“We Will Consider Becoming a Cryptocurrency Exchange”, Says Nasdaq CEO

Nasdaq, one of the largest stock exchanges is now considering becoming a cryptocurrency exchange in a well-regulated market.

Adena Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq, in a televised interview with CNBC was questioned about the decision taken by Nasdaq’s board and the side she believes on these cryptocurrencies, particularly as a service provider.

Friedman further stated that she deems ICOs to be securities and this point has been widely debated in the cryptocurrency world.

She said: “ICOs need to be regulated. The SEC is right that those securities and need to be regulated as such.”

Friedman responded that “It is a non-regulated space today, so it is not something that we have decided to go into becoming a cryptocurrency exchange but we are providing technology now to other cryptocurrency exchanges,” pointing to Nasdaq’s surveillance technology that will be used by Gemini to oversee its cryptocurrency trading pairs in Ethereum and bitcoin to alert the exchange of suspicious trade behavior, potentially preventing market manipulation.