Nasdaq to Launch Bitcoin and Ethereum Indices Starting Next Week

19. Feb 2019 Posted by Akolkar B on News

Next week, starting Monday, February 25, the world’s second largest stock exchange Nasdaq will start offering real-time data tracking for two new indices - Bitcoin Core and Ethereum. The official announcement was made by Nasdaq last week on Monday, February 11.

The exchange noted that the Bitcoin Liquid Index (BLX) and the Ethereum Liquid Index (ELX) will “provide a real-time spot or reference rate for the price of 1 BTC and 1 ETH respectively, quoted in USD, and based on the most liquid ends of their markets”.

Also, the announcement notes that both BLX and ELX will capture data from several different exchanges to provide a single price point for BTC and ETH. Thus, it will help traders to easily get in and out of a given position.

The exchange says that both the BLX and ELX indices are calculated using a methodology under the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles. Nasdaq says that this methodology is verified by independent auditors.

“The BLX is one of the most widely-referenced BTC indices among crypto traders and has been calculated back to 2010. Likewise, the ELX has been calculated back to 2014,” said the exchange.

Both the indices are created by a New Zealand-based blockchain data and research company - Brave New Coin.

With years of expertise in the traditional stock, Nasdaq plans to explore the emerging crypto market with different services. Last year in September 2018, Nasdaq was reportedly working on a Data Analytics Hub for digital currencies. The new crypto data set will comprise information for 500 digital currencies.

Nasdaq executive Bill Dague said: “Given the abundance of interest, we are exploring cryptocurrency related datasets… Whether or not we launch a crypto-related product remains to be seen.”

Also, Nasdaq is currently said to be working with American regulator CFTC to get the approval for launching its own Bitcoin Futures Contracts. In December 2018, Joseph Christinat, Vice President of Nasdaq’s media team, said: “Bitcoin Futures will be listed and it should launch in the first half of next year – we’re just waiting for the go ahead from the CFTC but there’s been enough work put into this to make that academic”.