On May 11, the leading stock exchange Nasdaq announced that it would begin experimenting with the blockchain technology that powers Bitcoin. The Wall Street Journal reported that Nasdaq will start with a pilot project in Nasdaq Private Market, a recently launched marketplace that handles pre-IPO trading among private companies.

"Utilizing the blockchain is a natural digital evolution for managing physical securities," said Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld in the announcement. Speaking with The Financial Times, Greifeld noted that he wants Nasdaq to be "a leader in the field." He added that the network could potentially revolutionize the time it takes to finalize deals on U.S. securities markets.

"I am a big believer in the ability of blockchain technology to effect fundamental change in the infrastructure of the financial services industry," said Greifeld. "Clearinghouses are a wonderful invention, but if you have a public ledger that is trusted, you can evolve back to a bilateral (trading) world but proceed with instantaneous settlement. We currently settle at T+3 [within 3 days]. Why not settle in 5-10 minutes?"

The Financial Times notes that shortening settlement times for trading could reduce the risk that counterparties would not be paid, while also cutting the amount of collateral, or insurance, used to back trades. For the Nasdaq Private Market, using the blockchain means transforming the recording of transactions from paper certificates and spreadsheets to an audited record of the lineage of ownership of private securities.