Bakkt Delayed; New Launch Date Will be Announced in Early 2019

Bakkt’s Jan 24th 2019 launch date has been pushed back again. The new launch date is not set, but the plan is to announce it in early 2019.^[1][2]

Specifically, ICE the parent company of Bakkt published the following in their DECEMBER 31, 2018 BAKKT™ BITCOIN (USD) DAILY FUTURES CONTRACT LAUNCH UPDATE [PDF]:

Following consultation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ICE Futures U.S., Inc. expects to provide an updated launch timeline in early 2019, for the trading, clearing and warehousing of the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract. The launch had previously been set for January 24, 2019, but will be amended pursuant to the CFTC’s process and timeline.

In words, Bakkt still plans to launch, but it looks like a proper launch won’t happen until at least early 2019 if not later in the year.

Good news in the meantime: Bakkt just finished their first round of funding raising $182 million from 12 partners including Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft’s venture capital arm, M12, Pantera Capital, PayU, the fintech arm of Naspers, and Protocol Ventures. So while we won’t have an early 2019 launch, we do have a vote of confidence that Bakkt is on its way.

1. DECEMBER 31, 2018 BAKKT™ BITCOIN (USD) DAILY FUTURES CONTRACT LAUNCH UPDATE [PDF]. TheIce.com. <—- Official Document.
2. Frank Chaparro. Twitter.com. <—- I was made aware by this Tweet.