The day after Bakkt recorded the maximum monthly trading in bitcoin futures, the platform announced that it would take it one step further by launching a bitcoin option contract that would be based on a monthly futures contract. The announcement was made in the official блоге Medium, where CEO Kelly Loeffler stated:
“The new contract is based on customer feedback and is designed to hedge or enhance the impact of bitcoins, generate revenue, and increase cost and capital efficiency.”
The Bitcoin option contract will enter into force at the end of this year, December 9, 2019 of the year. In addition, a launch will also mean that Bakkt will be the first platform to launch a regulated bitcoin options contract. According to the announcement, ICE Futures US has received Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] approval and will use its existing Bitcoin futures and custody solutions.
Bakkt said in twitter :
“The Bakkt Bitcoin Options contract will be based on the Bakkt Monthly Bitcoin Futures reference contract and will be another important step in the development of this asset class for institutional investors.”
Bakkt's Bitcoin options contract will have eight key features: capital efficiency, cash or physical settlement, European-style options, attractive commissions, widespread and liquidity, instant messaging, blocked transactions and options analytics.
Kelly Loffler said about the performance of the Bitcoin contract for monthly futures:
“It is noteworthy that yesterday, on October 23, we saw record 590 contracts for changing the monthly futures. We also completed the milestone with unhindered physical supplies in our daily and monthly Bitcoin futures contracts. ”
The announcement came at a time when competitor CME Group announced that it would begin issuing bitcoin options in early 2020, following an assessment of consumer demand. CME stated,
“[...] We believe that the launch of options will provide our customers with additional flexibility in trading and hedging their price risk in Bitcoin.”