Nasdaq Says Launching a Cryptocurrency Exchange In Future Is Very Much Possible

As more and more reports of institutional investors joining the crypto space emerge, Nasdaq doesn’t deny any such possibility and says that it would certainly consider this option if the market conditions are more mature and permissible for a stable business.

While talking to CNBC , Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said: "Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time. If we do look at it and say 'it's time, people are ready for a more regulated market,' for something that provides a fair experience for investors.”

One of the major roadblocks with Nasdaq and other institutional investors of its kind is the growing uncertainty with the regulatory measures around the globe. Friedman said that this needs to be ironed out for Nasdaq to arrive at any concrete decision. However, she remains quite bullish on the future of digital currencies.

She said: "I believe that digital currencies will continue to persist it's just a matter of how long it will take for that space to mature. Once you look at it and say, 'do we want to provide a regulated market for this?' Certainly Nasdaq would consider it.”

Although being not directly involved in providing investors a crypto trading platform, Nasdaq is still associated with the crypto space in a way that it deals with several digital currency exchanges for providing them the infrastructure technology for trading and clearing, as well as for surveillance, says Friedman.

While expressing her views about Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), Friedman says that "ICOs need to be regulated. The SEC is right that those are securities and need to be regulated as such.”

On Wednesday, Nasdaq also announced its collaboration with popular digital currency exchange - Gemini - which gives the latter an easy access to NASDAQ’s SMARTS Market Surveillance Technology. This will help Gemini to derive unusual trading behavior and also to mitigate the efforts of market manipulation.

Founder of Gemini exchange, Tyler Winklevoss said: “Our deployment of Nasdaq's SMARTS Market Surveillance will help ensure that Gemini is a rules-based marketplace for all market participants.”

Earlier this week, an additional report from Thomson Reuters said institutional investors are preparing themselves for the right opportunity to enter the crypto markets and this will likely take place in the next 3-12 months. The report clearly states that there is a huge capital inflow coming based on the survey conducted from inputs of over 400+ clients and across several trading solutions of Thomson Reuters like Eikon, REDI, and its FX platforms.

“Cryptocurrency is still a relatively small part of the trading market, but this survey indicates this niche segment is starting to enter the mainstream of the financial services industry. This is a major change from a year ago,” said Neill Penney, co-head of Trading, Thomson Reuters.

Penny further added that “The current priority for our clients appears to be seamless access to news and data around cryptocurrencies to facilitate informed trading decisions. As a leading provider of news, data, and trading capabilities, Thomson Reuters is well-positioned to deliver solutions that address client demand in the growing cryptocurrency market.”