Bakkt’s official Twitter account noted that the recently introduced cash settled Bitcoin futures market has been trading at a volume of over 1,000 lots consistently for 7 days now. Some in the cryptocurrency space still debate how positive this really is for Bitcoin.
The announcement came just minutes ago from Bakkt (@Bakkt) itself:
Today marks the 7th consecutive day that the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Futures have reached trade volumes of over 1,000 lots at ICE Futures Singapore
— Bakkt (@Bakkt) December 19, 2019
Bakkt’s Latest Products Are Doing Quite Well
The cash settled futures contracts are available on ICE Futures Singapore and are one of two new products recently released by the company. Almost immediately after these contracts were released, the group announced that the new product was performing well right out of the gate.
Over 1,000 Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Futures contracts have been traded at ICE Futures Singapore since launching earlier today
— Bakkt (@Bakkt) December 9, 2019
Furthermore, since the introduction, these contracts have repeatedly been setting new record highs for volume, with the most recent record being set just yesterday.
Yesterday we set a new volume record:
6,226 physically delivered Bakkt Bitcoin Futures contracts traded at ICE Futures U.S.
— Bakkt (@Bakkt) December 19, 2019
Is This Really Good for Bitcoin?
Of course, not everyone is happy about this news. Since its inception, some have attacked Bakkt as being an attempt for Wall Street to effectively take over the cryptocurrency market. BeInCrypto has even recently reported on a YouTuber who makes a case for exactly that.
One of the largest arguments flung at the company recently pertains to the fact that it has come to light that, despite their original claims, Bakkts futures contracts are only 63% backed by Bitcoin. This hasn’t sat well with much of the community, and when these cash settled Bitcoin contracts (as opposed to physically settled Bitcoin) were announced, it only further angered detractors.
Ahhh… that's not gonna help in price discovery..
— MMD (@nakamotoman) December 19, 2019
While there may be some valid truth to the idea that institutional money is needed to bring cryptocurrency to the masses, it isn’t clear yet that these futures contracts are the way. Increasing volume on Bakkt certainly hasn’t translated to higher Bitcoin prices, at least so far. Time will have to ultimately tell whether these new products are a boon for digital assets, or simply for the legacy financial system.