[2018-12-22] Launch of Bakkt Bitcoin Futures Market May Get Postponed Again

[bL4nkcode]

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is likely to delay the launch of Bakkt, its bitcoin futures trading and custody platform, a second time, CoinDesk has learned.

The company last set Jan. 24 as the launch date. However, ICE has yet to receive the necessary approvals from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and at the pace the agency has been moving, it is unlikely that approvals will be secured in time to hit that target.

To be clear: That does not mean the CFTC won’t ultimately approve the plan. A person familiar with the agency’s inner workings said even a Jan. 30 launch was still plausible, meaning the delay could be just a matter of days.

Read More: https://www.coindesk.com/launch-of-bakkt-bitcoin-futures-market-may-get-postponed-again

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[Kakmakr]

The regulators have always been much slower than new innovations and this has killed a lot of new businesses that entered the market too early.

Just learn from what happened with the BitLicense in New York, because a lot of those smaller businesses had to close their doors, because they could not afford the ridiculous fees that had to be paid to consultants to help new businesses to adhere to those regulations and they could also not afford to relocate to a Bitcoin friendly state or country.

Regulations are a pain in the a$$!!!

[buwaytress]

Not surprising news in the least. I personally thought the postponement announcement was still overly optimistic. What they'll do to lessen the embarrassment will be to soft launch it perhaps in Q1 2019, allow selected accounts only to start testing trades, but full readiness will be much, much later.

Either way, BAKKT's not going to have the expected impact on Bitcoin price and people will be puzzled by that - perhaps leading to yet further instability of price. Be happy to be proven wrong, though. Let's see.

[gentlemand]

This is the paragraph that stood out to me -

'Specifically, the CFTC must grant an exemption for Bakkt’s plan to custody bitcoin on behalf of its clients in its own “warehouse,” according to sources familiar with regulatory discussions of the plan. CFTC regulations normally require that customer funds be held by a bank, trust company or futures commission merchant (FCM).'

That seems like a giant leap from the norm and not something they're going to be too keen on, even more so in an area they're not very familiar with. It suddenly looks a lot less smooth than we've been led to believe.

[1Referee]

Bakkt should keep its mouth shut till they have been granted regulatory approval. It makes zero sense to throw around with launch dates when you don't have an approval in the pocket.

Another thing that I noticed is how Bakkt started to refer to crypto currency futures contracts rather than Bitcoin futures contracts, while it is actually Bitcoin they are building their platform around. Coinbase has been doing the same for quite a while now, and we know that they are pushing for a shitcoin agenda.

It's just a matter of time before Bakkt becomes a meme. Well, they did it all to themselves.

[figmentofmyass]

This is the paragraph that stood out to me -

'Specifically, the CFTC must grant an exemption for Bakkt’s plan to custody bitcoin on behalf of its clients in its own “warehouse,” according to sources familiar with regulatory discussions of the plan. CFTC regulations normally require that customer funds be held by a bank, trust company or futures commission merchant (FCM).'

That seems like a giant leap from the norm and not something they're going to be too keen on, even more so in an area they're not very familiar with. It suddenly looks a lot less smooth than we've been led to believe.

it's not a giant leap from the norm though. ledgerx received formal CFTC approval for physically-settled bitcoin derivatives (including next-day delivery like bakkt) ~1.5 years ago. here's some info about ledgerx's custody arrangement: https://ledgerx.com/blog/2018/7/9/digital-assets-overview

if ledgerx can pull it off, i don't see why wall street behemoths like the ICE can't.

[btyco]

This is not helped by the shutdown of the US government. I wouldn't be surprised if there was another delay but this bear market has lasted for so long a few extra weeks won't make any difference