Cboe EDGX gains approval to list options on multi-crypto trusts and funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission has noticed, with immediate effect, a rule change by Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. establishing generic listing criteria and continued listing standards for options on commodity-based trusts that hold multiple crypto assets, and permitting the listing of options on exchange-traded funds defined under Rule 6c-11. The notice, Release No. 34-106692 (File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2026-067), records a filing made on 6 October 2026 and was published in the Federal Register of Thursday, 22 October 2026.

The proposal amends Rule 19.3 (Criteria for Underlying Securities) and Rule 19.4 (Withdrawal of Approval of Underlying Securities). Cboe EDGX filed it as a “non-controversial” change under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 19b-4(f)(6), so it became effective on filing; the Commission expressly waived the 30-day operative delay, finding that the change raises no novel legal or regulatory issues.

The exchange modelled the text on rules already approved for Cboe Options Exchange, Inc., an affiliate, in an order of 8 April 2026 (Release No. 105175, 91 FR 18960, File No. SR-CBOE-2026-020). Until now, Rule 19.3(i)(5) allowed options only on trusts holding a single crypto asset.

Thresholds for multi-asset crypto trusts

Under the amended rule, options may be listed on a commodity-based trust holding several crypto assets only if each underlying asset meets two tests:

• An average daily market value of at least $700 million over the last 12 months, calculated as total global supply multiplied by the token price.
• The asset must underlie a derivatives contract that trades on a market with which the exchange has a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement, either directly or through common membership in the Intermarket Surveillance Group.

The trust itself must be an NMS stock principally traded on a national securities exchange. Because the new generic criteria cover any qualifying trust, the individual product-by-product references to crypto asset exchange-traded products in Rule 19.3(i)(4) are deleted.

Exchange-traded funds under Rule 6c-11

Rule 19.3(i)(1) is rewritten to permit options on exchange-traded funds as defined in Rule 6c-11 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as well as portfolio depositary receipts and index fund shares. The provision is substantively identical to Cboe Rule 4.3.06(a)(1), and the exchange argues that the portfolio transparency required by Rule 6c-11 — adopted in 2019 (84 FR 57162) — makes the underlying shares and the overlying options resistant to manipulation. “ETF Shares” is also added as a category in Rule 19.3(i)(7)(i), so those funds face the same additional listing requirements as other generically listed fund products.

Continued listing and comment window

Rule 19.4(g) gains a new subparagraph (3) requiring the exchange to consider suspending opening transactions in an options class if the $700 million threshold or the surveillance-agreement condition is no longer met, as determined on a monthly basis. The filing also corrects erroneous cross-references to subparagraphs that no longer exist in Rule 19.3(i).

• Filing date: 6 October 2026.
• Publication: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 203, 22 October 2026, pp. 66752-66756.
• Comment deadline: 12 November 2026, quoting File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2026-067.
• Signature: Vanessa A. Countryman, Secretary.

The change widens derivatives access on a second Cboe venue without a case-by-case SEC order: any multi-asset crypto trust clearing the $700 million and surveillance hurdles, and any fund structured under Rule 6c-11, can now be optioned through a streamlined generic pathway. For investors, that means more listed hedging and exposure tools on crypto baskets and mainstream funds, with the Commission retaining power to suspend the rule within 60 days of filing.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 203, 22 October 2026, Notices, p. 66752 (official reference: Release No. 34-106692; File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2026-067).