Bakkt, an institutional cryptocurrency trading platform led by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), expects their bitcoin futures to be listed on federally regulated futures exchanges in July.

The institutional crypto trading platform Bakkt will be conducting the first user tests of its bitcoin futures live on federally regulated futures exchanges.

“We’ll be working with our customers over the next several weeks to prepare for user acceptance testing (UAT) for futures and custody, which we expect to start in July. We’ll provide more details in upcoming posts, but we expect to use UAT to ensure that customers have time to onboard and can test the trading and custody model we’ve built to their satisfaction.”

The exchange will list futures settled on two different trading intervals: daily and monthly. The monthly contract will allow traders to trade across a several month timeframe, giving institutions access to a broader range of financial maneuvers—including shorting the market.

Bakkt will also contribute $35 million into the contracts to put “skin in the game,” aligning the interests of Bakkt with those of participants.

Instead of settling contracts in cash like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Bakkt will have the ability to physically deliver on futures contracts. Thus, trades on Bakkt will have a more direct impact on the spot-market price of bitcoin as it interacts with the supply and demand of the cryptocurrency.

In April, Bakkt shared that it is working with the New York State Department for Financial Services to operate as a custodian for digital assets in tandem with offering bitcoin futures. Prior to approval, Bakkt will use separate a qualified custodian.

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