Bakkt, the up-and-coming physically settled Bitcoin futures trading platform by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has made their first acquisition following their $182 million funding round. The acquisition involves certain assets of Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG), a Chicago-based independent futures commission merchant.
The news was announced by Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler, who wrote a Medium post on the company’s acquisition and announced it via Twitter.
We're pleased to share that we have entered into an agreement to acquire certain assets of Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG), an independent futures commission merchant https://t.co/5sgdbRO6Ql
— Bakkt (@Bakkt) January 14, 2019
The acquisition was made possible due to the selling of all of RCG’s customer business to one of the world’s largest commodity brokers, Marex Spectron. According to Loeffler, Bakkt saw this as an opportunity to acquire certain RCG assets related to its platform.
Speaking to Fortune, the Bakkt CEO said:
Typically when companies are combined you have overlapping systems, so we saw an opportunity to purchase a portion of the back office operations, including compliance and treasury services, and risk management, as well as adding members of the RCG team.
Explaining more in her Medium post, Loeffler proclaimed the importance of this acquisition, stating that it will aid in Bakkt’s mission to bring Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets to the mainstream:
It will enhance our risk management and treasury operations with systems and expertise. Other aspects of the transaction will contribute to our regulatory, AML/KYC and customer service operations as we help enable digital asset acceptance by bringing more choice and control to buyers and sellers.
Loeffler also made clear that the acquisition will not only benefit the needs of their institutional investors but will provide immense benefits to their consumer business as well.
Awaiting Regulatory Approval
As previously reported by IIB, Bakkt is waiting for regulatory approval from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the ongoing U.S. government shutdown is not helping. Bakkt’s launch is now pushed to “early 2019” as there’s no saying when the U.S. government will resume their operations.
However, as stated by Loeffler, Bakkt is not sitting still while they wait for regulatory approval. The company is making significant investments in technology and financial market expertise to establish an innovative platform that delivers a trusted fintech ecosystem for digital assets.
Furthermore, other highly anticipated crypto-related businesses expected to bring an influx of institutional investors are awaiting regulatory approval as well. Two of these businesses include ErisX and Fidelity Digital Asset Services.
Which up-and-coming crypto-related business will have the most impact on the cryptocurrency markets? Also, when will they finally launch? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
