The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)-owned Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts platform, has announced that it will begin to offer Bitcoin custody services to all interested institutions. Before now, the Bakkt Warehouse was only available to entities who were interested in trading futures contracts.
In an official blog post written by Bakkt Chief Operating Officer (COO) Adam White, the platform has received a regulatory nod from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and will allow all institutions to access Bitcoin custody, giving all of its clients the ability to “safeguard their assets using Bakkt’s enterprise-grade offering.”
In addition, Bakkt has announced that Pantera Capital, Tagomi, and Galaxy Digital, have already signed up for Bitcoin custody. Apart from these three, however, Bakkt reveals that there will be more firms announced in the weeks to come.
White further suggests as part of the announcement, that Bakkt is the preferred platform for custody because the feature requires several safety nets to properly work, all of which the platform has.
“Safely storing digital assets demands a comprehensive approach to custody. Institutions and sophisticated investors need more than cutting-edge technology. They require proven infrastructure, robust operational controls, and independent oversight.”
The platform boasts of advanced security and accessibility for both futures contracts and custody offerings as well. Mentioning “enterprise-grade infrastructure’, White states that Bakkt employs facilities that provide redundancy and can easily support heavy workloads and immediate disaster discovery.
To further ensure the security and availability of funds, Bakkt also has biometrically-controlled bank-grade vaults as well. White also tries to convince prospective customers, of the company’s other methods to ensure safety and transparency such as a $125 million insurance policy as well as third party audit and examination committees.
According to a Bakkt Volume Bot (@BakktBot), the platform hit a new all-time high on Friday, after trading 1741 contracts, worth about $15.5 million. Bakkt also recently revealed plans to launch an app in 2020, that will allow both merchants and customers, transact business via crypto, with Starbucks as the first partner.
