The Intercontinental Exchange’s cryptocurrency venture, Bakkt, has had a rather unsuccessful launch trading around $5.8 million worth of the flagship cryptocurrency in its first week.
Various analysts in the space believed that through Bakkt and its physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts institutional investors would pour in money in to the space, at the very least improving its liquidity.
Bakkt's first week volume was approximately $5.8 million.
It managed to get traders interested in 5 bitcoin worth of its physically delivered daily futures. Quite the successful launch.
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) September 29, 2019
According to Alex Kruger, an economist and cryptocurrency trader, Bakkt’s initial trading volume might’ve been so low because of various reasons: including bad execution, poor marketing, or a combination of these factors and others.
Other social media users pointed out that other exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) already offer bitcoin futures contracts to institutional investors, who likely prefer to have them settled in cash rather than in BTC.
Some analysts believe bitcoin’s price dropped below the $10,000 mark earlier this month because of Bakkt’s disappointing launch, as investors likely priced in the expected institutional interest. When it didn’t materialize, they sold their coins.
It’s worth noting institutional investors have other ways of gaining exposure to the cryptocurrency space. Besides bitcoin futures contracts on regulated exchanges, there are also Grayscale’s cryptocurrency funds, like the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). These let investors gain exposure to the space without having to manage the cryptocurrencies themselves, as Grayscale manages them for a fee.
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