Nasdaq, the second-largest U.S. stock exchange, is looking to harness the power of institutional investors by offering cryptocurrency custody services for Bitcoin BTC 1.28% and Ethereum.
The former global head of Gemini Prime will join the Nasdaq team to lead the Nasdaq digital assets division.
If approved by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Nasdaq will become a custodian of digital assets, putting the stock exchange in direct competition with centralized cryptocurrency giants including Coinbase, Anchorage Digital and BitGo.