Cryptocurrencies, a new kid on the block despised by the Trump administration and lawmakers, is about to “”tie the knot” in the United States. The partner is none other than Bakkt, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) which owns the New York Stock Exchange.
Bakkt recently won approval that clears the way for its unit to allow investors to buy derivatives that payout with Bitcoins for the first time.
In addition, the firm received the green light from the New York State Department of Financial Services to create Bakkt Trust Company, a qualified custodian that will provide secure storage for its Bitcoin clients.
Bakkt, which is a crypto-asset platform that allows people to buy futures contracts, is expected to launch on 23 September 2019.
The new development is one of the rare reviews for cryptocurrencies in the US, where President Donald Trump leads a pack of wolves ready to pounce on what he described as ”money whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air”.
“This does not mean that the US government is going to give Bitcoin any type of consideration. It merely means that the regulators have allowed Bakkt to open their Bitcoin Futures platform which is another financial product,” Richard de Sousa, Senior Partner at AltCoinTrader, told Crypto Magazine on Wednesday.
South Africa-based AltCoinTrader is one of the oldest and largest Cryptocurrency exchanges.
A step forward
Already dubbed money of the future, cryptocurrencies seem to have leapt one step forward in its quest for self-respect and future glory.
“You can buy daily or monthly contracts. These contracts are settled with physical Bitcoin and not cash. We have had Bitcoin Futures in the market place since 2017 but they have always been cash-settled instead of physically settled,” de Sousa explained.
More investments
“This meant that institutions have never actually had to enter the crypto space. They were merely speculating on the price of Bitcoin, and then settling the speculation with cash. Now they have to actually buy the Bitcoin so that they can settle their future contracts.”
The relationship’s ultimate goal is to create an ecosystem that would encourage pension funds, endowments and other institutions to invest more money in cryptocurrencies, and make it much easier for consumers to buy products with the cryptocurrency.
Asked to unpack this statement, de Sousa said that institutions would now be able to buy and hold Bitcoin.
“This, in turn, will create a shortage in the supply of Bitcoin in the current eco-system at which will have the effect of driving the price up. This will probably not happen in the short term, but it is a very good sign for long term price action.”
