Not afraid of the cryptocurrency winter, the world’s second largest stock exchange Nasdaq (NASDAQ) is stepping up its pace to expand the territory of the cryptocurrency business. The official statement pointed out that Nasdaq is preparing to launch cryptocurrency custody services, aiming to meet institutional Investor needs.
Tal Cohen, executive vice president of Nasdaq and head of North American markets, said the company has established a new business unit, “Nasdaq Digital Assets,” and hired Ira Auerbach, who was previously responsible for prime brokerage services at cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, to lead it. new department.
Tal Cohen continued, “Nasdaq Digital Assets” will focus on providing institutional investors with custody services for bitcoin and ether. He said in the press release:
Institutional investor demand for digital assets has increased in recent years, and Nasdaq is poised to accelerate wider adoption and drive sustainable growth.
Not long ago, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global partnered with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company , to provide institutional clients with services that enable cryptocurrency trading and custody.
Tal Cohen revealed that although Nasdaq is providing security and monitoring tools for cryptocurrency companies, it has no plans to launch cryptocurrency trading services for the time being, and will continue to pay attention to the regulatory and competitive environment to assess this opportunity in the future.
So far, Nasdaq’s cryptocurrency custody service is still awaiting regulatory approval. According to the press release, this custody service will combine the features of cold and hot wallets to provide institutional investors with fast, convenient and secure custody products, thereby driving greater market liquidity.
In this regard, analysts at MICA Research, a cryptocurrency research team, commented:
Since the current US IPO market is like a backwater, and listing is also one of the main incomes of stock exchanges, Nasdaq will want to expand more business sources. We speculate that Nasdaq’s cryptocurrency custody service is also Born in such a background, it is difficult to say whether institutional investors can really be introduced, but it is worth looking forward to.
In the area of custodian banks that verify and custody trillions of traditional assets for fund clients, including Bank of New York Mellon,
State Street , US Bank and Northern Trust Major players, including Northern Trust, have announced plans for digital asset custody.
