Nasdaq has continued with its blockchain affair by unveiling its latest blockchain tech initiative – Linq, a platform that enables private companies to trade their shares using the bitcoin-powering technology, even before the companies go public.

With Linq, Nasdaq revealed its newest trading platform with a live demonstration at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas.

In a press release, Nasdaq also announced the first six private companies participating in the blockchain-enabled platform. They are Chain.com. ChangeTip, PeerNova, Synack, Tango and Vera.

“We are extremely encouraged by the initial demand for Nasdaq Linq from these innovative, first-mover companies, and the validation it represents of our application of blockchain technology,” said Bob Greifeld, CEO of Nasdaq.

He also added:

Blockchain applied to the private market is innovation built on top of innovation, and carries with it the opportunity to forever alter the future of financial services infrastructure.

The privately operating digital ledger technology that is Linq will complement Nasdaq’s ExactEquity, existing cloud-based capitalization management and stock plan solution that’s currently being used.

Describing Linq as the first platform of its kind, the press release adds that the technology used will “leverage a [private] blockchain to facilitate the insurance, cataloging and recording of shares of privately-held companies on the NASDAQ Private Market.”

As a digital ledger, Linq will serve to create a substantial and historical record of every transfer of securities among users of the private blockchain, facilitating with easier auditing and more transparency with the transfer of ownership.

Nasdaq’s own in-house team collaborated with Chain.com and IDEO, a global design firm to create Linq.

Speaking about the platform Chain.com CEO Adam Ludwin said:

We are excited to leverage Nasdaq Linq to issue and manage our company’s securities in a more efficient and transparent way.

Linq is likely to cater to new multi-billion startups that grow big and quick from early rounds of funding and seek to operate privately before going public. While such companies are private and looking to trade shares with other companies, Linq and similarly inevitable private blockchains in the future will find their participating clients.

Image credit: Shutterstock.