New York based stock exchange Nasdaq will be listing a Bitcoin Futures contract from 2019. After many rumours and speculations as to if this was true or not Joseph Christinat, VP of Nasdaq’s media team said, “Bitcoin futures will be listed and it should launch in the first half of next year. We’re just waiting for the go ahead from the CFTC but there’s been enough work put into this to make that academic.We’ve seen plenty of speculation and rumors about what we might be doing, but no one has thought to come to us and ask if we can confirm it, so, here you go – we’re doing this, and it’s happening.”
Christinat said that the rumours were because of an unconfirmed report by the Wall Street Journal which led to many speculations in the media over the contracts. Christinat said, “We’ve seen plenty of speculation and rumours about what we might be doing, but no one has thought to come to us and ask if we can confirm it, so, here you go – we’re doing this, and it’s happening.”
Futures means using borrowed capital of an investment with the expectation that the profits will be greater than the interest. The investments can include things such as commodities, treasury bonds, stocks and national currencies. Futures ensure profits “from a short-term price movements of securities, currencies or commodities without actually having to own the underlying asset.” These can be coffee, gold, copper, natural gas and the US Dollar Index.
Market analysts have welcomed this announcement. This is a big step and will help the wider acceptance and mass adoption of Bitcoin to investors, from financial institutions. John Wintnerbusch Bitcoin observer commented,“This is it- This is the tipping point that people will look back upon in years to come and say that’s where cryptocurrency came into its own.”
Back in April 2018 Nasdaq had said it was going to open a platform for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. CEO Adena Freidman had said back then, “Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a cryptocurrency exchange over time. If we do look at it and say ‘it’s time people are ready for a regulated market,’ for something that provides a fair experience for investors.”
Despite the massive dip in Bitcoin there is still a lot of growth visible and it is continuing to grow and develop as companies are accepting Bitcoin and blockchain technology.According to the contract the trade will take place on NFX (Nasdaq Futures) platform. This Bitcoin launch will give a huge positive push to the adoption of cryptocurrency viewed as an asset class.