Earlier this week, rumors emerged that Nasdaq, a securities exchange considered only second to the New York Stock Exchange [NYSE] will launch futures contracts for Bitcoin [BTC]. This has now been confirmed by the Vice President of Nasdaq's media team, who has stated that the contracts will be listed and launched in the first half of next year.

This puts it in the same timeframe as the launch of ICE's Bakkt futures contract for Bitcoin. This contract was previously claimed to be the saving grace of Bitcoin, as it was slated for launch in early December. However, it has now been postponed for a launch in the tail end of January.

In a statement to Express, Joseph Christinat stated:

"Bitcoin Futures will be listed and it should launch in the first half of next year – we're just waiting for the go ahead from the CFTC but there's been enough work put into this to make that academic."

He further remarked upon the speculation and rumors that have ensued owing to an unconfirmed report by the Wall Street Journal, which sparked the media hype over the contracts. Addressing these rumors, Christinat said:

"We've seen plenty of speculation and rumours about what we might be doing, but no one has thought to come to us and ask if we can confirm it, so, here you go – we're doing this, and it's happening."

Reportedly, the firm has been working on delivering these contracts for most of this year, with cryptocurrencies being in their vision for "years". However, the markets are currently in one of their worst slumps this year, as seen by the price of Bitcoin dropping below its crucial $6000 support level to trade at around $4000. The exchange doesn't seem to be deterred by this, as the VP stated: