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Nasdaq urged the SEC to treat certain digital assets as "stocks"

In a comment letter, the exchange proposed to classify some digital assets as financial securities.

Nasdaq also urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to subject cryptocurrencies to the same regulatory standards as securities constituted "stocks by any other name," according to a comment letter dated April 25.

The exchange indicated that the U.S. financial regulator needs to establish a clearer taxonomy for cryptocurrencies, including the categorization of a portion of crypto assets as "financial securities." These tokens, Nasdaq argued, should continue to be regulated "as they are today, regardless of their tokenized form."

"Whether in the form of a paper stock, a digital stock, or a token, the underlying nature of an instrument remains the same and should be traded and regulated in the same manner," the letter stated.

It also proposed to categorize a portion of cryptocurrencies as "crypto asset investment contracts," subject to "light regulation" but still overseen by the SEC.