The Bakkt exchange is in the coming altcoin news for its decision to pursue a New York License from the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The NY license will aid Bakkt and its long-delayed crypto exchange.
Knowing that the launch of the Bakkt exchange has been held up for five months now, reports showed that most of the delay lies in the difficulty of obtaining the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve it to custody Bitcoin for its planned and physically-delivered futures contracts. ICE would apparently need a license from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) as a possible solution according to a Bloomberg report.
For those of you who don’t know, such physically settled contract would mean that buyers would receive the actual commodity – Bitcoin – at maturity.
Right now, the CFTC is concerned over the issue of safeguarding clients’ Bitcoin which is linked to Bakkt exchange and its future product. Thus, a state license will definitely help Bakkt to cut through its reservations, as the report shows. The exchange may also be moving to enable retail transactions using BTC for firms such as Starbucks (which is a Bakkt investor) as the best cryptocurrency news sites reported.
Right now, if ICE is ready to pull off the New York registration for the Bakkt exchange, it might also allow CFTC to issue its futures by self-certification and in that manner sidesteep the regulator’s requirements that client funds are deposited in either a bank or a trust company.
However, even if they manage to obtain the license and custody crypto in the New York state, the Bakkt exchange would still need a green light from the CFTC over its wider operations, as reports show.
ICE planned to launch Bakkt in mid-December, but the deadline was moved to January 24 later on. Then, on New Year’s eve, the big day was again delayed indefinitely, and ICE said that the January target “will be amended pursuant to the CFTC’s process and timeline” which means that the Bakkt exchange is still waiting for regulatory approval.
As the latest cryptocurrency news show, Bakkt is continuing to build out its product and systems, without putting an accent on the license.
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