The U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee has frozen Nasdaq Bitcoin choices after CME Group requested regulators to overturn a Might 22, 2026 staff-level approval, The Block reported August 2, 2026.
In a July 29, 2026 order, the SEC’s full fee agreed to overview that call and stored the approval stayed, with written statements due by August 24, 2026. The dispute over Nasdaq’s proposed QBTC contracts might determine whether or not choices tied on to bitcoin’s value fall underneath the CFTC’s jurisdiction as an alternative of the SEC’s.
Why CME Says Bitcoin Choices Belong Beneath CFTC Guidelines
CME Group’s petition argues that Nasdaq PHLX’s proposed cash-settled bitcoin index choices are commodity choice swaps, inserting them underneath the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee’s unique authority relatively than the SEC’s.
In line with The Block, the contracts would monitor the CME CF Bitcoin Actual Time Index divided by 100, with ultimate settlement based mostly on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Fee New York Variant.
Nasdaq first pursued the product with CF Benchmarks in 2024, and the SEC’s Division of Buying and selling and Markets authorised it by way of delegated authority on Might 22, 2026, although Nasdaq nonetheless wants separate CFTC exemptions earlier than the QBTC contracts can commerce.
This isn’t the primary conflict between the SEC and CFTC over classifying crypto property, a jurisdictional line the CLARITY Act is supposed to settle because it awaits a Senate ground vote.
CME filed formal discover of its problem on June 11, 2026, and the keep has remained in place since that date, in line with CoinDesk. The July 29 order confirmed that the complete fee, not SEC workers, will now determine the result.
What a CFTC Win Would Imply for Nasdaq’s Timeline
If the SEC sides with CME, Nasdaq’s push into bitcoin derivatives stalls additional, since Nasdaq already wants CFTC exemptions earlier than QBTC can commerce underneath any consequence. That leaves CME as the one main U.S. venue providing regulated bitcoin choices tied to the asset, a dynamic price monitoring in the remainder of the most recent crypto information.
The SEC’s order, revealed August 3, 2026 within the Federal Register, offers any occasion till August 24, 2026 to file an announcement supporting or opposing the unique approval. After that window closes, the fee can affirm, modify, or vacate the Might choice, although no listening to date has been set past the remark interval.
What This Means for You
For those who had been hoping to commerce Nasdaq’s cash-settled bitcoin choices, that product stays unavailable till the SEC resolves this jurisdictional battle.
The end result might additionally form whether or not different securities exchanges get to record choices on commodities like bitcoin going ahead, which issues should you’re monitoring regulated methods to realize bitcoin value publicity. Watch the August 24 remark deadline and the fee’s eventual ruling for the subsequent concrete replace.
This text is for informational functions solely and doesn’t represent monetary recommendation. Do your personal analysis earlier than making any funding choices.