Adena Friedman, the CEO of Nasdaq, just announced that once the cryptocurrency market matures and volatility slows down, Nasdaq may become a platform for cryptocurrencies in the near future.
According to a CNBC report, Mrs. Friedman said that once the market and people are ready for such a step, then Nasdaq may be open to introducing cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and other altcoins to the “mass market”.
However, the CEO pointed out that regulation is a top priority for Nasdaq, so before introducing the digital currencies on the exchange, the market needs to be stable and well regulated. Of course, following the volatility of the market, ups and downs of all alcoins, regulation may take many shapes and forms. So, in that sense, the cryptocurrency market is still very young and for Nasdaq to introduce them as a legit asset class on its exchange is still a “young” idea.
CNBC reported the optimistic comments of Adena Friedman on the future of cryptocurrencies:
“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.”
The optimism shown by Nasdaq is seen in their collaboration with the Winklevoss brothers’ cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini. Under the partnership agreement, Gemini will be able to take advantage of Nasdaq’s SMARTS Market Surveillance Technology to monitor the trading activity, fairness and “rules of the game”, essentially.
While Nasdaq’s CEO appears very optimistic about cryptocurrencies and their future on Nasdaq, she is much less optimistic about initial coin offerings, or the so called ICOs.
Mrs. Friedman commented:
“ICOs need to be regulated. The SEC is right that those are securities and need to be regulated as such.”
The SEC is already investigating ICOs, holding hearings and trying to understand how those work and how the tax system is affected by the introduction of digital assets in investors’ portfolios. Thus, the market, according to Mrs. Friedman is still young and rocky, but there is a high possibility that cryptocurrencies will become part of Nasdaq in the near future.