Nasdaq, the second-largest stock exchange in the world, has announced they will be unveiling their own Bitcoin futures marketplace in the first quarter of 2019.

WIth the help of a partnership with investment management firm VanEck, the Nasdaq stock exchange will be the second major stock exchange to have Bitcoin futures in the United States, as said in an announcement made at the Consensus: Invest conference.

Despite the bearish market winter, Nasdaq has stayed by its plans to open up the futures market with the expectation that interest in Bitcoin will only continue to rise.

Last December, CME Group Inc. and Cboe Global Markets Inc. each opened up their own Bitcoin futures market when the cryptocurrency craze was at its height. Since then, the CFTC has made clear that an enhanced review process for cryptocurrency derivatives will be necessary, but Nasdaq has said that they are keen on meeting these new requirements.

A Different Futures Market

The Nasdaq has been considering how to make their futures market stand out from their competitors. As compiled by VanEck Associates Corp., the futures market will aggregate Bitcoin’s price based on numerous exchanges. This is in contrast to the Cboe, for example, which only bases their prices based on one exchange, which accounts for a serious price disparity.

Aside from the futures market, VanEck has been trying to gain approval for an altogether different goal: a Bitcoin ETF. Although a futures market might bring Bitcoin one step closer to legitimization, an ETF seems, in the short-term future, not on the table according to the SEC. It may be that the SEC hopes to first clear up its regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrencies before it commits to an Bitcoin ETF. Recently, it seems, the Committee been more concerned with cleaning up the fraudulent ICO space.

Regarding the new futures exchange, both Nasdaq and VanEck declined to make a comment to Bloomberg on the matter yesterday.

Are you hopeful for the future of cryptocurrency markets in 2019? Do futures markets have any effect on Bitcoin’s long-term viability as an asset? Let us know in the comments below your thoughts.

Image courtesy of Nasdaq.