Representatives from traditional exchanges, Gemini, and other crypto venues met in a closed-door meeting earlier this week to discuss US operators’ roles in monitoring and policing the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry.
According to a Bloomberg report, Nasdaq hosted the meeting in Chicago where about half a dozen cryptocurrency and mainstream companies discussed 'how to encourage the cryptocurrency industry to do thing that will improve its image and validate its potential role in global markets.'
The Nasdaq spokesman declined to give further details, but the announcement underscores how US blue-chip trading venues are grappling with the frenzy over Cryptocurrencies , just months after the launch of the world’s first bitcoin futures.
The news is noteworthy as the second-largest exchange in the world is already supporting existing crypto exchanges which lends more credence to that notion. Further, the Nasdaq-powered exchange, DX Exchange, went on a marketing blitz and managed to onboard 500,000 registered users.
Similar gatherings to follow
In the same context, Nasdaq has recently announced a collaboration with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which attended the meeting, to tap its SMARTS Market Surveillance, an industry benchmark technology used across Wall Street, to add more security and identify criminal trading behavior in its venue. It also partnered with San Diego based ETF firm, Reality Shares, to launch two Blockchain -related funds.
The meeting, which will not be the last of this nature, the source said, is the latest sign that crypto startups are aiming to move closer to the mainstream, at least to mollify regulators’ anxieties. With regulatory clampdowns looming now and then, the operators have become forward-thinking and are taking a proactive approach.
Meanwhile, the US cryptocurrency community has been concerned that the regulators are gearing up to classify the digital assets as securities, as opposed to being utility tokens. The security classification would have dramatic effects on the emerging sector with strict regulations on taxes and even who are legally allowed to transact in cryptocurrencies.
