Bakkt, the crypto industry's main hope for institutional acceptance, is set to open its doors on September 23 after being beset by countless delays. This will see the launch of its custody and physically-delivered daily and monthly bitcoin futures contracts.
According to a blog post, Bakkt has received the green light from the CFTC. It also has approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services for its custodian services–two regulators that have demurred over the decision.
The futures contracts will be covered by the existing guaranty fund at Intercontinental Exchange—which created Bakkt—giving traders peace of mind. An additional $35 million is being contributed to the fund to help cover the new futures contracts. The custody solution will be insured to the value of $125 million.
The idea behind the platform is to enable consumers and institutions to seamlessly buy, sell, store and spend digital assets, by connecting existing market and merchant infrastructure to the blockchain.
Bakkt caused quite the fuss when it was first announced, in August, 2018, with industry giants like Microsoft and Starbucks on board. It started user testing last month. This gave investors a first glimpse of what it had to offer. Perhaps, soon, they'll get the real deal.