On November 21, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reported that Bakkt is planning to issue Bitcoin to USD settled Futures on December 9. The Futures will be offered through ICE Clear Singapore, the company’s Singapore-based clearinghouse, and traded on ICE Futures Singapore.
The move comes just one day after the proposal that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) about allowing green-lighting crypto-token derivatives that can be traded on regulated platforms, also, as soon as the platform has nearly doubled its all-time-high volume.
Bakkt appeared in August 2018, has become the first platform to offer futures settled in actual Bitcoin. It means customers will receive actual bitcoin on a contract’s expiration instead of the fiat equivalent, which helps to bring some sort of legitimacy to the cryptocurrencies and blockchain industry.
Offering Bitcoin to USD settled Futures, however, to some, it represents them going back on that notion.
According to the company’s press release, “Bakkt Bitcoin Cash-Settled Monthly Futures will be solved based on data from the physically delivered Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Monthly Futures contract, the full firstly regulated futures market for digital assets”. It will be listed on ICE Futures Singapore and cleared by ICE Clear Singapore that regulated by the MAS.
Besides, Lucas Schmeddes, the president & COO of ICE Futures and Clear Singapore, said that their new cash-settled futures contract will offer a convenient, capital-efficient way to gain or hedge exposure in Bitcoin markets for investors in Asia and around the world. Furthermore, he promised “We can build off the successful futures contract” and ” 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”.
At this time, lots of crypto enthusiasts on Twitter were not too thrilled about this scenario, with one user remarking on the fact that Bitcoin was their entire settlement.
Cash settled? Your entire premise was btc settlement.
— crypto_deniro (@crypto_deniro) November 22, 2019
Another user “Iwymanm”, came out against the company claiming that they are “one with CME”.
Completely virtual “settlements” – absolute opposite of what you said it would be. You are one with CME.
— ree (@jwymanm) November 22, 2019
Currently, only CME Group, the world’s largest exchange operator, offers cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts in the U.S. with its new product, Bakkt will be able to offer both. And again, Bakkt was meant to be the one that legitimized Bitcoin settled Futures against that. The last recently, a popular YouTuber went after Bakkt, calling it Wall Street’s attack on Bitcoin.
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