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Nasdaq (NDAQ), After Targeting Crypto Ambitions Into Tokenized Treasury Bonds, Sees Employee Departure Amid Delays: Sources
Stalled or canceled cryptocurrency projects on Nasdaq — including a previously unreported effort to tokenize U.S. Treasury bonds — have led to members of the exchange giant’s digital assets team no longer working at the company, according to three people with knowledge of the subject.
In July, Nasdaq announced would stop trying to become a licensed custodian of cryptographic or digital assets, blaming regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.
But some members of Nasdaq’s crypto team are no longer with the company, according to people familiar with the matter. It is unclear how many left or to what extent layoffs were involved. In some cases, they have joined companies that are expanding more quickly into crypto, while Nasdaq is purposefully slow to decide how to support the industry, one person said.
Nasdaq declined to comment on its tokenization plans or employee departures.
There has been a breathless race to create blockchain-based versions of traditional financial assets. For example, asset management giant BlackRock has thrown its weight behind this trend with its BUIDL Platform.