A Secret Meeting: Is Nasdaq Finally Going To Legitimize Cryptocurrencies?

While Bitcoin is in a slow run, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) definitely slowed things even more by denying the Winklevoss twins’ latest attempts to list a Bitcoin ETF on a regulated stock exchange.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq, which is the world’s second-largest stock exchange – was quietly hosting a closed-door meeting with some Wall Street and crypto representatives. According to sources, the meeting’s main point was legitimizing cryptocurrencies as an asset class.

Bloomberg first reported the news about a closed-door meeting taking place in Chicago and gathering the leaders from about half a dozen companies – including the Winklevoss twins who are the co-founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

As the publication said, an unnamed source said that the participants discussed the implication of future crypto regulation and what industry firms can do to bolster such regulation of Bitcoin and other crypto assets.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Nasdaq, Adena Friedman, recently spoke about cryptocurrencies and shared her interest in them. As she said then, crypto is “right next step in the space of currency,” even though the “jury is still out” when it comes to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.

As she said then:

“How it evolves and which of the cryptocurrencies may or may not be the one that ultimately gets embraced, I think that really the jury is still out on that.

But I do think the idea of a more globalized payment mechanism that is more efficient than what we have today allows for money to transfer across countries and certainly supports the Internet economy.”

Nonetheless, Friedman is also staunch of critic on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which according to her, are “taking advantage” of retail investors and are plagued by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight.