As Bitcoin lost nearly 5% of its value yesterday, institutional Bitcoin trading platform Bakkt reached a new record volume. A total of 1,756 Bitcoin Futures contracts were traded, worth approximately $15.5 Million.
Bakkt had a slow start after its launch in September. Following a year of delays, the institutional Bitcoin futures platform launched by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) failed to meet its high expectations. In its first few days, it barely managed to break $1 million in daily volume. In fact, on some days, the volume was just $200,000, and the crypto community was all but ready to write it off.
It’s also important to note that Bakkt’s offering is unique in the institutional investment space. It offers physically-settled Bitcoin contracts in a space where more than 98% of the futures contracts settled are not physical. Traders did not want to take delivery and manage their Bitcoin, which resulted in the rocky start.
In finance, 98% of futures are not physically settled as traders do not want to take delivery, even for physically settled contracts.
=> comparing Bakkt with the CME is perfectly fine, particularly so with Bakkt's monthly contract.
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) September 24, 2019
Bakkt Surges With Volatility
Bakkt’s launch came at a time when there was low volatility in the Bitcoin industry. On Oct 24, Bakkt set a record volume of $4.8 million as Bitcoin lost $500. It was broken just two days after that, doubling its volume to $10.3 million. At this time it was the biggest day for Bitcoin when BTC gained 42% in a single day.
ICYMI: Thursday's Bakkt Bitcoin Monthly Futures:
📉 Traded contracts: 834 ($7,697,820)
📅 Day before: 903 (-8%)
🚀 All time high: 1183 (10/25/2019)*bleep blop* tip sats for server costs https://t.co/TF6sNUwWpO 🤖 pic.twitter.com/hgxCdoQCQd
— Bakkt Volume Bot (@BakktBot) November 8, 2019
Bakkt is like any other crypto exchange. During times of low volatility, it hardly sees any volume, and there is high volume when Bitcoin makes big moves.
Bitcoin Fails to Hold on to Support
Bitcoin failed to hold on to support at $9,000, slipping below that point for the first time since its rally to $10,500 at the end of October. It lost five percent of its value, dropping down to a closing value of $8,783.
As Bitcoin turned volatile, Bakkt’s volume surged once again. It had a significant boost in its early hours. as 970 BTC was traded within the first eight hours of the day. Towards the end of the day, a total of 1,756 BTC was traded, setting a new record-high volume. Bakkt seems to have now gotten its footing and is consistently posting daily volumes above $5 million.
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