Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has now announced the launching of the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures contract. The contract will be listed on ICE Futures Singapore and cleared by ICE Clear Singapore, both of which are overseen by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The Bakkt Bitcoin Cash Settled Monthly Futures will be settled against the prices of Bakkt’s physically delivered bitcoin contracts. With ICE’s experience in the financial market, this maneuver aims to attract more investors in the crypto industry in an attempt to expedite mainstream adoption, said Lucas Schmeddes, President & COO of ICE Futures and Clear Singapore.
“Our new cash-settled futures contract will offer investors in Asia and around the world a convenient, capital efficient way to gain or hedge exposure in bitcoin markets. Building off the success of our deliverable futures contract, the cash settled futures will leverage ICE’s regulated, globally-accessible market to offer a safe, secure and compliant environment for the trading of bitcoin,” Schmeddes said.
Bakkt prepares to launch more initiatives
The contract is slated to launch on Dec. 9 along with the first options contract for bitcoin futures.
Meanwhile, Bakkt is also working to launch the first-ever consumer app for Starbucks in the first half of 2020, an initiative that also aims to accelerate crypto adoption. The ultimate goal is to have people use cryptocurrencies to purchase everyday items like coffee. Apart from settling purchases, Bakkt also aims to encourage people to track and transact other digital assets, not just bitcoin.
Bakkt achieves another milestone amidst Bitcoin’s struggles
Bitcoin is currently struggling at the moment as it has fallen to the $6,500 level after remaining at the $9,000 mark for a few weeks. Despite this, however, Bakkt has actually achieved another milestone on Nov. 22 after recording more than $20.3 million bitcoin trade volume on its platform, Cointelegraph reported.
The figure is 30% higher than the previous record, which was set on Nov. 8. This data clearly represents that there is still a strong interest in the crypto space as investors try to explore the options that this new asset class offers.
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