- BTC and ETH indexes will be live from february 25th.
- The indexes were created by Brave New Coin.
- The indices will also be quoted in US dollars
Nasdaq, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world has announced on their web portal that they will soon be adding indexes for Bitcoin and Ethereum to its huge database of 40,000 indexes. Nasdaq is the second largest among the exchanges and as they announced they’ll be now adding the two new Cryptocurrency giants to its Global Data Index Data Services (GIDS) feed starting from February 25th. The additions include the Bitcoin liquid index (BLX) and the Ethereum liquid index (ELX) which will provide real-time spot or reference rate for the price of 1 BTC and 1 ETH respectively. The indexes has been created by ‘Brave New Coin’ who joined hands with Nasdaq and the information will be available on the GIDS feed of the Nasdaq clients. The data on display will be refreshed every thirty seconds.
Past history included
The report included the following:
“Both indices are calculated using a methodology that has been independently audited against key IOSCO principles. The BLX is one of the most widely referenced BTC indices among crypto traders and has been calculated back to 2010. Likewise, the ELX has been calculated back to 2014.”
They further added that both Bitcoin and Ethereum indices will also be quoted in US dollars and will be “based on the most liquid ends of their markets”.
Nasdaq is slowly but steadily venturing into the Cryptocurrency realm. They had plans for this cooking since last year: “given [an] abundance of interest, we are exploring Cryptocurrency related datasets. Whether or not we launch a crypto-related product remains to be seen.” That day is finally here and this marks as a huge step for Cryptocurrenicies.
Greater plans for the Future
Nasdaq is already inside the Cryptocurrency ecosystem, it already provides services for 7 cryptocurrencies and is working to improve the quality of data provided. A while ago in november it was reported that the exchange had partnered with VanEck an investment firm so that they could bring a regulated crypto 2.0 futures contract to the market in the Q1 of 2019. Also of note, Nasdaq last year acquired ‘Cinnober’ a Swedish crypto friendly exchange. They have also invested a $20 million Series B funding in enterprise Blockchain firm ‘Symbiont’ and also invested in crypto exchange ‘ErisX’. Nasdaq’s CEO ‘Adena Friedman’ complimented Cryptocurrencies on linkedIn saying:
“The invention itself is a tremendous demonstration of genius and creativity, and it deserves an opportunity to find a sustainable future in our economy.”
Giant institutions like this are slowly entering the Cryptocurrency ecosystem, which will no doubt gradually help in gaining mass adoption.