Bakkt Launches, Trading 18 Bitcoin (BTC) In Volume Since Start

The news about the Bakkt launch are very much expected today by traders and crypto enthusiasts. For those of you who don’t follow our latest cryptocurrency news, today is the day when Bakkt launches its Bitcoin futures trading market on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) platform.

The much anticipated contracts are the first of their kind to be physically settled in Bitcoin. They went live at 8 PM EST on September 22 (00:00 UTC September 23). The most recently available data since Bakkt launches shows that at the time of writing, more than 18 BTC has been traded and the last recorded trading price was $10,042.50 for one BTC.

A lot of crypto commentators are now featured by many best cryptocurrency news sites, commenting on the apparently slight volume levels but also expressing their enthusiasm about the Bakkt ICE Launch. One trader even compared the platform’s launch so far to some patterns that were typically seen with earlier products.

“CME bitcoin futures traded $460 million on its first week. Current volume is around $700 million. The Van Eck fake ETF traded $0 on its first week,” he wrote.

Another cryptocurrency investor Ari Paul read that Bakkt launches and argued that physical delivery is likely to slow adoption, at least in the beginning. He said:

“Probably a more gradual scale-up since it’s physical. With CME futures, anyone with the right FCM [Futures Commission Merchant] could immediately trade on launch […] I’d think the incremental demand (beyond CME) would come from people who want to buy or sell physical for delivery, at least at first. Receiving could be instant (use FCM to convert), but I’m kind of thinking depositing physical will be gradual.”

Despite the long anticipation of the new contracts’ launch, things are moving slower than expected now that Bakkt launches. Still, the reason for that is clear as the markets need to register any impact, with the Bitcoin trading tepidly going below $10,000 at press time.

When it comes to the fiat-settled Bitcoin futures contracts on CME, the expiration and rollover dates have historically exerted pressure on Bitcoin markets – and traders will probably be eyeing signs of potential impact from the Bakkt product in the coming days.

The latest Bitcoin and coming altcoin news show that losses are again seen on the market – with BTC falling below the $10,000 mark and altcoins following its steps.