BAKKT — The future trading platform of Bitcoin Bakkt announces the first Bitcoin futures test as of July 2019

First announced in August 2018, the institutional cryptographic exchange Bakkt has now announced that it will soon introduce futures testing on a federally regulated futures exchange in cooperation with its parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Bakkt is working with both ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Clear U.S. Cleinghouse to prepare the first tests of trading and storage of Bitcoin futures.

CEO, Kelly Loeffler wrote:

“In cooperation with our exchange and clearing partners at ICE, we will be working with our clients over the next few weeks to prepare for the User Acceptance Tests (UATs) for futures contracts and custody that we will start in July.”

The submission of an application to the CFTC by ICE means that Bakkt has announced that its product is in compliance with federal law. The Commission has ten days to identify the deficiencies of the platform. If everything goes according to plan, Bakkt will proceed to run a UAT for futures contracts and escrow in July.

The user acceptance testing will be carried out in cooperation between Bakkt and two branches of ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Clear US of the parent company, ICE. The futures contracts will be incorporated into the American futures trading platform ICE Futures, while the ICE clearing house will be responsible for safekeeping the client’s funds. As described in the previous presentations to the CFTC, Bakkt intends to offer physically terminated Bitcoin Futures, which means that the company will pay Bitcoin when the contracts expire. This feature forces the company to keep Bitcoin for its clients.

At the end of April, Bakkt acquired Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC) and announced that the company had applied to the New York Financial Services Department to act as a trustee to act as a qualified trustee for digital assets.

The introduction of Bakkt has a positive impact on the market as it aims to introduce institutional investors to the world of Blockchain. Although it launches a test program, the platform is considered to be great news that has shocked the market.

Media: crypto-economy.net