Bakkt’s CEO offered greater details surrounding the upcoming cryptocurrency trading platform in a recent Medium post, including greater details about the principles of the new platform, and how those principles will set new standards for the cryptocurrency industry.
The recent post is the latest information offered by the newly founded company since the initial announcement made earlier this month. The platform made headlines due to their corporate partners, including Starbucks, Microsoft, and New York Stock Exchange parent company ICE.
Bakkt to Offer New Standard for Cryptocurrency Industry
Bakkt is planning on offering a professional and institutional grade cryptocurrency exchange platform, one that will eventually allow for, as ICE explains, a “scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant and consumer participation.” Assuming that the platform gains approval from the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which appears to be very likely, it will launch in November of this year.
Some corporate partners of the upcoming platform are BCG, Microsoft, and Starbucks, among others, that will ultimately lead to greater mainstream adoption for cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
In the August 20th Medium post, Bakkt’s CEO, Kelly Loeffler, explained that Bakkt is setting new standards for cryptocurrency exchanges, including: “A consistent regulatory framework…transparent, efficient price discovery…and an institutional quality pre- and post-trade infrastructure.”
A main point in Loeffler’s post was that the Bakkt exchange will be working to provide a trusted price formation, citing the need for “price discovery.” This concept revolves around the need for less manipulated price action in order to gain greater institutional and corporate adoption. To provide this, Loeffler explains that Bakkt will only offer fully collateralized and pre-funded Bitcoin sales, and that they will not allow margin trading, saying:
“with our solution, the buying and selling of Bitcoin is fully collateralized or pre-funded. As such, our new daily Bitcoin contract will not be traded on margin, use leverage, or serve to create a paper claim on a real asset. This supports market integrity and differentiates our effort from existing futures and crypto exchanges which allow for margin, leverage and cash settlement.”
Despite the recent market downturn, Bakkt’s CEO is still optimistic and excited about the future of the markets and the technologies within them. While speaking about the market downturn in her Medium post, Loeffler said:
“At the same time, there are numerous reports that venture investing, initial coin offerings, and corporate R&D related to blockchain and digital assets are all on track to surpass 2017 levels. With the potential for efficiency and innovation, the focus on new applications and infrastructure indicates a strong appetite for this market and technology.”
Bakkt marks the first move into the cryptocurrency markets by a major US based stock exchange, and it is likely that other exchanges will follow suit. Last April, the CEO of Nasdaq said that the exchange would be open to becoming a cryptocurrency exchange. Nasdaq’s CEO also made bullish comments about the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency. The success of Bakkt’s platform will likely dictate the decisions of other retail stock exchanges, like Nasdaq.
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