- Once the regulation is smoothed out and the space “matures”, Nasdaq would consider becoming a digital currency exchange, the company’s CEO says.
- “Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time,” Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman says.
- Nasdaq is supporting existing crypto exchanges, and stated a technology deal with Gemini, Wednesday.
As soon as the space matures, Nasdaq is receptive to becoming a system for trading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as stated by the company’s CEO.
“Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time,” Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman told CNBC’s Squawk Box Wednesday. “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.”
An essential roadblock for the Nasdaq as well as different institutional shareholders is regulation, which Friedman claimed needs to be phased out until the company would put in a market. But then she was bullish on the near future of digital property.
“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,” Friedman said. “Once you look at it and say, ‘do we want to provide a regulated market for this?’ Certainly Nasdaq would consider it.”
In the meantime, the Nasdaq is supporting existing cryptoexchanges.
On Wednesday, the firm introduced an alliance with cryptocurrency market Gemini, founded by Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler, ancient bitcoin investors. The deal gives Gemini access to Nasdaq’s surveillance technology to help guarantee that the platform stipulates a reasonable and “rules-based marketplace,” to their own participants, Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss said in an announcement.
Though Friedman was optimistic concerning the potential for cryptocurrencies she was less on the fundraising procedure called initial coin offering, or ICO.
“ICOs need to be regulated,” she said. “The SEC is right that those are securities and need to be regulated as such.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cracked down on ICO fraud in 2018, also stated in March it is seeking to apply securities laws to everything from cryptocurrency exchanges to digital advantage storage organizations known as wallets. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton explained that the watchdog has been devoting a “significant portion of resources” into the ICO marketplace.
The significantly more than 1,300 percent increase of Bitcoin prices last year certainly captured the interest of authorities. Bitcoin neared $20,000 in December before its worst quarter ever sold, dropping 48 percent in the first 3 months of year. The cryptocurrency has regained above $9,000 this week, also struck a top in $9,746.82 Wednesday, as stated by CoinDesk. The digital currency is up roughly 20 percent this particular week.
