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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.”
[adinserter block="1"]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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