The parent company of a major US stock exchange is reportedly looking to launch crypto custody services by June.
According to a new report by BNB Bloomberg, Nasdaq INC., the owner of the New York-based Nasdaq Stock Exchange, expects its crypto custody services to be available by the end of the second quarter.
Ira Auerbach, head of Nasdaq Digital Assets, told Bloomberg in an interview that the firm is currently in the process of acquiring the regulatory consent and necessary infrastructure it needs to launch.
Auerbach also says that offering custody for Bitcoin () and Ethereum (), the top two digital assets by market cap, would be the company’s first step toward building a suite of crypto-focused services.
Nasdaq first announced they would be looking to launch crypto custody services last September, at the time that institutional adoption of digital assets would drive the “next wave of revolution.”
In October, Tai Cohen, Nasdaq’s executive vice president and head of North American markets, said that the firm also plans to the crypto services they offer, such as providing liquidity, as well as embrace regulations.
“Custody is foundational. Off the back of custody, we can start to develop other solutions, offer execution services, liquidity services, and think about how we support new markets…
We know how to operate under regulatory regimes, and we continue to innovate under the rules of the road. Embracing regulation as it comes is something we do. And institutions want us to operate under that framework.”
