Bakkt has set a testing date for its bitcoin futures product.
This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Olsegun Ogundeji.
Bakkt has set a date to start accepting users for the testing of its bitcoin futures, COO Adam White confirmed. The confirmed date is an indication that its futures market, which is set to usher in a new standard for accessing investments in the crypto space, may soon see the light of day. When fully launched, the platform will enable investors to trade the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) daily and monthly futures.White notes in his post announcing the July 22, 2019, testing commencement that the Bakkt platform will seek to “support the development of trusted infrastructure for securely transacting in the new market for digital assets.” He adds that in its own way, “Bakkt’s efforts to help institutions launch safely into this market is the right stuff for the future.”
Before this given date, there have been talks of the platform coming earlier. Its takeoff is somewhat expected to be the grand opportunity that the crypto industry has been waiting for to open its window to institutional investors, which several pundits say are needed to strengthen this evolving economy.
Bakkt considers itself a value-adding enterprise based on its proposed solutions to the several issues that have been cited as hindering the growth of the crypto industry. Chief among them is the regulatory uncertainty which many even in the crypto ecosystem have cited as stemming the inflow of new money into the space. The platform proposes to offer qualified custody of bitcoin with contracts traded on federally regulated markets which are subjected to extensive market compliance and surveillance procedures.
It also plans to create, for the first time, a true price discovery contract by using physical delivery for the settlement price to be based on its futures market only and without any exposure to spot markets. This is to curtail untrusted price discovery mechanisms which make the prices of bitcoin vary from one platform to another. Other market risks it plans to bring solutions to include the widespread manipulative and fraudulent trading in crypto market spots as well as the common security incidents and thefts that usually lead to crypto assets and customer data loss.
Bakkt is a cryptocurrency venture backed by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It is an integrated platform working with Microsoft and Starbucks, among others, to enable consumers and institutions seamlessly buy, sell, store and spend digital assets. Earlier this year, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing became an investor in Bakkt. Other investors include an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Horizons Ventures, Alan Howard, Pantera Capital, Protocol Ventures and Susquehanna International Group, LLP. The impact of Bakkt’s supposed entry into the crypto space is quite substantial. Bitcoin’s price fell by almost 10 percent last November shortly after it announced the postponement of its platform launch, which was then rescheduled for late January 2019. Its subsequent launch is not definite based on the new development. However, having a set date for its planned testing could see the market gear toward creating and sustaining momentum around the price of the top digital currency in the coming days.