Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman says exchange is undecided whether it is feasible to compete with CBOE’s and CME’s futures products.
Nasdaq is still estimating whether “it is the right thing to” launch its own Bitcoin futures to compete with the futures products of Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Bloomberg reports Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Nasdaq is currently looking for the ways to produce something “unique enough” to make it different from its competitors and attractive for users, said CEO Adena Friedman. The statement comes from an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.
“We have been working with the industry … to look at whether or not [launching our own futures product] is the right thing for us to do,” Friedman said, adding that Nasdaq is “still evaluating that.”
The CEO did not specify when the potential Nasdaq Bitcoin futures are expected to arrive.
The Nasdaq stock exchange first started talking about its plans to launch Bitcoin futures in Nov. 2017. Back then, the potential launch was slated to happen as early as June 2018.
When asked whether Nasdaq would consider launching futures products based on cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, such as Ether or Ripple, Friedman noted:
“We have two exchange-traded notes that are listed in our Nordic markets … one is an Ethereum ETN, and the other is a Bitcoin ETN. So we would look more holistically at cryptocurrencies, not just at one.”
“Our view is that digital currencies and cryptocurrencies will have a role in the global economy,” Friedman added.
