📌 CME vs. Nasdaq: the battle over who controls Bitcoin options
The deadline of August 24 is when parties must submit their arguments to the SEC in the dispute between CME Group and Nasdaq over who has legal jurisdiction over Bitcoin options.
What happened?
On May 22, the SEC staff approved Nasdaq PHLX’s QBTC options — cash-settled contracts tracking the CME Bitcoin index. But on June 18, CME filed a formal petition to overturn that approval, arguing that the SEC exceeded its delegated authority. On July 29, the SEC froze the approval while reviewing the full case.
The data:
🔹 Limit of 24,000 contracts per position
🔹 Bitcoin trades today at $65,176, with $12.2 billion volume in 24h
🔹 The deadline for written arguments is August 24; the SEC has not set a date for the final decision
Why does this matter beyond the headline?
CME’s argument is that Bitcoin is a "commodity" and that only the CFTC has exclusive authority over its derivatives — not the SEC. This is the same underlying question the CLARITY Act seeks to resolve legislatively, but here it is already being litigated in a concrete case. If CME wins, it reinforces a precedent that could block similar products from other exchanges in the future.
Do you think CME will succeed in overturning the approval? 👇
