The cryptocurrency community may have to wait a little longer to get the Bakkt Bitcoin futures according to the latest announcement from Bakkt’s parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
As expected, the regulatory approval may delay which would push the initial launch date from 24th January to a later date not yet disclosed as of yet. The announcement stated that the future date will be “amended pursuant to the CFTC’s process and timeline.” This was expected given the CFTC timeline which was revealed by an unnamed insider to the media. The delay is however not expected to last more than a few days.
On to more positive news and Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler announced on the official Bakkt blog the conclusion of a seed round for the Bakkt platform that saw the new futures entity raise $182.5 million from 12 partners. Some of the partners that took part in this funding round include Microsoft’s Venture Capital arm, Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, Intercontinental Exchange, Alan Howard, and CMT Digital among others. These are some of the elite investors especially in the cryptocurrency world and Wall Street in general. Their involvement in this platform gives it a wave of legitimacy and confidence in the investors’ eyes.
The cryptocurrency industry is pegging a lot of hopes on the success of this futures platform and the launch of the VanEck/SolidX ETF product to make way for institutional investors and therefore taking Bitcoin to the mainstream.
Loeffler wrote that,
“Our work today is centered on driving institutional access for digital assets, along with merchant and consumer uses.”
According to their partner list, they are seeking to take Bitcoin to the average consumer with brands such as Starbucks.
Loeffler also talked about the regulatory approval process and the postponement of the launch (twice in a row). She wrote that Bakkt has been working “closely with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the better part of 2018” with the aim of creating a product that is fully compliant with the regulatory framework. In regards to the future launch date, she said that “the timing for approval is now based on the regulatory review process.”
