As one of the first in the traditional financial world, the Nasdaq wants to offer custody services to large institutions. So in addition to offering cryptocurrency, it wants to provide these to institutional clients and provide storing and custody.
What is Nasdaq?
Nasdaq is a global online market where one can trade securities. It consists of 29 markets in the United States and Europe. It has listed the world’s largest technology companies.
Competitor of Coinbase
The giant U.S. exchange is ready to take the next step, granting custody of Bitcoin and other crypto to institutional players. With this, it is entering the crowded market of institutional bitcoin custody services and becoming a direct competitor to exchange-listed and well established company Coinbase. Other companies like BitGo and Gemini, which it has collaborated with but never competed until recently.
What happens next?
Nasdaq’s new offering still needs time before being approved by regulators. What is certain, however, is that all these developments have interesting implications for how institutions will use Bitcoin. As the price continues to fall, the framework for facilitating institutions in the cryptocurrency space is building.
