The Nasdaq is planning to launch bitcoin futures as early as next year through a partnership with VanEck.
Back in April, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman admitted that the exchange was keeping a close eye on cryptocurrencies. Once they mature, she told CNBC, it would consider becoming a platform for trading cryptocurrencies.
“Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time,” Friedman said. “If we do look at it and say ‘it’s time, people are ready for a more regulated market,’ for something that provides a fair experience for investors.”
For its part, VanEck has also been trying to obtain approval for the first-ever bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). So far, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has turned down multiple other applications.
In fact, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday (November 27) that it’s unlikely that the agency will approve a bitcoin ETF anytime soon due to concerns over investor protection.
Chairman Jay Clayton said his main concern is that cryptocurrency can be too easily stolen or manipulated on exchanges.
“What investors expect is that the trading in that commodity that’s underlying the ETF is trading that makes sense, is free from the risk or significant risk of manipulation,” said Clayton, according to Bloomberg. “Those kinds of safeguards don’t exist in many of the markets where digital currencies trade.”
And crypto scammers are now targeting Facebook users.
According to TheNextWeb, hackers are trying to trick people on the social media site into giving up data such as their credit card information. A fake sponsored ad directs users to a malicious replica of CNBC, promoting a “big” investment opportunity into a non-existent crypto called CashlessPay.
Facebook is just one online platform that has been hit by scammers. Twitter has also been dealing with a string of scams for most of the year.