While appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box NASDAQ CEO Adena Friedman said that they would certainly “consider becoming a crypto exchange” as the crytpcurrency market nature’s and becomes more regulated.  

Friedman basically stated that safety and security f the market but also the demand for cryptocurrencies going forward will determine NASDAQ’s course of action.  “If we do look at it and say ‘it’s time, people are ready for a mores regulated market,’ for something that provides a fair experience for investors.” She went on to say,

“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,” Friedman said. “Once you look at it and say, ‘do we want to provide a regulated market for this?’ Certainly Nasdaq would consider it.”

A point of contention regarding safety of investors is how to handle ICOs.  ICO scams have been prevalent and remain a danger to investors everywhere.  Recently, Chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton said the SEC will be appropriating a “significant portion of resources” to the ICO market.

Friedman agrees and said “ICOs need to be regulated,” on Squawk Box Wednesday. She continued, the “SEC is right that those are securities and need to be regulated as such.”

While regulation is seen as an offensive word to many in the crypto community, stopping ICO scams and limiting the negativity surrounding new tokens would certainly help the growth of cryptocurrencies.

While waiting for a more mature, regulated market to develop before fully jumping in the crypto pool, NASDAQ plans to support the growing market in the meantime.  

On Wednesday NASDAQ also announced a partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.  Gemini Trust Company, which is owned by the famed Winklevoss brothers will use NASDAQ technology to monitor its trading.  

The soon to be implemented technology will also monitor activity and pricing on the XBT CBOE bitcoin futures exchange. By using NASDAQ’s “SMARTS” market surveillance technology, Gemini is hoping to detect current bad actors and discourage future bad actors in the cryptocurrency sector.  

Once in use, SMARTS will alert Gemini to likely fraudulent trades and manipulation so the exchange will be able to provide proactive security and protection for its users.

By taking precursory steps into secure and regulated crypto trading, it seems that NASDAQ envisions a possible future where cryptocurrency could take hold and become adopted around the world.

With its announcement of a crypto related partnership and CEO Adena Friedman’s recent optimistic remarks, NASDAQ is showing a willingness to be an industry leader in ensuring the safety of crypto investors and an eagerness to get out ahead of competitors who have been more pessimistic on the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.  

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