Bob Greifeld, chief executive of Nasdaq, said: “We believe this successful transaction marks a major advance in the global financial sector and represents a seminal moment in the application of blockchain technology.” But Symbiont, a start-up backed by trading veterans including Duncan Niederauer, the previous chief executive of the rival New York Stock Exchange, hit back, claiming it issued the first securities using blockchain technology in August. Symbiont issued its own shares using the bitcoin blockchain while a privately held company used Nasdaq’s proprietary blockchain network to sell shares to a private investor.

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