The exchange giant is teaming up with Fidelity and BNY Mellon to launch its own cryptocurrency custody platform.
Nasdaq, the American stock exchange based in New York City, is reportedly looking at Q2 2023 to release custody services for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Senior Vice President and Head of Nasdaq Digital Assets Ira Auerbach said that Nasdaq is “continuing to get all the necessary technical infrastructure and regulatory approvals.”
The report describes an infrastructure that may look similar to that of Fidelity Digital Assets, which quietly opened its operations to the public last week. The first step to trading bitcoins and cryptocurrencies on Nasdaq will be custody services for these assets.
According to a Bloomberg report, “Nasdaq has applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a limited purpose trust company charter, which will oversee the new business.”
Launched just as several major cryptocurrency companies are collapsing, amid heightened regulatory tensions, the goal seems to be to offer customers who currently lack a platform, a regulated and trusted American service for bitcoin.
It should be noted that many of the issues surrounding exchanges come from third-party risks provided by custodians holding bitcoins for customers. The safest way to interact with bitcoins is to protect yourself with your own wallet. Although trading platforms offer the ease of interaction created by custodians, with the American financial system seeing unclear headlines, it is important to consider these trades compared to traditional bitcoin custody.