CEO Adena Friedman said that Nasdaq is pausing its plans to release a crypto custody business on the company’s earnings call.
According to CEO Adena Friedman, the debut has been postponed due to regulatory concerns in the United States. Friedman said,
“We have decided to halt our launch of the U.S. digital assets custodian company and our related efforts to acquire the necessary license this quarter, considering the altering business and regulatory environment in the United States.”
The Nasdaq CEO stressed that the corporation is still committed to developing digital assets, saying:
“We continue to build and deliver technology capabilities that position Nasdaq as a leading digital assets software solutions provider to the broader global industry. This includes advancing our custody solution as a technology platform to serve the broader, global digital assets marketplace.”
Friedman also stated that the stock exchange would closely watch the market for any potential regulatory events in the upcoming months. In September 2022, Nasdaq first disclosed its cryptocurrency custody initiative.
The company intended to introduce a formal division enabling users to securely store Bitcoin ($29,964 in BTC) and Ether ($1,907 in ETH). The corporation was going ahead with the plan as of March 2023, hoping to start by the end of July.
Major cryptocurrency companies are now attempting to launch spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) on the exchange, which is when the news was released. Under Nasdaq Rule 5711, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States is now debating two spot Bitcoin ETF proposals.
