Stock Exchanges Are Beginning to Take Bitcoin Seriously

The biggest U.S. stock exchange operators are taking steps to embrace bitcoin, spurring speculation the digital currency is coming up from underground.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. revealed Tuesday that New York-based Noble Markets, a platform for trading bitcoin, has agreed to license Nasdaq’s X-stream technology. Noble is adopting the same software used by securities exchanges around the world, and a related system runs the Nasdaq Stock Market, one of the biggest equity exchanges. The news follows the New York Stock Exchange’s January agreement to invest in Coinbase, another platform for trading the digital currency.

Markets for buying and selling bitcoin took a reputational hit when one of the biggest, Mt. Gox, failed in 2014. Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy after discovering it had lost bitcoins belonging to customers and itself. Deploying Nasdaq’s software could give Noble greater legitimacy… CONTINUE