Key facts
- Roland Chai, Nasdaq's president of European market services, has been given group-wide responsibility for digital assets.
- Nasdaq's European exchanges facilitated €7.1bn in IPO transaction volumes last year, representing 60% of the region's total.
- Nasdaq is partnering with Seturion, a pan-European settlement platform for tokenized assets.
- Nasdaq will collaborate with the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to offer tokenized stocks on its US market.
- The plan is to bridge traditional and digital markets, potentially making Eurex derivatives available on Kraken.
Nasdaq is intensifying its focus on digital assets, appointing Roland Chai, its most senior executive in Europe, to oversee group-wide digital asset initiatives. Chai, who has already overseen a significant boom in listings at Nasdaq's Nordic bourses, will now lead efforts to integrate blockchain technology into financial markets. This strategic push includes partnerships aimed at modernizing post-trade services and exploring the offering of tokenized stocks and derivatives.
Last year, Nasdaq's European exchanges facilitated IPO transaction volumes totaling €7.1 billion, accounting for 60% of the region's total and more than tripling the volume of its nearest competitor. Chai's expanded role will involve managing a team in New York and playing a crucial part in Nasdaq's broader strategy to revamp traditional market processes using digital ledger technology.
In line with this strategy, Nasdaq has announced a partnership with Seturion, a European settlement platform for tokenized assets operated by German exchange group Börse Stuttgart. Concurrently, Nasdaq revealed a collaboration with the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, with plans to offer tokenized stocks on its flagship US market, which lists major companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Amazon. This follows Kraken's own recent partnership with Deutsche Börse, initially focused on providing Kraken clients access to the 360T foreign exchange trading venue, with ultimate goals of bridging traditional and digital markets and making Eurex derivatives available on Kraken.
Nasdaq is also exploring overnight trading, aiming for a '23/5' trading model for US equities. While European exchanges have been more hesitant about round-the-clock trading, Chai suggested that Nasdaq's European arm might eventually adopt such models if demand from specific companies and ecosystems arises.