Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange, confirms that the company is considering launching Bitcoin (BTC) futures with an unnamed business partner.
In a new interview with Bloomberg, Friedman says,
“We have been working with the industry and with a great partner to look at whether or not it’s the right thing for us to do. And I think that we’re still evaluating that.
We’ve been talking with the industry to say is this something [unique.] We already have two Bitcoin futures out there…
If you’re going to create a product, you want to know that people are going to use it, and use it differently than how it’s being used today. The second thing is, we’d have to self-certify as a futures exchange for this. And we would use our NFX license to do that, but we have to make sure, from a risk-management perspective, we are fully prepared. And those are the two things we’re still working on.”
Friedman believes that the broader outlook will include cryptocurrencies.
“I would say that our view is that digital currencies and cryptocurrencies will have a role in the global economy. The question is will they mature to a state that really is used for the transfer of goods.
But in the meantime, I think that there’s certainly a lot of demand out there for that indicative price and that ability to trade it. It’s just a matter of can we create a construct that’s unique enough and different from what’s already there.”
The first euro-denominated Bitcoin exchange traded note, Bitcoin tracker EUR, was launched on Nasdaq Nordic in October 2015. Nasdaq Nordic also trades an Ethereum ETN.
As for a new product, Friedman’s update is the latest in a series of confirmations. Bloomberg reported in November of 2018 that Nasdaq sources confirmed the company was looking into launching BTC futures.
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