Nasdaq plans to launch a futures contract based on bitcoin in 2018, making it the third U.S.-based exchange operator to plan derivatives contracts off of bitcoin. According to the Wall Street Journal, Nasdaq, the world’s second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, is aiming to launch bitcoin futures contracts in the first half of 2018.
The price of bitcoin topped $11,000 on Wednesday just a day after passing the $10,000 mark and has increased more than 10-fold in value so far this year.
Nasdaq’s bitcoin contract would debut on Nasdaq Futures, or NFX, a marketplace that the New York-based exchange group launched in 2015 that until now has mainly focused on energy trading.
Nasdaq is seeking to position its product different to that of Chicago-based CME Group, the latter which is preparing to launch its bitcoin futures product in less than a fortnight.
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