Bitcoin Futures Market Bakkt Announces its First Acquisition

This Monday Bakkt, the digital assets platform backed by the NYSE, announced in a medium post the acquisition of “certain assets” from Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG).

Ever since its first introduction in August last year, Bakkt has strived to create the first integrated, institutional grade exchange-traded markets and custody solution for physical delivery of digital assets.

According to the post, the company has entered an agreement to acquire certain valuable assets of RCG, an independent futures commission merchant, that will help with development of the platform. Last December the London-based commodities broker Marex Spectron announced the acquisition of the customer business of RCG.

The assets that Bakkt acquired will help enhance its risk management and treasury operations, as well as improve their regulatory requirements, such as anti-money laundering and know your customer policies. The company will also welcome new members of the RCG team.

Even though Bakkt was expected to launch its futures exchange on Jan. 24, it will most likely see a delay due to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rule of a 30-day comment period open to the general public, which has yet to be announced.

The potential delay could be largely associated with the record breaking U.S. government shutdown that began on Dec. 22. The shutdown has affected the CFTC, as it is unable to operate as usual because of it. Hinting at the delay, Loeffler further added:

“This acquisition underlines the fact we’re not standing still as we await regulatory approval by the CFTC for the launch of regulated trading in our crypto markets. Our mission requires significant investment in technology to establish an innovative platform, as well as financial market expertise to deliver the most trusted fintech ecosystem for digital assets.”