Nasdaq CEO Favors Cryptocurrencies

The crypto market’s 2017 bullish run was more or less determined by investors’ intention to earn from cryptocurrency’s volatility. However, the first few months of 2018 was rough for digital currencies as regulators started to clamp down on activities worried about the possible use of cryptos on illicit activities.

If you will look at the past few days, it seems that cryptocurrencies are on a bullish run, yet again. For the first time since March 2017, buy orders composed 92{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} of market activity. And for this reason, Bitcoin was even able to surpass $9,000 mark.

One of the reasons for its bullish run is the interest of financial institutions to enter the world of cryptocurrencies. According to a survey, 20{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} of financial institutions could begin crypto trading in 2018. In fact, 70{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} are keen on starting in the coming three to six months.

Nasdaq and Cryptocurrencies?

It is a reality today that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are making a huge impact in finance. The mere concept that cryptocurrencies don’t need third parties in order to confirm transactions is already revolutionary on the part of blockchain technology.

If you will ask Adena Friedman, the CEO of Nasdaq, she reminded everyone that the crypto market is a legit market. She mentioned on her CBNC today that “I believe that digital currencies will continue to persist.. it’s just a matter of how long it will take for that space to mature”. She added that “Once you look at it and say ‘do we want to provide a regulated market for this?’ Certainly, Nasdaq would consider it”.

Crypto exchanges are already gaining support from Nasdaq. IN fact, the company announced that it is already collaborating with Gemini, a crypto exchange that was founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Both Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were first known as American rowers. However, they became billionaires mainly for their Bitcoin investment. They also partnered with San Diego based ETF firm, Reality Shares, which will launch two blockchain-related funds. People can also expect the latest fund to come out by June.

But is Nasdaq really going after cryptocurrencies? Eric Ervin, the CEO of Reality Shares mentioned that “If you were to rank interest in cryptocurrency on a scale of zero to 10, Friedman would be a six”. He added that “She would help get the SEC comfortable with cryptocurrency trading. She would not passively wait for them to get on board”.

Waiting for Rules to Be Written Out?

But can we really expect big money to pop up anytime soon in today’s crypto market? A lot of major investors are still waiting for rules to be finalized by the SEC. However, there are already those such as George Soros who isn’t actually waiting for everything to be laid out. His $26 billion wealth management firm is already planning to trade digital assets as they hired Adam Fisher to oversee macro investing at Soros Fund Management.

Goldman Sachs has been reported to have also hired Justin Schmidt. Also, there are around 56 finance firms that are on standby waiting to enter the crypto market space by the third quarter of the year. This is the future that we can expect soon.