NASDAQ To Implement Blockchain In Fourth Quarter

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.

is expected to become the

to power a market in the fourth quarter of 2015. The company is planning to launch a project in October in which shares of privately held companies will be bought and sold using a blockchain ledger. The move represents a big step forward for financial markets as well as cryptocurrency enthusiasts who have long touted blockchain as one of the biggest technological advancements of the decade.

The exchanged announced that it will partner with Chain, an infrastructure firm, in order to power the exchange using blockchain technology. Blockchain is a ledger like system that keeps track of all of the transactions that one "coin" undergoes. In the case of a stock market, the coins would be replaced by shares of particular companies.

Nasdaq said the new system is expected to significantly reduce the administrative tasks associated with running a market and cut down on the risk of faults and errors by streamlining the process. Although blockchain will only be used on one, small-scale market run by Nasdaq, many believe it is the first step toward wide spread integration throughout the financial sector.

This year technological glitches have been in focus after several market interruptions were credited to computer errors. Some worry that using such a new technology could open markets to further errors or even security breaches. As bitcoin still has a shaky reputation due to high-profile hacking attacks earlier this year, many worry about the safety and security of the technology that powers the cryptocurrency.