Nasdaq has been actively developing and patenting blockchain technologies for financial services. For instance, this week we see Nasdaq has two patent applications published related to tracking, storing, and securing transaction data. Despite of the gloomy crypto market, Nasdaq keeps optimistic on the impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Nasdaq announced on January 23, 2019 that Nasdaq Ventures, Nasdaq’s investment arm, led a $20m Series B funding round for Symbiont, a startup building an enterprise blockchain and smart contract platform.