Analyst discovers unusual BTC product index trading on Nasdaq

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U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq is reported to be testing trading of a Bitcoin Core (BTC)-based product, according to findings published by an analyst at StrongMarket.

Cryptocurrency Twitter personality Cryptopolis, who works as an analyst for the quantitative trading analytics service, raised the suggestion on Twitter after he was able to buy 1 BTC on the exchange through an account with broker TM Ameritrade earlier this week.

https://twitter.com/cryptopolis_x/status/1120352266836426752

Curiously, Cryptopolis said BTC was being traded under an unrecognized symbol, CXERX, which was launched on April 10, 2019. If verified, the development could suggest Nasdaq is trying to obscure testing of a new BTC product.

Cryptopolis got in touch with support at TD Ameritrade to probe further, but was met with a flat denial of comment from the support agent: “It is not a symbol we trade on the live side so I’m not really able to speak on it.”

The analyst concluded that the trade was not real, and that he must have somehow accessed a test product which had accidentally appeared in the live environment. Nevertheless, he maintains the evidence points to Nasdaq making available a new BTC instrument which is currently only available through its Paper Trading platform.

If confirmed, the news would be the latest step towards Nasdaq embracing cryptocurrency on its live exchanges. Furthermore, it comes at a time of increasing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency, fueled in part by greater institutional and regulatory interest in the sector globally.

Late last year, Nasdaq confirmed it was planning to launch BTC futures, which were scheduled to appear within the first half of this year. According to insiders, the world’s second largest stock exchange has been in discussions with other firms for months about making BTC futures happen on its exchanges.

Likewise in February, the exchange began offering cryptocurrency price indices in partnership with crypto data firm Brave New Coin, onboarding both BNC’s Bitcoin Liquid Index (BLX) and Ethereum Liquid Index (ELX).

With Nasdaq now perhaps already testing a new BTC product, it looks like a more thorough acceptance of cryptocurrency could be round the corner. The serious technical flaws with BTC aside, this could eventually pave the way for more sophisticated cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin SV to be listed on the world’s largest stock exchanges.