The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have “surveillance,” systems that monitor, prevent and investigate abusive and manipulative activity on the exchanges. Clayton says:
“Those kinds of safeguards do not exist currently in all of the exchange venues where digital currencies trade.“
However, Nasdaq announced in April a collaboration with digital currency exchange Gemini, founded by early bitcoin investors Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss. The deal enables Gemini to employ Nasdaq’s surveillance technology so that the platform provides a fair and “rules-based marketplace” for their own participants.
Issue with Custody
One of the major issue with the digital assets is storing them securely and safely. The price point of Bitcoin is certainly volatile, additional investors could also be exposed to a risk of theft in the underlying asset. Clayton told panel moderator, Silver Lake Partners’ Glenn Hutchins:
“We’ve seen some thefts around digital assets that make you scratch your head. We care that the assets underlying that ETF have good custody, and that they’re not going to disappear.”
The market already has dozens of cryptocurrency custody solutions. Fidelity announced in October that it will be launching a separate company to handle cryptocurrency custody and trade execution for institutional investors. Crypto companies Coinbase, Gemini, BitGo, Ledger and ItBit are among those already working on similar solutions.
In may, Japanese bank Nomura announced its plan to offer crypto custody, and Goldman Sachs and Northern Trust are reportedly exploring custodial services. But until Fidelity, there had been a noticeable lack of big U.S.-based incumbents officially entering the space. While the options are present in the market, Clayton said custody offerings still “need to be improved and hardened.”
Read more: SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce Says Bitcoin ETF is ‘Definitely Possible’
bestadmin
