Press Release

August 16, 2019

FINANCIAL SERVICES SUPERINTENDENT LINDA A. LACEWELL ANNOUNCES DFS GRANTS CHARTER TO BAKKT

New York – Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell announced today that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has granted a charter under New York Banking Law to Bakkt Trust Company LLC to operate as a limited liability trust company. This is the first virtual currency trust company application approved under Superintendent Lacewell.

“As the financial services industry rapidly evolves, DFS will be at the forefront of fostering a sound, regulatory environment that continues to uphold New York as the premier place to do business, while protecting consumers and markets,” said Superintendent Lacewell. “This approval demonstrates New York’s competitiveness as a hub of innovation and leadership in emerging technologies.”

DFS has authorized Bakkt to provide custody services for bitcoin in conjunction with the launch of physically delivered bitcoin futures contracts. Bakkt will serve institutional customers; its bitcoin futures contracts will be listed for trading on Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures US and cleared through ICE Clear US. Both entities are affiliates of Bakkt.

To date, DFS has approved 22 charters or licenses for companies in the virtual currency marketplace.

“With the comprehensive regulatory review and approval of Bakkt Trust Company complete, we are pleased to serve as a qualified custodian of bitcoin for physically delivered futures,” said Adam White, Chief Operating Officer of Bakkt. “We appreciate the work that the DFS has undertaken to bring a standardized regulatory framework to digital assets, particularly in the area of secure custody. This now enables us to offer institutional-grade custody via the Bakkt Warehouse alongside the federally regulated Bakkttm Bitcoin Futures contracts.”

DFS became the first state or federal agency in the United States to supervise virtual currency with the promulgation of its landmark regulation in 2015. DFS, which remains committed to supervising and promoting financial services market innovations, licenses virtual currency companies, technology-based money transmitters, and online lenders operating in New York.

Additional information regarding DFS’s regulation of New York’s virtual currency marketplace can be found on the DFS website.

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