Nasdaq and OptiMark Strike Key Partnership To Develop New Technology

Jersey City, NJ, and Washington DC, October 10, 2000 - The Nasdaq Stock Market®, the world's largest equities stock market, and OptiMark, Inc, a leading provider of exchange solutions to electronic marketplaces and communities, announced today a long term, multi-million dollar agreement to utilize OptiMark's technology development capabilities to enhance Nasdaq's systems. Work is expected to begin immediately.

"We are excited to be partnering with OptiMark to enhance our technology development initiatives," said Gregor Bailar, Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology and Chief Technology Officer of Nasdaq. "Over the last two years, we have worked closely with OptiMark and have gained a strong appreciation for their expertise in designing and building state-of-the-art trading platforms. We are confident that their matching engine innovation, their knowledge of equity markets dynamics, and the proven scalability and reliability of their systems are the right combination to deliver the value Nasdaq requires."

Under the agreement, the two organizations will work closely together to incorporate OptiMark's patented stock matching technology into Nasdaq's core market environment. The strategic agreement further contemplates the potential for OptiMark to design and develop additional platforms for Nasdaq in the future.

"Nasdaq is the largest, fastest growing and most dynamic equities market in the world," said Robert Warshaw, Co-Chief Executive Officer of OptiMark. "Being chosen to design and develop systems for their continuous market is a strong endorsement of OptiMark's intellectual property, our technology and our team."

Given the demand for rapid innovation in the evolving equities trading marketplace globally, Nasdaq has, in addition to building a strong internal technology organization, contracted with high quality providers of major trading systems to increase its flexibility in delivering new and improved functionality into Nasdaq's markets.

"Over the last several years, we have enjoyed working with the Nasdaq team and have always valued them as a true partner," said David Johnson, Co-Chief Executive Officer of OptiMark. "Given this strong relationship, we are thrilled to include them as our latest Exchange Solutions customer and look forward to working together on this exciting initiative."

OptiMark has reached agreements with several other electronic marketplaces globally to design and develop exchanges and markets including Japan OptiMark Systems, HoustonStreet.com, ShipDesk and PLANSPONSOR.com.

About Nasdaq

The Nasdaq Stock Market lists nearly 5,000 companies and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD), the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ- Newsroom^SM at www.nasdaqnews.com.

About OptiMark

OptiMark, Inc., a privately held company, is a leading provider of exchange solutions to electronic marketplaces and communities globally. OptiMark's broad range of solutions include the simplest browse or auction markets to the most sophisticated trading exchanges. OptiMark's core technology is a patented engine that optimizes transactions for market participants based on multi-attribute preference-based matching. OptiMark has proven solutions adopted by the most demanding markets in the world. OptiMark's investors include General Atlantic Partners, SOFTBANK, Aon Group, Dow Jones & Company, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. OptiMark is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Additional information on the company is available at http://www.optimark.com.

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