The most anticipated Bakkt custody will be launching in 10 days, and here is all you need to know about it. Bakkt is a Bitcoin futures exchange platform which handles a variety of digital assets in the market. The company was established in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), making it a sister company to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The company is registered to Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of ICE, with his wife Kelly Loeffler being the Bakkt’s CEO. It got clearance from the U.S Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in May and is ready to go live. The company has a staggering $35 million to cover risks of its clients and another $125 million in insurance.

Development History; Setbacks and Success

According to Sprecher, the main idea behind the development of Bakkt was to introduce an open financial ecosystem where digital asset can thrive and sustain its growing demand. This idea has attracted notable investors such as the Galaxy Digitals, Panthera Capital, Fortress Investment Groups and Horizon Ventures.

Despite being established in 2018, for various reasons, Bakkt is to be launched on 23rd September 2019. This was due to the initial low-interest volumes in 2018. Furthermore, the company had not acquired sufficient infrastructure to run its services.

Last and the most significant reason was the difficulty in obtaining clearance from the CFTC. The situation was dire that the company had to acquire DACC, a custodian company, to gain NYDFS approval.

Nevertheless, things look promising for the expectant investors as the company opened its vaults for deposits and withdrawals on 6th September in anticipation for the launch.

Who are Bakkt’s Partners

ICE will be the chief partner to Bakkt, coordinating its services almost entirely in the early days. It will handle all end-to-end regulation market futures while Bakkt will initially start only with custody bitcoin futures from its warehouse. The partnership with ICE makes Bakkt an essential project in the crypto industry with millions waiting to see how this pans out.

Other partner companies are;

Boston Consulting Group

Microsoft

Starbucks

Fortress Investment Group

Eagle Seven

Susquehanna International Group

These partnerships will see companies and investments groups offer services using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The services will include;

Bitcoin pension funds,

Exchange-traded funds,

Mutual funds.

Lastly, Bakkt confirmed to have partnered with global bank BNY Mellon in developing crucial private storage solutions for its customers.

What Does Bakkt Bring to the Crypto Industry?

Well, investors are drowning in anticipation for the Bakkt’s launch because of the benefits it will introduce into the market.

Firstly, Bakkt is aiming at diversifying cryptocurrency payments. This is evident from the partnerships with various companies. This will enable customers to pay for their services using cryptocurrency. Bakkt also introduces the first-ever bitcoin futures platform which will deliver actual bitcoin to customers. That is very important in comparison so cash-settled futures which makes price manipulation easier at various levels.

These futures are in two versions:

A daily settlement bitcoin future that allows traders to carry out trades in a same-day market

A monthly futures-contract that accommodates trading front-month futures.

Bakkt warehouse offers custody services where customers can securely store their cryptocurrency safely The overall impact of Bakkt launch will be the improvement of service delivery in the cryptocurrency industry.

Conclusion

Well, as is expected, Bakkt launch will drive the market crazy as we have already witnessed during its early announcements. Secondly, Bakkt will be a new rival in the market for most exchange platforms which will benefit the consumers. Hopefully, its introduction into the market will reduce volatility and increase market liquidity.

Let crypto soar!!!

Read our earlier post from a few months ago here for more details.