Back in August, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced it would soon be launching a new cryptocurrency firm called Bakkt, that would list a physically-settled Bitcoin futures product, along with physical warehousing.

The entire cryptocurrency community has been pointing to the launch of Bakkt as a potential catalyst for sparking the next bull run, or at the very least save the cryptocurrency market from the current downward death spiral it's currently experiencing. Bakkt had issued a notice back in October claiming the first product from the firm – physical Bitcoin futures – would be listed for trading on December 12, 2018, an update from Bakkt has revealed that the company has now set a “target” date of January 24, 2019 for launch.

In a Medium post, Bakkt chief executive officer Kelly Loeffler said the delay was due to “the volume of interest in Bakkt and work required to get all of the pieces in place.”

“As is often true with product launches, there are new processes, risks and mitigants to test and re-test, and in the case of crypto, a new asset class to which these resources are being applied. So it makes sense to adjust our timeline as we work with the industry toward launch,” Loeffler said.

The delay news isn’t all bad, Loeffler also revealed that Bakkt is “taking opportunities in our start-up phase to expand our offering,” suggesting more products are in the pipeline for the next exchange platform. More features would be shared in the coming weeks, but cold storage insurance for Bitcoin assets was revealed, as the company seeks to establish itself as an “institutional grade crypto warehouse solution.”

While the delay will likely lead to a more positive launch for Bakkt, cryptocurrency speculators fear that the Bakkt delay could be the result of Bitcoin prices breaking key support levels and dropping 25% to new one-year lows. The delay also means that Bakkt’s impact on the physical Bitcoin supply, won’t begin to occur until late January at the latest, so the current downtrend Bitcoin is experiencing may continue for the foreseeable future.