The $6.831 trillion stock market Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange behind New York Stock Exchange, will enable bitcoin futures trading by mid-2018.
Nasdaq and Cantor to Integrate Bitcoin by First Half of 2018
A Wall Street Journal report revealed that Nasdaq and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. will list bitcoin futures within the first half of 2018. The two financial institutions are “rushing” the integration of bitcoin given the cryptocurrency’s recent surge in price, to $11,441.
According to sources familiar with the Nasdaq’s plans for a bitcoin futures exchange launch, Nasdaq’s bitcoin futures and contracts will be listed on Nasdaq Futures. Through that, investors in the traditional finance sector and stock brokerages will be able to engage in bitcoin trading.
In an interview with WSJ, Cantor, a major US-based financial firm, also revealed that it intends to launch bitcoin futures and derivatives on its flagship exchange.
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Shawn Matthews, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., stated that cryptocurrencies are a new asset class that “is not going away,” and that bitcoin is here to stay.
He stated:
The asset class is not going away. If you look at the next level, it will be the institutions coming in and being larger participants in the marketplace, especially as liquidity gets better.
Cantor’s futures exchange has already been approved by the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and considering that CFTC has approved several bitcoin futures listings including the bitcoin options, derivatives, and futures exchange of LedgerX, regulatory hurdles of Cantor in listing bitcoin are expected to be minimal.
Nasdaq’s Bitcoin Integration Will Trigger Other Exchanges to Adopt Bitcoin
Other major exchanges including Nodal Exchange are actively investigating the potential of listing bitcoin futures on their regulated exchanges and trading platforms.
John D’Agostino, a former Nymex executive, told WSJ that every department of every regulated exchange is considering listing bitcoin futures, and that the number of bitcoin futures exchanges will drastically increase throughout 2018, as leading exchanges and markets such as CBOE, CME, Nasdaq, and Cantor move to implement bitcoin.
“Every research department of every regulated exchange is saying, ‘Can we do this?. The majority of costs associated with that are marketing. If people want to trade this thing, why wouldn’t you?. This is a gift from the heavens,” said D’Agostino.
In early 2017, the integration of bitcoin futures could have required marketing to a certain extent to attract investors within the traditional finance sector. Currently, the mere act of integrating bitcoin is an impeccable marketing strategy. Some reports revealed that if multi-billion dollar companies like Overstock switch their businesses to cryptocurrency-focused ventures, they are likely to see 70 to 100 percent increase in sales and market valuation.
Given the rapid increase in the mainstream adoption of bitcoin and the rise in demand for cryptocurrencies, every exchange in the US and in the global finance market is planning to integrate bitcoin in the short-term. Nasdaq’s listing of bitcoin futures will trigger more exchanges to pursue the path of bitcoin futures in the upcoming months.