ICE's Bakkt Suspends Bitcoin Futures Roll Out

Intercontinental Exchange's (ICE's) Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading platform has suspended its formal roll out.

Announced on Tuesday, November 20, through a company blog post, Bakkt's first product, revealed in August 2018, has now been suspended until Thursday January 24, 2019. Warehouse and trading activities are both believed to start on that very date. 

The platform revealed that the latest listing timeframe will give extra time for clients and clearing individual member onboarding before the beginning of the trade and warehousing of the fresh contract.   

Why the Time was Adjusted?   

Kelly Loeffler, CEO Bakkt, said that the "volume of interest" in the firm and the "work needed to have all the pieces in place" chipped in to the delay, according to an announcement on the Medium.   

Loeffler further said that:   

“As is often true with product launches, there are new processes, risks and mitigants to test and retest, 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.”   

Bakkt recently estimated rolling out its futures trading in December, noting in a formal notice that it would more probably roll out the product on December 12, 2018. The new set date has yet not been approved by the regulator.
The platform recently unveiled it would roll out physical-settled BTC futures, implying customers would get BTC upon the end of their contracts, instead of token's cash equivalent.   

Nevertheless, the firm may provide other extra services in addition to Bitcoin futures, as revealed by Loeffler. She added that the firm is "taking opportunities in its start-up phase to widen the offering."   

Partners of Bakkt   

She further revealed that the firm will share more things related to these new futures in the weeks to come. The firm also has insurance for BTC in cold storage and are also doing what is necessary to get the insurance for the BTC in warm wallets as well, which are in the Bakkt warehouse architecture.   

The firm is aiming at creating an institutional-grade crypto warehouse, Loeffler revealed and she further said that the firm is optimistic that this is a big step towards mending and bringing confidence to this asset type.   

In a move to develop this product, Bakkt recently declared it was collaborating with Starbucks, Microsoft and BCG. The firms offered significant assistance in both client experience and risk handling for the product.