Nasdaq postpones the launch of the crypto exchange, waiting for regulation clarity

Stock exchange Nasdaq has no immediate plans of launching a crypto exchange until there’s better regulatory clarity from policymakers, said the company’s executive vice president Tal Cohen. Nasdaq announced last month it would focus on crypto custody.

As Cohen told Bloomberg, the retail side of the crypto market is fairly saturated and enough crypto exchanges are catering to the needs of retail investors. He added that his firm would continue its focus on crypto custody services that were launched on Sept. 20.

Cohen also revealed that other crypto-related services that the exchange is working on, namely building execution capabilities on the platform to move and transfer assets.

The world’s second-largest stock exchange might be hesitant to launch a crypto exchange in the US, but the firm partnered with Brazil’s leading brokerage service provider XP to launch a crypto exchange in 2021.

The US SEC has been quite outspoken about the vulnerabilities that the nascent market possess and yet despite numerous calls for clearer regulations from Congress, the US hasn’t made much headway on the regulatory front.

The SEC continues its enforcement actions against crypto firms and expanded its crypto enforcement team earlier this year. As a result of growing enforcement actions despite a lack of regulatory clarity, Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced legislation seeking a safe harbor for cryptocurrency exchanges from “certain” SEC enforcement actions.

This summer, the SEC rejected the Bitcoin spot ETF proposed by Grayscale. The crypto fund has launched a lawsuit against the SEC after the regulator’s denial.