A new heavyweight player is entering the cryptocurrency market. Nasdaq, the company that runs the second-largest equity market in the US, is negotiating to launch its own cryptocurrency management fund for institutions.
Nasdaq is getting into cryptos
This could prove to be a very big coup for the cryptocurrency market. Nasdaq, the second largest stock exchange in the US, is set to launch a cryptocurrency custody service. Called “Nasdaq Digital Assets”, it will be exclusively for institutional clients.
Today, @Nasdaq launches Nasdaq Digital Assets, marking the next milestone in the digital asset ecosystem.
The business will address key industry pain points with institutional-grade solutions that bring greater liquidity, integrity and transparency: https://t.co/uuiaSxPRTb pic.twitter.com/bSmYdAdPxb
– Nasdaq (@Nasdaq) September 20, 2022
At the time of writing, the company is still in talks with the relevant authorities to launch this cryptocurrency management fund. Therefore, this announcement is for the time being made subject to approval by the US regulators.
Specifically, Nasdaq Digital Assets will initially develop an advanced custody solution for institutional clients. According to the release, this will bring together the best attributes of today’s existing cryptocurrency wallets by offering a higher degree of accessibility and scalability, without compromising security.
As a reminder, the Nasdaq index includes the main stocks in the digital sector, including the giants Amazon, Google and Meta. In addition, the company is no stranger to the cryptocurrency market as it already offers market surveillance solutions, as well as an ETF called Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto.
One goal, to support the cryptocurrency market
This launch, while subject to regulatory approval, reinforces Nasdaq’s ambition to attract institutional investors to the cryptocurrency market. This inevitably requires high quality custody solutions equivalent to what these customers are used to.
Moreover, demand from institutional players has been growing steadily over the past few years, as Tal Cohen, Executive Vice President and Head of North American Markets explains:
“Demand from institutional investors to engage in digital assets has grown in recent years, and Nasdaq is well positioned to accelerate broader adoption and drive sustainable growth. “
But above all, this announcement is a testament to the confidence that this major player in traditional finance has in digital assets. This is the opinion of Adena Friedman, President and CEO of Nasdaq:
The technology behind the digital asset ecosystem has the potential to transform markets over the long term. To capture this opportunity, we will focus on providing institutional-level solutions […] to support this evolution. “
Still, this news confirms once again that the barrier between the traditional financial markets and the cryptocurrency market is increasingly lifting…
