Why should Nasdaq launch a crypto exchange?

The executive vice president at Nasdaq, Tal Cohen, has confirmed there is a possibility that the second-largest US stock exchange will consider launching a crypto exchange. Cohen told Bloomberg, “those are discussions we are happy to have.”

In his words, Nasdaq will consider launching its crypto exchange when there is greater regulatory clarity and mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by institutional investors. At the moment, the crypto market is fairly saturated with retail interest, according to Nasdaq’s executive vice president.

Through the exchange, Nasdaq aims to enable execution capabilities for institutional investors to facilitate the movement and transfer of assets, and not just safekeeping.

On September 20th, Nasdaq made a big leap into the crypto market by establishing a new group charged with offering digital assets services to institutional investors. At the start, Nasdaq said it would offer BTC and ETH custody services to the institutions. While Nasdaq waits for the right signals for its crypto exchange, Cohen reiterated that they are currently focused on custody services.

There seems to be a growing interest in the digital asset market from major traditional financial firms. Nasdaq is not the only mainstream platform looking to capture the emerging crypto market.

Last month, one of the largest US mutual fund companies, Fidelity Investments, announced it would begin offering retail investors access to bitcoin trading by November. Many believed the offering would accelerate more adoption of digital currencies. In August, the largest asset manager BlackRock also launched a private trust that will allow institutions to access the spot value of Bitcoin.

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