On Friday, September 14th, the second largest US stock exchange NASDAQ announced plans to acquire the crypto‐friendly trading and clearing solution provider Cinnober from Sweden.
As Cryptocurrency News (CCN) reports, with this acquisition the exchange has made an evident, yet indirect, move towards cryptocurrency trade. In July NASDAQ held a closed‐door meeting with cryptoexperts discussing ways to “legitimize cryptocurrencies as a traditional securities instrument” in order to make SEC change its mind about cryptomarkets.
The interest in Cinnober is not accidental. The Swedes themselves purchased big custody security developer BitGo at the time. According to the statement by the Cinnober Directors Board, the total value of the deal is approximately SEK 1,702 million, and NASDAQ becomes the owner of more than 90 percent of the total number of shares in Cinnober. The company is not profitable as their Q2 report states, and Cinober is expecting to return to profitability in the next year. Thus, the deal with NASDAQ is considered as a strategic step to achieve this goal.
The lack of reliable solutions for custodianship is a solid reason traditional investors generally stay away from cryptomarket as cryptoexchanges keep getting hacked. According to many cryptoexperts the problem can be solved with cold storage and multi‐signature technology. At the same time, legal issues can be improved when monsters as NASDAQ acquire the likes of Swedish fintech providing traditional audit to the delight of institutional investors. In this case, traditional exchanges will eventually begin cryptocurrency trading.
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