Cryptocurrency Derivatives Series: Bakkt COO Compares ICE’s Bakkt With ‘Moonshot Bet’

The ICE’s CEO, Chairman, Jeff Sprecher, and the COO, Adam White, termed ICE’s investment in Bakkt as “a bit of a moonshot bet”, a term used by former American president John F.Kennedy on Neil Armstrong’s land on the lunar surface.

We all have been witnessing the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. When Neil Armstrong made his presence on the lunar surface five decades ago, which was in sync with what President John F. Kennedy had promised would be America’s “moonshot bet.”

The “moonshot bet” has been a renowned term in the business sphere. Jeff Sprecher, in his fourth-quarter earnings conference call, termed ICE’s investment in Bakkt “a bit of a moonshot bet.” 

However, Bakkt is pragmatically quite a humble solution to the lingering tasks of building trust in bitcoin and other digital assets for institutions and consumers alike.

For price discovery, bitcoin like a moonshot is need of beta-testing before launch. Yesterday, two days after Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary, Bakkt has diligently initiated user acceptance testing for its bitcoin futures listed and traded at ICE Futures U.S. and cleared at ICE Clear US.

Bakkt’s collaboration with the ICE’s leading futures exchange and clearing infrastructure to bring physical delivery futures contracts to market participants in 30 countries. The participants will have to encompass applicable AML/KYC reviews, consistent with CFTC-regulated markets and connect via ICE’s existing infrastructure.