Last week, Bakkt opened its "Bitcoin Warehouse" for the storage of customer deposits and withdrawals ahead of its Bitcoin Daily & Monthly Futures launch later this month. Now, Bakkt CEO Adam White is waxing poetic about the revolutionary effect he expects it to have on the financial industry when it goes live on September 23. Today our Warehouse opens for customer bitcoin deposits and...
Bakkt has been hailed as the leading catalyst for the bitcoin market this year, while visions of institutional capital danced in the crypto community's collective heads. Today the bitcoin futures exchange made one giant leap toward its official launch by opening up Bakkt Warehouse Custody, which is the arm of the business that will keep big investors' funds safe while they trade. Bakkt Warehouse...
Primarily targeting institutional investors, VanEck and SolidX are reportedly selling a “limited version” of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) after every bitcoin ETF proposal has been rejected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to date. According to the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust 144A Shares proposal, qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) will be able to purchase publicly quoted...
For months we didn't hear a peep out of Bakkt, and now the NYSE owner-backed exchange won't hush and it's music to the ears of the crypto community. Bakkt for a year now has been viewed as a future catalyst for bitcoin adoption on Wall Street given its regulated nature and physically settled BTC contracts. That theory has been tested as the launch of the exchange has faced hurdles, but now it's...
By CCN Markets: Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been waiting for the launch of bitcoin futures trading platform Bakkt. Recently, the crypto community rejoiced as the ICE-operated company announced the official launch date of Sept. 23. Within 48 hours after the big reveal, bitcoin surged by 10 percent. Many investors know that the entry of Bakkt in the cryptocurrency space is bullish for the...
By CCN Markets: Since the official announcement of Bakkt’s bitcoin futures market launch on August 17, the bitcoin price has surged by well over 6 percent against the U.S. dollar to $10,700. On Saturday, before Bakkt received green light from the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the bitcoin price was hovering at below $10,000. "Bakkt is bridging that gap to access this market...
By CCN Markets: Bakkt, a bitcoin futures trading platform operated by ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), finally received approval from the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to initiate its long-awaited launch. "Our contracts have already received the green light from the CFTC through the self-certification process and user acceptance testing has begun...
The bitcoin price collapsed as low as $9,574 on Wednesday, sliding back below the psychological $10,000 barrier again. Traders have repeatedly failed to hold the $10k level suggesting that bears have taken hold of the market for now. Technical analysts expect bitcoin to fall further before buying pressure returns. The longer-term horizon, however, is a brighter picture. Pantera Capital sees...
Bakkt’s long-delayed bitcoin futures platform is scheduled to begin testing today. The trading platform, aimed squarely at institutions, is widely expected to be a game-changer and a major catalyst for the bitcoin price. As Fundstrat concluded last week, investors are eagerly waiting on the sidelines: “There appears to be a critical mass of adopters ready to come on board on Day 1 of the Bakkt...
Bakkt has been trumpeted as a future main driver of crypto institutional adoption and even the bull market. The bitcoin futures exchange boasts everything Wall Street firms are looking for – the promise of uncorrelated returns to the stock market plus the confidence of regulatory oversight. But in case you haven't noticed, Bakkt hasn't launched yet. This is about to change, increasing the chances...
By CCN Markets: One of the major catalysts expected for the bitcoin price in 2019 is closer to becoming a reality. Bakkt, a bitcoin futures exchange owned by NYSE parent company ICE, will begin testing bitcoin futures trading next month. The regulated exchange made the announcement via a Medium blog post, and you could almost feel the crypto community breathing a collective sigh of relief. Bakkt...
By CCN: It's finally happening. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of Bakkt, has officially filed for bitcoin futures approval with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to a blog post this morning by Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler. Although the CFTC hasn't approved the new platform yet, Loeffler seems confident it will, stating: "...bitcoin futures will...
By CCN.com: The bitcoin bear market of 2018 was a disaster for most crypto fans, but it was a boon for the highly-anticipated cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt. That's the opinion of NYSE chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of Bakkt's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Sprecher’s ICE — along with Microsoft, Starbucks, and BCG — is bankrolling Bakkt, whose CEO is Sprecher’s wife...
By CCN: Bakkt - the cryptocurrency startup launched by New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange - just yanked the lid off the full range of its blockchain ambitions. The firm announced today that it has acquired Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC) as part of its efforts to gain regulatory approval for its crypto products. Reportedly, Bakkt is less concerned with merely...
By CCN: Bakkt, the moon-shot bitcoin bet of trading behemoth Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), still can't get approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Many now believe its hopes depend on getting a much-hated BitLicense from New York. Are U.S. regulators trying to kill Bakkt? No. Congress makes the laws. If the laws suck, Congress is supposed to fix them. Regulators...
By CCN: Intercontinental Exchange’s high-profile Bitcoin project, Bakkt, has faced severe pushback from the CFTC due to a fundamental concern about how its cryptocurrency assets will be stored. In response, Bakkt is looking to obtain a BitLicense and manage custody of the coins themselves. Unfortunately for ICE and associates, BitLicenses can take years to receive. New York's BitLicense: A...
By CCN: Institutional investors are running out of excuses not to invest in crypto. Israeli-based social trading platform eToro has launched eToroX, a fully regulated crypto exchange. eToroX debuts with half-a-dozen top cryptocurrencies and eight fiat currency-backed stablecoins, the latter of which are now open-source. One cryptocurrency noticeably absent from the list is Bitcoin SV, which can't...
The first quarter has come and gone, and there's still no Bakkt. Nonetheless, the regulated exchange for bitcoin futures contracts, whose backers include NYSE-owned Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Microsoft, is boldly building out its team. Most recently, they've added PayPal and Google alum Mike Blandina as the chief product officer to round out the C-suite. Problem is, there's no bitcoin...
"Satoshi planted the seed of Bitcoin in the absolute moment of despair in the 2008 financial crisis and that wasn't a mistake. That was a clear shot across the bow of central banks," Dan Held, the co-founder of Interchange said in an interview to BLOCKTV. Held, who has been part of the San Francisco crypto community since its earliest days, is currently busy laying the groundwork for the entrance...
Investors waiting for Bakkt, the first bitcoin futures contracts to launch from the Intercontinental Exchange, will probably have to wait longer. ICE, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, has been anxious to launch bitcoin futures for months. However, it remains in must-wait-for-the-government mode. The government agency that needs to give its blessing, the Commodity Futures Trading...
On BitMEX Crypto Trader Digest, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes reaffirmed his prediction for bitcoin, foreseeing the dominant cryptocurrency achieving $10,000 in price by the end of 2019. Previously, in mid-2018, when the sentiment around bitcoin was still generally optimistic, Hayes said that the asset had not found its bottom and is likely to fall below $5,000. Now, a newsletter sent from the desk of...
After achieving $4,097 in global average price according to data provided by Coinmarketcap.com, the bitcoin price has retraced to $4,027 and below the $4,000 mark in some major markets.
As bitcoin fell by just over 1 percent against the U.S. dollar, the valuation of the crypto market declined from nearly $142 billion to $139 billion in a matter of hours.
U.S. CFTC commissioner Dan Berkovitz says the futures and options markets regulator is working hard on the Bakkt proposal. While he's refused to provide an approval deadline, he did say that the agency is not anti-crypto or anti-blockchain. CFTC Trying To Understand Blockchain In a fireside chat with BLOCKTV, Berkovitz reassured the crypto community that the body is committed to freeing the...
Bitcoin trading platform Bakkt is a "moonshot bet" for Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. That's the assessment of NYSE chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, who's also the CEO of ICE. While its launch has been delayed several times, Sprecher is optimistic that Bakkt will be worth the investment that ICE is making to nurture it. Sprecher made the remarks during a...
By CCN.com: According to a trader and crypto technical analyst, November 2018 may have been the last sell-off of Bitcoin and a long consolidation period is expected throughout 2019. Since experiencing a steep 13 percent drop on January 10 from $4,036 to $3,502, the Bitcoin price has been relatively stable in a tight range in mid-$3,000. What Does Low Volatility Mean For Bitcoin? While it seems as...
Following one of its biggest bull rallies in history to $19,500, Bitcoin (BTC) is set to end 2018 with an 80 percent drop from its all-time high. As Bitcoin enters 2019 with a bear market status having suffered a steep sell-off in December, what can investors expect in the first two quarters of 2019? Several Catalysts on the Horizon For Bitcoin In the first quarter of next year, Bakkt, a...
Bakkt, a cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity provider created by the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company ICE has raised $182.5 million from a group of high profile investors and venture capital firms. On December 31, on New Year’s Eve, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler announced that Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons...
The debate over President Trump's border wall has unveiled new partisan dysfunction in Washington as the United States on Saturday faced its third government shutdown in a year. The partial shutdown, which risks extending into the holidays, presents fresh headaches for Wall Street following the worst weekly selloff in a decade. For cryptocurrency investors, the power of holding non-correlated...
Bakkt, a Bitcoin futures market operated by ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is close to receiving a green light from the U.S. government. As CCN reported on December 21, Bakkt has been working with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to have its business plan approved, which revolves around the physical delivery of Bitcoin to its investors. What...
Bakkt's Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract, the physically-settled daily futures contract, is quite close to getting the green light from the authorities, according to reports on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The exchange has been working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to ensure its business plan is compliant with the agency's regulatory framework. A couple of areas that...
It's no secret the crypto industry is not particularly at its most profitable moment. However, despite the dire state in which the crypto market has found itself, there are certain people who believe things will turn around in a big way -- a new all-time high, even. Among these is Mike Kayamori, CEO of Quoine, a Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange platform. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg...
The markets were euphoric. The community was cheer-leading the imminent launch of Bitcoin futures first on the CBOE and then on the CME. Bitcoin reached its all time high. They saw this as an indication that institutional investors were just around the corner and that Bitcoin was about to "moon." Fast forward to today and the feeling is quite the opposite: hodlers are left scratching their heads...
On November 28, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 617 points, recording its biggest rally since March. Following the unexpected rebound of the U.S. stock market, the crypto market increased in valuation, by more than $23 billion. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced on Wednesday that interest rates have declined to a neutral level, reflecting the performance of the market and...
The interest toward Bitcoin by the mainstream has started to increase once again. According to Google Trends, the popularity of the keyword “Bitcoin” on the search engine recently achieved March highs. The frequency of Bitcoin searches on Google has been on a constant downtrend for more than eight months, possibly due to the 85 percent decline in the price of the dominant cryptocurrency. Reasons...
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are here to stay despite the current bear market, says Jeff Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and CEO of its parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). When asked about the plunging crypto market values, Sprecher said as an exchange operator, it's not his place to opine about prices. However, he's confident about the bright future of digital...
Nearly three months have passed since Goldman Sachs, a $73 billion investment bank based in the US, said that it is not ready to facilitate the delivery of “physical Bitcoin” to its clients. The banking giant is still not able to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of its clients, despite growing demand from clients. At a conference in New York, Justin Schmidt, the head of digital asset markets at...
According to Vinny Lingham, the CEO of Civic, the crypto market and Bitcoin could suffer from their bearish trend for at least three to six months. The $3,000 support level has been quite strong Lingham said and in the short-term, the $3,000 support level will likely be maintained with buy orders being set in the lower range of $3,000 to $3,500. Lingham said: “I think it stays in the range...
The world’s second largest stock exchange Nasdaq is planning to introduce a Bitcoin futures market within the first quarter of 2019. Sources told Bloomberg that Nasdaq has been cooperating with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to receive regulatory approval to operate as a compliant cryptocurrency futures market operator. The report read: “Nasdaq has been working to satisfy...
The bitcoin price on Monday continued its crash course despite showing gains during the early Asian trading session. The digital currency attempted a go at its yearly low at ~$3,455 after reversing from its intraday peak at $4,115. That overall marked a circa 14 percent crash, setting standards for a further bearish action. The BTC/USD index at press time is trading at 3581-fiat, eyeing potential...
With a daily transaction volume of over $8 billion, Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to overtake Mastercard, the second largest credit card network in the world, in volume. On October 30, Mastercard released its financial results of the third quarter of 2018. Year-to-date, the credit card company has processed around $4.4 trillion. On a daily basis, Mastercard has settled nearly $12 billion per day...
Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced five major corrections to date, and the recent bear market of 2018 is the smallest major correction to date. As seen in a table shared by a renowned trader and technical analyst Peter Brandt, BTC experienced a drop of 79.7 percent in the past eleven months as its price declined from $19,500 to $4,035. On November 21, Bitcoin experienced a steep decline from $4,500 to...
Over the past week, the price of Bitcoin has dropped by more than 35 percent, and the majority of analysts in the crypto space have shared the sentiment that the crash was triggered by the contentious hard fork of Bitcoin Cash. According to Bart Smith, the head of digital asset at trading giant Susquehanna, a lack of liquidity in Bitcoin markets allowed the dominant cryptocurrency to be...
Over the past 12 hours, the price of Bitcoin, which was dangerously close to breaching the $4,000 support level, surged from $4,050 to $4,560 by more than 12 percent. On Coinbase and major fiat-to-crypto exchanges like Bitstamp and Kraken, Bitcoin dropped to as low as $4,030 for a brief period of time and recovered to $4,200 almost immediately after. Eventually, BTC rebounded to $4,500, showing...
It looks like the crypto markets may not get a December boost from Wall Street after all. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on Tuesday announced that it would delay the launch of its much-anticipated bitcoin futures product until at least Jan. 24, 2019. That product, the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract, had been scheduled to go live on...
Jake Chervinsky, a government enforcement defense and securities litigation attorney at Kobre & Kim LLP, has stated that while there are some positives in the entrance of Bakkt into the crypto market, its impact on the emerging asset class is yet to be determined. Throughout the past several weeks, Bakkt has been considered as a major catalyst for the next rally of Bitcoin and other major...
Alex Krüger, a well-recognized cryptocurrency trader and technical analyst, has said Bakkt will lead the recovery of Bitcoin throughout 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. But, Krüger explained that the rejection of the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing of VanEck, SolidX, and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will lead to the crash of Bitcoin, possibly back down to the $6,000 support...
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), will list its highly-anticipated bitcoin futures contract in less than two months, on December 12. Known as a physically-settled daily futures contract, the contracts will be backed by actual bitcoins held in ICE's Digital Asset Warehouse. According to a press release, each futures contract will be validated through...
Early Coinbase employee and head of institution products Adam White has joined Intercontinental Exchange's (ICE) cryptocurrency platform Bakkt as its chief operating officer, per the company's announcement on Medium. The news of White's departure from the firm was first released on Bloomberg. White was Coinbase's fifth employee, and he joined in 2013 when the founders were working from home and...
Major investment bank Barclays has reportedly put its cryptocurrency trading project “on ice” amid a prolonged bear market that has dampened interest in the asset class among many investors. According to a Financial News report, the London-based financial institution shelved the project in September, leading to the departure of Chris Tyrer, the bank’s former head of energy trading who had been in...
Note: This is part 1 in a multi-part series exploring the dangers of rehypothecation and commingling in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets that could occur once Wall Street begins offering crypto products. Part 1 is an interview with Caitlin Long and subsequent parts will ask the question, "How did we get to a place that where laws look like this?" Stay tuned for part 2. Caitlin Long is a 22...