{"id":391835,"date":"2019-07-31T22:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktsl888.com\/?p=391835"},"modified":"2024-06-11T13:46:10","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T13:46:10","slug":"first-physical-bitcoin-future-hits-u-s-market-as-institutional-bakkt-hype-swells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktsl888.com\/news\/first-physical-bitcoin-future-hits-u-s-market-as-institutional-bakkt-hype-swells\/","title":{"rendered":"First Physical Bitcoin Future Hits U.S. Market as Institutional Bakkt Hype Swells"},"content":{"rendered":"
Although the crypto industry has been closely watching to see when the highly anticipated physically settled Bitcoin (BTC) futures platform Bakkt officially launches, they have now been beaten by their competitor \u2013 LedgerX \u2013 who officially launched today.<\/p>\n
The platform is open to all US-based investors with a government issued ID and is not limited to institutional clients or high-net-worth clients. Despite this, most analysts believe that the benefits that physically settled futures contracts will bring to the crypto markets come primarily from the institutions that will trade them.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are three main platforms that are competing to gain the attention of investors who are interested in trading physically settled Bitcoin<\/a> futures contracts, with LedgerX, the ICE-backed Bakkt, and the TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX<\/a>, all launching similar products.<\/p>\n The primary benefit that a physically settled future contract brings is that it allows traders to deposit and collect Bitcoin in order to directly trade the contracts, without having to use USD or other fiat currencies as the trading pair, thus subverting the traditional banking system entirely.<\/p>\n This is a critical feature for a decentralized currency like Bitcoin, assuming that it will one day be utilized as a currency in its own right, and not one that is denominated and traded against fiat currencies.<\/p>\n Importantly, it does appear that there is significant interest in these contracts, as LedgerX has previously noted<\/a> that multiple institutional investors have asked for these contracts in the past.<\/p>\n Although retail interest in the crypto markets has been diving as of late, many analysts and investors alike are closely watching to see how interested institutions are in the nascent markets, as they may be the next source of major funding that propels Bitcoin (BTC) and the aggregated crypto markets.<\/p>\nWill Institutional Demand for Physically Settled BTC Futures Contracts Propel the Markets?<\/strong><\/h2>\n