Nasdaq hopes to grow by offering cold storage for digital currencies. It’s a step in the right direction for the startup, which wants to be more than simply a bitcoin exchange.
The Nasdaq stock exchange, according to experts with knowledge of business intentions, is developing a bitcoin storage service for institutions. In addition to managing equity markets in the United States and across the world, this firm has also been providing exchanges trading cryptocurrencies with market surveillance technologies since at least 2018. The exchange has stated that its own Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index will begin trading in February 2021.
To compete with Coinbase and FTX, the firm has always focused on providing technology to the bitcoin industry rather than market management. It has been reported that the new offering is waiting for regulatory clearance.
Nasdaq Digital Assets, a new branch within the exchange, will study methods of storing digital currencies. The company said in a press release that the establishment of the unit is in line with Nasdaq’s goal of encouraging more institutional investment in digital assets via the provision of secure, scalable, and trustworthy solutions for financial institutions.
Ira Auerbach, a senior vice president of the company who came to Nasdaq from Gemini, will be in charge of the new business.
Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, said in a statement.
Nasdaq Digital Assets builds on the successful solutions we have introduced in recent years to serve the digital asset ecosystem, including marketplace technology for digital asset exchanges, cryptographic proposals to combat financial crimes, and crypto-related index solutions for traded products.
Institutional custodial providers in the cryptocurrency business are worth billions of dollars due to the lucrative nature of the custody market. In June 2021, bitcoin wallet and custody provider Ledger was valued at $1.5 billion, while in December 2021, cryptocurrency exchange Anchorage finished a $350 million investment round and was valued at $3 billion.
