Bakkt Finally Gets CFTC Approval, Slated for September Launch

In a blog post, Bakkt revealed that the company has received the long-awaited approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS). The primary target market of the platform aims to enable institutional investors to buy, sell, and store digital assets by connecting the traditional market infrastructure to the blockchain.

Bakkt Services and Offerings

Bakkt’s Bitcoin futures will be traded on ICE Futures U.S. and cleared on ICE Clear U.S., which are federally regulated by the CFTC. With the approval from the NYDSFS, Bakkt will create the Bakkt Trust Company, a qualified custodian, and the Bakkt Warehouse, which will offer custody services for Bitcoin (BTC) physically delivered futures. Furthermore, the Bakkt Warehouse will be insured to the value of $125 million. With the green light from CFTC, Bakkt has already started accepting user testing with a full launch scheduled for September 23 of this year.

A Long Time Coming

Announced in 2018 for the first time, the platform was expected to be launched at the end of 2018, however, the platform has been hit with several delays up until this point. Cryptocurrency traders and institutional investors, in particular, will be happy to see the launch becoming a reality and that high-grade infrastructure around Bitcoin is being made available in the U.S. Have you been waiting for Bakkt’s launch? How do you think it will impact Bitcoin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Buy and trade cryptocurrencies with a 100x multiplier on our partner exchange, StormGain.

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