The New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest marketplace for securities and other exchange -traded investments, recently filed a trademark application to register 'NYSE' as a marketplace for NFT, metaverse and crypto-related products. A filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office on February 10 shows that the 230-year-old stock exchange applied for trademark licenses to launch such digital products.
However, a spokesperson from the NYSE, clarified that the stock exchange has no immediate plans to unveil crypto or NFT trading. “The NYSE regularly considers new products and their impact on our trademarks and protects our intellectual property rights accordingly,” the spokesperson stated.
As the filing shows, The NYSE’s move to create a new marketplace for buying and selling NFTs is significant because it indicates how mainstream NFTs are becoming. Additionally, the established institution plans to launch the metaverse, as it seeks to offer virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality software.
Apart from non-fungible tokens and metaverse, the exchange intends to offer an online marketplace for traders, buyers and sellers of virtual and digital assets, as well as artwork, the filing shows.
Moreover, NYSE is seeking approval to launch its own cryptocurrency, though it is not clear if it will continue actualizing the plan.
If approved, the institution would hold licenses to create digital marketplaces alongside its existing exchange.
Digitizing Investments
This is not the first time, NYSE is attempting to digitize assets under its marketplace. In April last year, the firm created multiple NFTs commemorating notable IPOs of six companies, including Spotify, Snowflake, Unity, DoorDash, Roblox and Coupang, which launched their direct listings on the exchange.
In October last year, the exchange finally opened the doors to its digital asset marketplace when it started allowing investors to bet on Bitcoin without being exposed to the price. Last year, ProShares launched a long-awaited exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the New York Stock Exchange tied to Bitcoin futures. As a result, Bitcoin entered the New York Stock exchange for the first time, allowing investors the option to invest in the cryptocurrency without directly holding it, via conventional broker accounts.
The popularity of Bitcoin , NFTs and metaverse has renewed interest for major institutions like NYSE to digitize the stock market and embrace digital products. The wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which left physical stock trading floors empty in 2020, echoed the need for stock markets to adopt digital tools. NYSE has continued to digitize product and service offerings to allow users access to a wide variety of asset classes, equities, bonds, commodities, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, futures, options, contracts for difference, and other products, from a single place, without the need of going to the physical market.
