On December 12, 2018, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will begin trading Bitcoin futures contracts. It is noteworthy that contracts can be concluded through the platform’s digital asset storage, and clearing will be carried out by ICE Clear US, Inc. All quotas will be in US dollars, and the amount that will be blocked on the account when concluding a futures contract will be 10 bitcoin.
As a reminder, in August ICE, which partners with Star Bucks and Microsoft and owns the New York Stock Exchange, announced the creation of a new marketplace called Bakkt.
The platform will connect with regulators and other major players in consulting, retail and technology, creating a marketplace where institutional-level investors can easily buy and sell Bitcoin in a regulatory-compliant environment.
ICE Launch Bakktplatforms will change a lot in the market. Also important is the participation in the project of the exchange’s CEO Jeff Sprecher, who, according to media reports, is involved in the implementation of Bakkt’s goals. Sprecher has long been investing in this sector and is credited with modernizing the NYSE, which has become the world's largest stock exchange with a daily turnover of about 1.5 billion shares per day.
It is quite possible that with Sprecher at the helm Bitcoin futures contracts Bakkt platforms will become leaders in the Bitcoin futures market and will even eclipse the number of contracts concluded on the CME and CBOE exchanges.
After a long wait, the CME and CBOE exchanges received permission from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2017.
However, since this tool allows platform clients to bet on the movement of the price of an asset, many experts argue that the launch of Bitcoin futures coincides with the rise and subsequent fall of Bitcoin prices and is a universal weapon for bears.
In a regulated environment Bakkt's goal is to be a "scalable platform for institutional investors, entrepreneurs and consumers." Bitcoin will be used by Wall Street as a popular alternative to stocks and bonds, and in turn, the market is expected to generate huge trading volumes, opening up flows for mutual funds and pension funds to funnel their funds into the cryptocurrency. As a result, markets will be free from sharp price fluctuations due to deep liquidity..
The launch of the platform in December therefore suggests that the market should pick up as Wall Street companies are ready to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
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