Further Delay For Bakkt’s Plans Because Of Regulator Approval

The plans of the highly-anticipated crypto platform Bakkt to store the Bitcoins of its customers from its BTC futures receive another delay because still not being able to get approval from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Today’s blockchain news come to our website after the Wall Street Journal published a report from anonymous sources.

Back in August 2018, Bakkt was first announced and the platform revealed that its first product will be Bitcoin futures that are delivered physically every day and will be a subject to CFTC approval. Bakkt also stated that they plan to hold Bitcoin for their clients as a ‘’physical warehousing.’’

The CFTC told the platform back in February that if Bakkt wants to be a physical warehouse for their customers, they have to fulfill other conditions that are not required for other platforms. The CFTC also requires ‘’disclosures of the venture’s business plan and a public comment period, which would have further delayed approval.’’

Bakkt and the US regulator are not trying to find another way that will allow for the platform to handle the futures contracts in order to fulfill the requirements. According to the report, the regulator provided Bakkt with multiple options including making the company register as a trust company. However, this could take an even longer time. In the meantime, a Bakkt spokesperson stated:

 “We are working through the regulatory review process and are looking forward to updating the market soon.”

Bakkt was initially supposed to debut in November but there have been multiple delays because of the still not obtained approval from the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission. The deadline has been pushed multiple times but the regulator commissioner Dan Berkovitz told in an interview that they are currently working hard on issuing approval for several crypto-related applications including the Bakkt platform.

As previously reported by DC Forecasts, Bakkt earned a stunning $740 million valuation after successfully raising more than $180 million in funding for 2018. Also, Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) said that he expects for the crypto platform Bakkt to launch later this year after he was asked during an earnings call.