Bakkt, the upcoming Bitcoin futures exchange from Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has hinted at a new release day.
In an announcement on Medium, CEO Kelly Loeffler says that “race day” is approaching as the startup awaits regulatory approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“As we work through regulatory approvals, we are mindful that the infrastructure we are building has the potential to create more opportunities for digital assets to grow in relevance and trust — by being more secure, investible and useful.
As a former marathoner, this point in time recalls the stage in the training regimen when you’re putting in long runs with your training team. Race day is approaching, and there is more work to be done. I’m proud to be going the distance with this growing team and of the culture we are building, while bringing digital assets into the mainstream economy.”
Appearing on BlockTV, CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz says he and his team are working very hard on all of the applications they’re reviewing, including Bakkt. Despite several delays of Bakkt’s application, the Commission is pro-crypto and pro-innovation, and the regulatory rigor, he explains, is about “getting the bad guys.”
“We think that these technologies may take some time to develop. In the short term, there may be uses for cryptocurrency. In the longer term, blockchain – I think we’re looking at a process of several years.”
Bakkt has just expanded its team with new hire Mike Blandina. A former Silicon Valley software engineer, Blandina joins Bakkt as the company’s chief product officer.
Blandina’s primary focus will be to develop use cases for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the real word. As a digital payments specialist, Blandina served as head of payments and credit engineering at PayPal and director of engineering for Google Wallet at Google.
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