When Will Nasdaq Roll Out Its Mysterious Bitcoin Futures?

During the interview given to Erik Schatzker on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman was discussing her LinkedIn post concerning ”market economy”. She was also touching the cryptocurrency sphere, saying that Bitcoin futures are a viable option and that they have an unnamed partner helping to set everything up.

Two Main Reasons Nasdaq Will Consider Regarding Bitcoin Futures

After observing the market conditions, Nasdaq wants to bring up a viable solution that will be different from the competitors. This is a wise move, which is what good business gurus (like Guy Kawasaki, Richard Branson or Barry Feldman) typically advise to do. If you’re going to conquer some marker, make sure that your offer is substantially different from the ones given by the other ventures, shops, restaurants, crypto exchanges, etc.

The second major consideration is that the exchange has no certificate. They need to obtain the papers allowing them to be a futures exchange. And they want to do it via the current NFX license that is already in their possession. Friedman said that cryptocurrencies are not evil, that they could change society. She noted that cryptocurrencies have a deep impact on the global economy. Adena is unsure whether the blockchain hype will provoke something hardcore enough to facilitate large amounts of payments:

“Digital currencies and cryptocurrencies will have a role in the global economy. The question is will they mature to a state that is used for the transfer of goods.”

Strange that she says it in such a way. Because many of the cryptocurrencies already transfer colossal amounts of goods from country to country. The WSJ was reporting in November 2017 that Nasdaq is working with Cantor Fitzgerald. They wanted to bring up the futures product. It supposed to arrive until the second half of 2018. But later, apparently, the investors ran away from the falling price of the still so volatile BTC. At the same time, many other firms came up with similar solutions, including the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and won.