The bitcoin price crashed back below $10,000 on Monday despite the much-hyped launch of Bakkt – an institutional-grade BTC futures trading platform.
Bakkt opened its doors for business on Sunday night but any hopes for fireworks were quickly dampened. The platform, operated by the New York Stock Exchange parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, opened to a muted response and a trickle of volume.
Bakkt: “a trickle and then a flood” for bitcoin
As Three Arrows Capital CEO Su Zhu explained, any hopes for an explosive price run were unrealistic. Slow adoption is to be expected in the short-term.
“Bakkt will be likely first a trickle and then a flood. The reality is that most regulated futures contracts get low adoption on day1 simply because not all futures brokers are ready to clear it, many people want to wait and see, the tickers are not even populated on risk systems, etc.”
Eight hours after launch and the platform has registered 21 BTC volume.
The long-term game-changer
Bakkt is a game-changer for institutional access for bitcoin. It comes with the full backing and trust of the Intercontinental Exchange. It’s fully regulated and launches with an institutional-grade custody solution.
Importantly, its futures contracts are physically settled. Investors receive real bitcoin when the contract expires, unlike the cash-settled contracts at rival CME.
As Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee, explains, it’s all about building a platform that Wall Street can trust.
I am very positive on @Bakkt and it’s ability to improve trust with institutions to crypto https://t.co/7icnJp76GE
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not the drummer) FSInsight (@fundstrat) September 20, 2019
One step closer to mass adoption
Although the bitcoin price took a quick turn for the worst, it’s important to remember how far we’ve come. Bakkt first teased their launch a year ago and many doubted it would ever get approval. Now it’s here.
“Honestly didn’t think Bakkt would launch. Pleasantly surprised. Bitcoin just got a big credibility boost.” – Matt Odell, Tales From the Crypt Podcast.
Crucially, Bakkt provides a new, fully regulated platform for price discovery. That’s a massive step to addressing the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerns over price manipulation on existing crypto exchanges.
First Bakkt, then a bitcoin ETF ? Let’s see how this plays out…
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
