Bitcoin Reserves Hit 5-Year Low as $2.15B Exits Exchanges – Bulls Quietly Loading the Spring Below $100K 
Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
Moody's Upgrades Argentina's Credit Rating Amid Economic Reforms 
U.S. Banks Report Strong Q4 Profits Amid Investment Banking Surge 
Oil Prices Dip Slightly Amid Focus on Russian Sanctions and U.S. Inflation Data 
Citi Sets Bullish 2026 Target for STOXX 600 as Fiscal Support and Monetary Easing Boost Outlook 
China's Refining Industry Faces Major Shakeup Amid Challenges 
FxWirePro- Major Crypto levels and bias summary 
Ethereum Refuses to Stay Below $3,000 – $3,600 Next? 
Cryptocurrency derivatives market has begun to obtain myriad interests after the recent trends in Bitcoin price sentiment. There has been a long waiting of cryptocurrency aspirants for institutional investors. Although the launch of bitcoin futures contracts on regulated exchanges in late 2017 made a bit of a buzz but didn’t gain a lot of traction, of late, Bakkt appears to be striking a chord in new Crypto-derivatives/FinTech arena.
As a part of the Bakkt’s mission statement “build trust in digital assets”, they launched
Bitcoin Futures and the Bakkt Warehouse.
On the back of these successful launch and the buzzing announcement of bitcoin options in December with the mounting interests their BTC futures of physical delivery, as part of their other core tenet of mission statement, “unlocking the value of digital assets” through consumer payments, they have now announced Bakkt Cryptocurrency-Centric Consumer App by 2020.
Well, thereby, it is understood that derivatives market among the crypto space is not the only area Bakkt wants to target. Bakkt’s Chief Product Officer, Mike Blandina stated that “over the last year, we’ve assembled a strong team of payments engineers and are nearing completion of our core payments and compliance platform, we’re now focused on the development of the consumer app and merchant portal, as well as testing with our first launch partner, Starbucks, which we expect in the first half of next year”.
The announcement came in followed by the all-time record volumes of 1,179 contracts in the recent past, Blandina divulged that the firm is intending to unveil another strategy soon after announcing its December options launch.
The CEO, Kelly Loeffler also shared more about their vision for the digital asset payments at the panel “Blockchain: The Road Ahead” during the event titled Money 2020.
The purpose of consumer application is that the retail investors can also “unlock the value of digital assets” via consumer payments and to strengthen four key areas within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, namely, Frictionless digital asset infrastructure, marketplace accessibility, a trustworthy brand, and a noncustodial solution “with the concept of a consumer-driven platform that offers the ultimate control over their digital assets.”
