Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced today its plans to launch cryptocurrency markets into the mainstream.

Named Bakkt, this new company intends to use Microsoft cloud solutions in order to create a regulated, global ecosystem for digital assets.

Since Bitcoin is the most liquid digital currency at present; to begin with, Bakkt will implement simple (regulated) trading between Bitcoin and fiat currencies, making the cryptocurrency space more accessible to the masses. Bakkt also plans to incorporate support for other cryptocurrencies in the future.

A launch of regulated, physically settled Bitcoin futures contracts is planned for release in November 2018, subject to regulatory approval by the CFTC.



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.

Jeffrey C. Sprecher, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange.

As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a significant role in enabling customers to convert their digital assets into US dollars in order to make purchases in their stores.

This could be a huge step towards mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, and may be just what the market needs after the recent Winklevoss ETF rejection by the SEC.

I’ll take a Venti Flat White for 0.0004 BTC, please.