Nasdaq Seeks To Launch Crypto Custody Services By end of the second quarter

Updated: 06 June 2024

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Exchange operator Nasdaq is working on launching its own crypto custody services by Q2/2023

What: Nasdaq exchange group is set to launch its own crypto custody services.

Why: The bankruptcy of many crypto lenders has triggered traditional finance companies to step in and fill the gap.

What Next: The group is working to get all necessary regulatory approvals ahead of the launch.

The stock exchange group Nasdaq is seeking to fill in the gap left by crypto custodians, most of whom have gone bankrupt due to the crypto winter. In September 2022, NAsdaq Inc, announced plans to launch crypto custody services.

I'ts becoming clearer everyday. The attack on crypto is to allow the TradFi incumbents to come in and takeover.

In the midst of turmoil Fidelity, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, and now Nasdaq are launching crypto services.https://t.co/MNT1BtSrki

— Tony Edward (Thinking Crypto Podcast) (@ThinkingCrypto1) March 24, 2023

According to the Senior Vice President and head of Nasdaq Digital Assets Ira Auerbach, the exchange group is working to get all the necessary regulatory approvals and technical infrastructure in place. Speaking in an interview, the Nasdaq executive said the firm had applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a limited-purpose trust company charter.

Auerbach also said that for Nasdaq, the offering of custody services for both Bitcoin and Ethereum will mark the “first step” in building a wide array of services for the company’s digital asset business. Going into the future, the firm would also incorporate the execution of crypto transactions for financial institutions.

Nasdaq is not the only financial services provider that has come out to provide crypto custody services. The collapse of the once revered crypto lenders and well-established exchanges and companies cleared the path for other big players to dip their feet into the water. BNY Melon launched its crypto custody platform during the last quarter of 2022.

Another giant in the financial services sector Fidelity also offers safekeeping services for digital assets. The French financial giant BNP Paribas also entered the crypto custody space in 2022. The group achieved this last year through a partnership with Metaco, a Swiss crypto asset custody firm.

Nasdaq’s exposure to the cryptocurrency market is not just starting now with the launch of its own crypto custody services. The stock exchange group has supported various crypto exchanges with market surveillance technologies. In 2021, it launched the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF, based on its own index.

Therefore, the entry of traditional financial companies into the crypto space points to increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies on a general scale.