Nasdaq, the world’s second largest stock exchange with a market capitalization of over $10 trillion, is reportedly planning to introduce two new indices in order to track cryptocurrency prices.

In an announcement made by Nasdaq on February 12th, the company stated that the new indices would be added by February 25th, 2019. Referred to as the Bitcoin Liquid Index (BLX) and the Ethereum Liquid Index (ELX), the indices will provide traders with real-time price updates every 30 seconds. Both BLX and ELX will be accessible through Nasdaq’s Global Index Data Service (GIDS).

“Real Time Spot Rates For Price Of 1 BTC And 1 ETH”

Notably, BLX and ELX have been developed by Brave New Coin, a US-based blockchain and digital asset market data provider. Explaining how the new crypto indices have been developed, Nasdaq noted:

(BLX and ELX) are each designed to provide a real-time spot or reference rate for the price of 1 BTC and 1 ETH respectively, quoted in USD, and based on the most liquid ends of their markets.

Both BLX and ELX are calculated using an “independently audited” methodology – which has been developed according to IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions) principles and guidelines. IOSCO is “an association of organizations that regulate the world’s securities and futures markets.”

In the past year, Nasdaq has joined other major financial institutions in laying the groundwork for offering cryptocurrency-related products. In September 2018, Nasdaq had started looking into potentially incorporating crypto-related financial data to its market analytics platform. Towards the end of last year, Nasdaq revealed its plans to introduce bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts during the first half of 2019.

Either Crypto Achieves Mass Adoption, Or Settles For A Limited Role 

Last month, Adena Friedman, the CEO of Nasdaq, published a blog post on LinkedIn in which she wrote that cryptocurrency “deserves an opportunity to find a sustainable future in our economy.” Friedman argued that “the invention itself (of cryptographic assets) [is] a tremendous demonstration of genius and creativity.” She also mentioned that the crypto ecosystem has now gone through the “classic invention cycle” – which she described as:

[Initially, a movement] marked by early pioneers, followed by hype, followed by proliferation of newcomers and then a dose of reality.

According to Friedman, we’re at that point now where cryptocurrency either “finds practical utility followed by years of steady and sustainable progress and integration into the economic fabric” or cryptos “fail to achieve broad adoption and its commercial applications as medium of exchange are limited.”