In a closed meet-up held in Tel Aviv attended by Finance Magnates, Bakkt President Adam White discussed a number of areas of interest, including the future of crypto and how Bakkt is meeting and working with regulators to normalize crypto. Also discussed was Bakkt's consideration of extending its offering beyond Bitcoin into other Altcoins, including Ethereum.
White, a former Vice President and General Manager of Coinbase, revealed that he had been in discussion this week with the Israel Securities Authority as part of Bakkt's mission to work closely with different regulatory authorities and its backer Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE), to normalize cryptocurrency trading in regulated markets. The meeting with the ISA seems to tie in with recent moves by the Israeli regulatory authority to push for a digital securities platform.
Launched in September 2019, Bakkt offers the only fully regulated one-stop-shop for Bitcoin price discovery. Bakkt provides regulated exchange trading, and regulated custody with the focus very much on clarity and transparency. White clarified that although ICE is a majority shareholder and investor, "they are not our outright owner," but the two are working together with regulators around the world to normalize regulated crypto trading.
White discussed the challenges unregulated exchanges present, especially with how market data is self-reported. The lack of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and KYC's is something that White believes that regulators "will not allow this to happen indefinitely."
EX-Bakkt CEO Now US Senator
Bakkt's former CEO and ICE's Head of Digital Assets, Kelly Loeffler became a US Senator at the end of last year and is a vocal proponent of Cryptocurrencies . White praised her efforts to advocate and educate her fellow lawmakers, saying: “She (Kelly Loeffler) is now one of a hundred senators in the US and can help drive legislation and educate the US Congress on how crypto can actually solve some problems.”
White Hints at Ether Offering
When pressed on the future for Bakkt, White offered strong hints towards expanding its contract variety beyond Bitcoin with Ethereum seemingly in their sights. Seeing value in extending its offerings, White clarified: “There’s still a lot of cryptocurrencies that it’s unclear if they securities, Are they currencies or commodities. The CFTC has only said they’d theoretically have approved futures on mainstream crypto assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Other than that, it’s still unknown. It’s under us.”
