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Bakkt, a cryptocurrency swap and liquidity provider created by the New York Stock Exchange parent company, raised $ 182.5 million from a group of high-profile investors and venture capital firms.
On December 31, Bakkt's CEO, Kelly Loeffler, announced the Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, the venture capital arm of Microsoft, M12, Pantera Capital, PayU, the fintech arm of Naspers and Protocol Ventures have invested in the company, sharing the vision of the company to drive institutional access to digital resources and provide support to traders.
Loeffler said:
Today, our work focuses on guiding institutional access for digital resources, along with the uses of merchants and consumers, and we are already expanding this vision by collaborating with large companies like Starbucks in these efforts.
Not all on the Bitcoin price
As of December 31, the price of Bitcoin remains down 80% from its all-time high of $ 19,500 and goes towards the end of the year in the middle of a strong sale and a bear market.
But, according to Bakkt's CEO, Kelly Loeffler, 2018 was the busiest year for the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency sector, as it saw significant progress in strengthening the infrastructure to support the class of activities.
In December alone, Bakkt obtained an investment of $ 182 million from major venture capital companies and technology conglomerates, while ErisX, another cryptocurrency based futures market in the United States, received $ 27.5 million from Nasdaq and Fidelity.
While the value of cryptographic resources has significantly decreased since the beginning of 2018, Loffler stressed that the price does not reflect the achievements of the companies within the cryptocurrency ecosystem and the milestones that the industry has reached in the last 12 months.
He noticed:
In particular, 2018 was the most active year for crypto in its short ten-year history. This was evidenced by the increased investment in distributed register technology and digital assets, as well as by blockchain network metrics such as the value of daily bitcoin transactions and active addresses. However, these milestones tend to be overshadowed by more focused attention on the price of bitcoin, which has been seen by some as an indicator of the potential of technology.
With the improvement of the institutional infrastructure for Bitcoin and the increase in the overall liquidity of cryptographic assets, the sector could see the inflow of more capital from institutional investors and high profile funds in the long run.
Several companies, including Bakkt, are actively working on various solutions to address the lack of adoption by digital asset traders with partners like Starbucks and Microsoft.
Expect a delay Bakkt
Some reports have suggested that the partial closure of the US government could lead to the delay in the launch of the Bakkt Bitcoin futures market on January 24th.
In an official statement, Bakkt stated that the company would provide an update at the beginning of 2019 on the complexity of the company's plans in launching its Bitcoin futures market.
"Following consultation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ICE Futures US, Inc. plans to provide an updated launch timeline at the start of 2019 for the trading, clearing and warehousing of the Bakkt Bitcoin daily futures contract ( USD) ".
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