BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF regains key weekly options expiries after rule overhaul

MIAX, the U.S. options exchange group, restored Monday and Wednesday short-term expiries for options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF after dropping IBIT from its third-quarter roster.

A MIAX listing alert said the exchange group would begin listing IBIT under a new, lower-threshold Tier 2 framework on Aug. 18, 2026. It named IBIT expirations for Aug. 19, 24, 26 and 31, confirming that the fund returned during Q3 instead of waiting for the next quarterly eligibility review.

IBIT was part of MIAX’s initial January 2026 roster and remained eligible in the second quarter. It then disappeared from the Q3 list published July 1.

The listed MIAX and SEC notices do not identify which old test caused the removal. BlackRock’s historical fund data imply about $43.23 billion of IBIT net assets on June 30, below the former $50 billion gate but above the new $25 billion threshold. AUM may therefore have been a constraint, but MIAX has not published an IBIT-specific June options-volume count or said that AUM was the sole failed condition.

The MIAX Pearl rule notice splits qualifying ETFs into two tiers. Tier 1 keeps the old tests of more than $50 billion in AUM and more than 10 million monthly options sides, and adds Tuesday and Thursday short-term expiries. Tier 2 cuts those gates to more than $25 billion and more than 5 million sides, but is limited to Monday and Wednesday expiries.

Both tiers still require a position limit of at least 250,000 contracts and participation in the Penny Interval Program. IBIT’s actual position and exercise limit was raised to 1 million contracts in May 2026.

The expansion does not create IBIT expiries on every business day. Tier 2 allows no more than two Monday and two Wednesday expirations beyond the current week at one time. The contracts are P.M.-settled, and MIAX does not list a Tier 2 expiry on a date that coincides with a standard, monthly or quarterly expiration.

MIAX Pearl filed the change on Aug. 13, 2026. The SEC waived the usual 30-day delay and made it operative upon filing, but retained authority to temporarily suspend the rule within 60 days. The Federal Register notice sets a Sept. 17, 2026, comment deadline.

For traders tracking IBIT expirations, the venue-specific change has already reopened additional Monday and Wednesday short-term expiration dates. It does not amount to a market-wide change in IBIT options, nor does it establish how the new expiries will affect trading volume or Bitcoin volatility.

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