- Bakkt to launch a physical-delivery bitcoin future for institutional clients
- Bakkt has now acquired a Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC)
In a blog post this Monday, Adam White, Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Bakkt, a bitcoin trading and custody platform revealed that Bakkt will be launching a physical-delivery bitcoin future which can be traded on ICE Futures US (IFUS) and cleared on ICE Clear US (ICUS); Bakkt has also acquired Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC) in a bid to provide institutional clients with secure and scalable custody solutions.
Bakkt to foster mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies
Per the blog post, Bakkt’s goal is to build the future of digital asset infrastructure and foster the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies through the launch of regulated digital assets custody solutions for institutional clients.
It has, therefore, been creating a physical-delivery bitcoin future which can be traded on ICE Futures US (IFUS) and cleared on ICE Clear US (ICUS). The latter is an exchange and clearinghouse that is federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Bakkt has also filed for approval from the New York Department of Financial Services to become a trusted company and serve as a Qualified Custodian for digital assets.
Bakkt acquires digital asset custody company (DACC)
Furthermore, the custody platform has acquired Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC), a company whose team is believed to have great knowledge when it comes to blockchain technology and safe custodial storage of cryptocurrencies.
According to Bakkt, DACC’s support of 13 blockchains and 100+ assets will help to accelerate its goal to offer institutional clients secure and scalable custody solutions.
Asides from the physical-delivery bitcoin future, Bakkt intends to launch more products with the use of the distributed ledger technology and these are products that will have real-life application.
They will facilitate the transfer of value while also enabling inexpensive, efficient, and faster payments for companies such as Starbucks.
Trusted custodians in short supply
While revealing the measures it has put in place to secure investors funds, the pending bitcoin futures exchange outlined that a majority of its funds are stored in air-gapped cold wallets and the other in online wallets. Each of these has been insured with a $100,000,000 policy.
In the case of its warm wallet, an FIPS 140–2 level 3 or higher hardware security modules (HSM) is used to secure and manage the cryptographic keys. The HSM’s physical and logical attributes prevent its private key from being viewed, modified, and extracted.
The cryptographic keys of its cold wallet, on the other hand, are encrypted, separated, and distributed in an m-of-n architecture. The keys are not transferred through unencrypted communication channels and their access is protected with the use of network security controls.
Bakkt also uses cybersecurity programs that have been rated as one of the most sophisticated in the world. It can be likened to systems that are employed in protecting the New York Stock Exchange.
On April 11, Blockchainreporter first informed of Bakkt’s hiring of Mike Blandina, a PayPal and Google veteran to function as the company’s Chief Product Officer (CPO).
