Nasdaq moves ahead with plan to list Bitcoin futures despite falling price

Nasdaq has plans to list Bitcoin futures despite tumbling prices this month, according to insiders.

It wants to do so in the first quarter of 2019, having worked hard to remedy the concerns of the US regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, reports Bloomberg.

If implemented, Nasdaq would be following the lead of the CME and the CBOE, both of whom listed Bitcoin futures during the height of 2017’s bull-run.

While expectation of an influx of institutional money was high, Bitcoin’s price fell from $20,000 to less than $4,000 in 2018, with many altcoins recording upwards of 95% declines.

New York stock exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange confirmed last week that it would also be launching Bitcoin futures in the first quarter of 2019, with Bakkt futures set for 24th January.

Nasdaq Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman has previously said that if the exchange were to list Bitcoin futures, it would need to be different than the CME and CBOE, with the Chicago Board of Options Exchange basing price off just one spot exchange. Nasdaq’s futures price would be based off numerous spot exchanges compiled by VanEck Associates.

VanEck has also recently been trying to win approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for an ETF, something that has been much-discussed in 2018.

On the topic of the ETF, SEC chairman Jay Clayton said: “The Bitcoin ETF is something that’s been in front of the commission. I’m not going to comment on timing. We’ve been clear about some of the issues that are of concern to us, including trading in Bitcoin and whether there is reliable price information on markets, as well as custody, so the people that hold those assets can count on those assets being there, in the same way you can with other assets that underlie an ETF.”

“We don’t believe Bitcoin is a security.” he added.

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