Nasdaq intends to launch its custody services for digital assets like bitcoin by the end of the second quarter of this year. The exchange operator is among those traditional financial firms that want to play a role as middlemen in the crypto sector that saw some major players collapse.
Nasdaq Stock Exchange Seeks Regulatory Approval as Crypto Custodian
US exchange operator nasdaq plans to launch its own crypto asset custody services at the end of June. The company enters the industry after a series of failures, such as the bankruptcy of FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
The group is now working to obtain the necessary approvals from regulatory bodies that will allow it to provide such services, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing Ira Auerbach, a senior vice president and head of Nasdaq Digital Assets.
Nasdaq has already applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a limited purpose trust company charter, which would oversee the new cryptocurrency business, the executive revealed in an interview in the French capital.
The initiative was first announced in September. It represents the first foray into crypto for the company that runs the second-largest American stock exchange by market capitalization of shares traded.
The realization of the project will begin with the custody of the main cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), before expanding the range of services offered by the group’s digital assets division. The plan is to eventually provide execution for financial institutions.
The crypto winter caused by falling prices also affected banks exposed to digital assets, leading to the collapse of crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank in the US.
In the crypto market, Nasdaq will join large financial firms such as BNY Mellon and Fidelity, offering cryptocurrency custody, brokerage services, or tokenization of traditional assets to take advantage of related technologies.
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