On Monday, May 11, the company announced that it would begin to leverage the colored coin protocol Open Assets to "expand and enhance the equity management capabilities offered by its Nasdaq Private Market platform."

According to Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld, the distributed ledger function of the blockchain will "modernize, streamline and secure typically cumbersome administrative functions, and will simplify the overwhelming challenges private companies face with manual ledger record-keeping."

Nasdaq joins the blockchain-integrated securities exchange market field just a few weeks after Overstock's Medici Project filed S-3 forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission, outlining its intention to issue new stocks or securities, including the potential to issue digital securities.

In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Overstock.com's director of communications, Judd Bagley, welcomed Nasdaq's announcement, noting several ways in which it could have a positive impact on the financial sector.