BAKKT BEGINS: DECEMBER 12: Bakkt Will Begin Trading Bitcoin Daily Futures Contracts Dec. 12
Bakkt has announced the date it will turn on the lights and begin utilizing the ICE exchange family of networks to trade Bitcoin futures contracts. The date is set as December 12, 2018.
Bakkt is considered by many (including its well-heeled investors: Fortress Investment Group, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Horizons Ventures, Alan Howard, Pantera Capital, Protocol Ventures, and Susquehanna International Group, LLP) as the flagship institutional organization pressing into the digital asset space.
Tier 1 global investment banks are either in current discussions with Bakkt to use their familiar exchange architecture or are watching the launch very, very closely.
A short reminder of what Bakkt is on the cusp of executing:
Bakkt is designed to enable consumers and institutions to seamlessly buy, sell, store and spend digital assets. Formed with the purpose of bringing trust, efficiency, and commerce to digital assets, Bakkt seeks to develop open technology to connect existing market and merchant infrastructure to the blockchain.
As an initial component of the Bakkt offering, Intercontinental Exchange’s U.S.-based futures exchange and clearinghouse plan to launch a 1-day physically delivered Bitcoin contract along with physical warehousing on December 12, 2018, after receiving CFTC review and approval. These regulated venues will establish new protocols for managing the specific security and settlement requirements of digital currencies. In addition, the clearing house plans to create a separate guarantee fund that will be funded by Bakkt.
It all begins on December 12, 2018. And as the firm and exchange quickly spool up their partners will become more and more visible. For example, Bakkt has partnered with Starbucks to process payments via Bitcoin on the coffee company’s mobile app. You may be interested in this fact: Starbucks occupies the largest mobile app payments ecosystem in the United States. Bigger than Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay – with 23.4 million users.
And a quick reminder quote regarding the scale and aspirations of the Bakkt organization:
“In bringing regulated, connected infrastructure together with institutional and consumer applications for digital assets, we aim to build confidence in the asset class on a global scale, consistent with our track record of bringing transparency and trust to previously unregulated markets,” said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange.
Bakkt begins less than two months from now. The digital asset space is about to change again.