The exchange giant joins Fidelity and BNY Mellon in pursuing their own cryptocurrency custody platform.
Nasdaq, a New York City-based American stock exchange, is reportedly eyeing the second quarter of 2023 for the launch of its custody services for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
in a interview Conacting with Bloomberg, Nasdaq’s senior vice president and head of digital assets Ira Auerbach said that Nasdaq “is moving forward to obtain all the necessary technical infrastructure and regulatory approvals.”
The report outlines an infrastructure that might resemble that of Fidelity Digital Assets, which quietly opened to the public last week. The first step for trading bitcoins and cryptocurrencies on Nasdaq would be the custody service for the assets.
According to the Bloomberg report, “Nasdaq has applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a limited purpose trust company charter, which would oversee the new business.”
Launched just as several major cryptocurrency firms have collapsed amid mounting regulatory tension, the goal is apparently to offer customers who now have no platform a trusted and regulated American service for bitcoin.
It should be noted that many of the issues associated with exchanges stem from third-party risks presented by a custodian holding bitcoins for clients. The safest way to interact with bitcoin is to guard it yourself with your own wallet. Although trading platforms offer the ease of interaction created by custody, with the US financial system seeing precarious headlines of late, it is important to consider these trade-offs compared to traditional bitcoin self-custody.
