Bitcoin and other major digital coin prices rose on Wednesday in Asia after Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said that cryptocurrency “deserves an opportunity to find a sustainable future in our economy.”
Bitcoin gained 1.34% to $3,581.3 by 1:06 AM ET (06:06 GMT).
Ethereum rose 1.63% to $118.47, XRP was up 0.45% to $ 0.31769, and Litecoin added 2.77% to $31.669.
In a post on LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) published on January 20, Friedman wrote that “crypto currencies could still be a global currency of the future.” She noted that Nasdaq believes digital tokens will have a place in the future, saying “the invention itself is a tremendous demonstration of genius and creativity.”
She also suggested that “governance and regulatory clarity” are needed for cryptocurrencies to evolve into a practical, useable invention with stable value.
In addition, Nasdaq is helping cryptocurrencies gain investors’ trust by offering its technology for trade matching, clearing and trade integrity to start-up exchanges, she said.
Meanwhile, Dutch financial regulators are planning to require crypto exchanges and wallet service providers to be licensed in order to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
Netherland’s central bank De Nederlandsche Bank and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets said that fiat-to-crypto exchanges and custody solution providers must be licensed. The two bodies cited “high financial crime risks” of the digital tokens.
“These risks must be addressed effectively, which can be achieved as a result of the international coordination of countermeasures that AMLD5 [the Fifth European Anti-Money Laundering Directive] provides,” the two bodies said in a report.
