The second-largest stock exchange in the world confirms that it will launch the trading of bitcoin in the futures market and is currently evaluating how it can make its product different from those offered by rivals Cboe and CME.
ETF on the horizon
In her recent conversation with CNBC, Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman acknowledged that the stock exchange was "looking into the future of crypto contracts".
Although, she has refrained from confirming whether the plan will actually materialize, let alone by specifying a release date, but, judging by Friedman's responses, it seems that a product development is happening behind the scenes.
There was speculation about Nasdaq's planning to offer bitcoin futures. While the stock exchange did not bother to confirm or deny these rumors, the talk on Wall Street was that they really wanted to launch the new product sometime during the second quarter of 2018.
"We continue to analyze the idea of crypto-futures (contract) futures with a partner and continue to analyze risk management around such a market, making sure we are putting the correct protocols in place, ensuring that there is adequate demand and that the contract is different from what already exists".
Little resemblance to Cboe and CME offerings
CBOE and CME, both regulated and rival Nasdaq exchanges, opened the door to bitcoin in the futures contract market at the end of 2017. Both exchanges played a key role in the unprecedented growth of bitcoin prices that dominated the headlines in the end of last year.
The Nasdaq CEO underlined that his product would likely be very different from the CBOE and CME products that track the price of bitcoin and then operate on its future price.
"What we can consider is more of a future of total return, so it's a bit of a different build," Friedman said while stressing that the Nasdaq offer will be "more of an investment than a tracking stock".
In addition, previous reports indicated that, unlike Cboe, which relies on a single source of bitcoin to base its price and CME, which uses four, Nasdaq was preparing to deploy up to 50 sources.
Assuming the Nasdaq is confident about customer demand and decides to go ahead with the proposal for bitcoin futures contracts, the stock exchange will first need to approach the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to request approval.
Tags: #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #nasdaq #investment #money
Author: Guia do Bitcoin