With the Bitcoin ETF hype back in full swing, we want to take a moment to stop and remember that Bitcoin ETFs aren’t the only thing that promise to be the trigger needed to encourage institutional investment, the Bakkt project as announced in August is equally, if not more promising for the future of large scale institutional investment.

As many argue, institutional investment is the next chapter in the story of cryptocurrency and could be the activity needed to force the crypto markets into a rich and fruitful future.

As per our initial coverage of this story:

“Bakkt is the brainchild of a number of firms including Microsoft, Starbucks, the Intercontinental Exchange and the Boston Consulting Group. Bakkt, aims to explore blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies by utilising the Microsoft Cloud to develop an open, but regulated digital asset, that in the future could be used at stores like Starbucks.”

Furthermore:

“Bakkt believe that institutional investment is going to drive the markets, like many of us believe too. So, how are they going to make their service different and how is Bakkt going to do what no other crypto project has managed to do before? Bakkt understand that regulation is important and needs to be consistent, transparency and price discovery is vital too and finally, they believe that the platform needs to have a quality pre and post trade infrastructure. Support for the institutions, within a platform that is quick and simple to use.”

Simply put, whilst Bitcoin ETFs fail to meet the needs of regulators, Bakkt is going to be working with the regulators from the very start. Like Bitcoin ETFs, Bakkt understands that in order to encourage institutional investment, investing needs to be made safer and easier, but the advantage to Bakkt is that the investment will be, from the start, cleared by local regulators and authorities.

This is when it gets really exciting, Bakkt could now get in their first. Given that the SEC have now moved one ETF decision back to the end of December 2018 (we expect more decisions to follow) there’s a huge window for the development and deployment of Bakkt. During this time we expect to see the name of Bakkt rise back into the media and we expect to know a lot more about who they are and what they aim to achieve. Bakkt need to take advantage of this delay set out by the SEC, a delay that could prove very advantageous to Bakkt, and those involved in the project too.