( ETH ) ETFs will soon follow.

經過幾個月的塵埃落定，在現貨比特幣（BTC）交易所交易基金（ETF）上列出選擇權的申請終於引起了監管機構的注意。預計 BTC ETF 選擇權將於今年在美國交易所開始交易。以太幣 (ETH) ETF 選擇權即將推出。

Options are contracts that grant the right to buy or sell — “call” or “put” in trader parlance — an underlying asset at a certain price. They are attractive hedging instruments (don’t you wish you locked in the right to sell BTC at $73,000?) and are popular with speculators, too.

選擇權是授予以一定價格購買或出售（用交易者的話說「買權」或「看跌」）標的資產的權利的合約。它們是有吸引力的對沖工具（難道您不希望鎖定以 73,000 美元出售 BTC 的權利嗎？）並且也受到投機者的歡迎。

Adding options trading may seem anticlimactic in the wake of BTC ETFs’ long-awaited launch in January. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Options are critical for institutional adoption — especially with highly volatile crypto ETFs. Plus, if existing crypto options are any indication, spot BTC ETF options will be a huge market.

在 1 月期待已久的 BTC ETF 推出後，增加選擇權交易似乎有點虎頭蛇尾。但這與事實相差甚遠。選擇權對於機構採用至關重要——尤其是對於波動性較高的加密 ETF。另外，如果現有的加密貨幣選擇權有任何跡象的話，現貨 BTC ETF 選擇權將是一個龐大的市場。

Regulators warming up to Bitcoin ETF options

監管機構正在為比特幣 ETF 選擇權做好準備

In January, the three US equities exchanges that list spot BTC ETFs — the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Arca, Cboe, and Nasdaq — asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if they could also list options on those funds.

一月份，上市現貨 BTC ETF 的三個美國股票交易所——紐約證券交易所 (NYSE) Arca、Cboe 和納斯達克——詢問美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 是否也可以上市這些基金的選擇權。

The SEC greeted the applications with a deafening silence, and outside input wasn’t encouraging. In May, private industry watchdog Better Markets Inc. urged the SEC to “proceed especially cautiously because… the inevitable marketing of such options to retail investors could cause tremendous harm,” as evidenced by “the meme stock frenzy surrounding GameStop in 2021.”

美國證券交易委員會以震耳欲聾的沉默迎接這些申請，外界的意見也不令人鼓舞。今年5 月，私營行業監管機構Better Markets Inc. 敦促美國證券交易委員會“行事要特別謹慎，因為…向散戶投資者不可避免地推銷此類期權可能會造成巨大傷害”，“2021 年圍繞GameStop 的迷因股票狂潮」就證明了這一點。

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The SEC apparently took this to heart and asked for more time to make a decision in March, and, again, in April, and, again, in July. But the ice is finally thawing. On Aug. 8, Cboe filed an amended application to the SEC. It’s almost three times longer than the first and addresses issues such as market manipulation and position limits in greater detail.

SEC 顯然牢記了這一點，並要求在 3 月、4 月和 7 月有更多時間做出決定。但冰終於融化了。 8 月 8 日，Cboe 向 SEC 提交了修改後的申請。它幾乎比第一個長三倍，並且更詳細地解決了市場操縱和頭寸限制等問題。

“There's definitely some movement on Bitcoin ETF options,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said in a post on X. "The SEC likely gave some sort of feedback."

彭博資訊(Bloomberg Intelligence) 分析師詹姆斯·塞法特(James Seyffart) 在X 上的一篇文章中表示：「比特幣ETF 選擇權肯定會發生一些變化。美國證券交易委員會可能會提供某種回饋。 」

Bloomberg predicts spot BTC options go live in the fourth quarter. Given election-year pressures on the SEC, sometime before November is likely. Spot ETH ETFs will follow suit. According to an Aug. 6 filing, Nasdaq asked the SEC for permission to list options on BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).

彭博社預測現貨比特幣選擇權將於第四季上線。鑑於 SEC 面臨選舉年的壓力，可能會在 11 月之前的某個時間進行。現貨 ETH ETF 也將跟進。根據 8 月 6 日提交的文件，納斯達克請求美國證券交易委員會允許其在貝萊德旗下 iShares 以太坊信託 (ETHA) 上列出選擇權。

Creating a new market

創造新市場

In the meantime, US investors have free reign to trade options on a strictly inferior class of Bitcoin ETFs — those that synthetically track BTC’s price performance using futures.

同時，美國投資者可以自由交易比特幣 ETF 的選擇權，這些 ETF 是利用期貨綜合追蹤 BTC 價格表現的。

Futures ETFs generally underperform spot market equivalents because the cost of rolling over monthly futures contracts drags down overall returns. According to crypto researcher K33 Research, the most popular Bitcoin futures ETF — ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) — underperformed spot by around 2.6% between January and May.

期貨 ETF 的表現通常遜於現貨市場同類產品，因為每月期貨合約展期的成本會拖累整體回報。根據加密貨幣研究機構 K33 Research 的數據，最受歡迎的比特幣期貨 ETF——ProShares 的比特幣策略 ETF (BITO)——在 1 月至 5 月期間的表現落後於現貨約 2.6%。

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But absent any better alternatives, the market for these options is white hot. In total, open interest on BTC futures ETFs — measured by the notional value of all active call and put contracts — exceeds $3.25 billion as of market close on Aug. 9, according to data from The Options Clearing Corporation, an industry self-regulatory organization (SRO).

但由於缺乏更好的替代品，這些選擇的市場白熱化。根據產業自律組織選擇權清算公司的數據，截至 8 月 9 日收盤，BTC 期貨 ETF 的未平倉合約（以所有活躍買權和看跌合約的名義價值衡量）總計超過 32.5 億美元（自律組織）。

For comparison, the combined net asset value of all BTC futures ETFs is approximately $4.3 billion, according to data from Yahoo Finance. In other words, the market for options on BTC ETFs is almost as large as the market for BTC ETFs themselves.

相較之下，根據雅虎財經的數據，所有 BTC 期貨 ETF 的總資產淨值約為 43 億美元。換句話說，BTC ETF 選擇權的市場幾乎與 BTC ETF 本身的市場一樣大。

Spot BTC ETFs command a vastly larger asset base — more than $58 billion as of market close on Aug. 9. So if options on BTC futures ETFs are any guide, a nearly $45 billion new BTC market is waiting to be born.

現貨 BTC ETF 擁有更大的資產基礎——截至 8 月 9 日收盤時超過 580 億美元。

A milestone for mass adoption

大規模採用的里程碑

That’s more than just a big number. Options are crucial market infrastructure and mark an important waystation on the road to mass crypto adoption.

這不僅僅是一個大數字。選擇權是至關重要的市場基礎設施​​，也是大規模採用加密貨幣的重要中繼站。

Financial advisors — who control as much as half of investment flows in the $9 trillion ETF market — rely on options to safeguard against sharp market movements (like the 28% drop in Ether’s spot price on Aug. 5). More than 10% of advisers actively used options to manage client portfolios as of 2023, according to a survey by The Journal of Financial Planning.

財務顧問控制著 9 兆美元 ETF 市場中多達一半的投資流量，他們依靠選擇權來防範市場劇烈波動（例如 8 月 5 日以太幣現貨價格下跌 28%）。根據《財務規劃雜誌》的一項調查，截至 2023 年，超過 10% 的顧問積極使用選擇權來管理客戶投資組合。

Options also play a critical role in hedge fund strategies, such as the “covered strangle” touted by 10x Research, an investment research firm.

選擇權在對沖基金策略中也發揮著至關重要的作用，例如投資研究公司 10x Research 所吹捧的「備兌寬跨式選擇權」。

Already, Morgan Stanley — the largest financial advisory with some $3.75 trillion under management — has given its 15,000 advisors the greenlight to pitch spot BTC ETFs

管理約 3.75 兆美元的最大金融顧問公司摩根士丹利 (Morgan Stanley) 已經為其 15,000 名顧問開綠燈，推銷現貨 BTC ETF