ICE Chief Says Crypto Winter Benefits Bakkt Takeovers

Thursday, 02/05/2019 | 20:33 GMT by Aziz Abdel-Qader
  • Sprecher observed that the bears’ dominance has actually fostered massive innovation in cryptocurrencies.
ICE Chief Says Crypto Winter Benefits Bakkt Takeovers
Reuters

According to ICE’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Sprecher, investors in Cryptocurrencies should not feel dismayed despite the long winter, which actually allowed their crypto platform Bakkt to buy digital assets at a discount.

On a call with analysts, after the company reported its Q1 financial results, Sprecher observed that the bears’ dominance has actually fostered massive innovation in cryptocurrencies.

He further explains that it has been helpful that “the cryptocurrency industry sort of went into what they call a winter, which took some of the heat off of the timetable to launch.”

“We’ve actually looked at a number of different companies and acquired a company earlier this week that wouldn’t have been available to us if the market had been really hot,” Sprecher added.

In a different sense, this is not precisely what happened in the market over the last year even as cryptocurrencies were striving towards finding more use cases. Many cryptocurrency-linked firms said to have run into financial trouble as cryptocurrency prices struggle to recover from a steep decline throughout 2018. Exchanges and other operators have been laying off large swathes of their workforces over the past few months as the market crash hits businesses.

Bakkt continues to bring on new talents

Earlier this week, Bakkt announced the acquisition of Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC), which provides cryptocurrency custody solution for institutional investors and token issuers holding digital assets. The takeover should help Bakkt secure the NY regulator’s approval to operate as a so-called ‘qualified custodian.’

While Bakkt has tried to remedy concerns that the firm might be sitting on its hands, the whole process has been on a standstill for over six months as CFTC is yet to give a green signal to the platform.

In the most recent news, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange is seeking a license from NY regulator that would permit Bakkt itself to hold custody of customers’ tokens, Bloomberg today quoted three unnamed sources.

In the meantime, Bakkt continues to bring on new talents to build out its crypto platform. This included poaching key executives from rivals such as its current COO, Adam White, who joined from Coinbase.

According to ICE’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Sprecher, investors in Cryptocurrencies should not feel dismayed despite the long winter, which actually allowed their crypto platform Bakkt to buy digital assets at a discount.

On a call with analysts, after the company reported its Q1 financial results, Sprecher observed that the bears’ dominance has actually fostered massive innovation in cryptocurrencies.

He further explains that it has been helpful that “the cryptocurrency industry sort of went into what they call a winter, which took some of the heat off of the timetable to launch.”

“We’ve actually looked at a number of different companies and acquired a company earlier this week that wouldn’t have been available to us if the market had been really hot,” Sprecher added.

In a different sense, this is not precisely what happened in the market over the last year even as cryptocurrencies were striving towards finding more use cases. Many cryptocurrency-linked firms said to have run into financial trouble as cryptocurrency prices struggle to recover from a steep decline throughout 2018. Exchanges and other operators have been laying off large swathes of their workforces over the past few months as the market crash hits businesses.

Bakkt continues to bring on new talents

Earlier this week, Bakkt announced the acquisition of Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC), which provides cryptocurrency custody solution for institutional investors and token issuers holding digital assets. The takeover should help Bakkt secure the NY regulator’s approval to operate as a so-called ‘qualified custodian.’

While Bakkt has tried to remedy concerns that the firm might be sitting on its hands, the whole process has been on a standstill for over six months as CFTC is yet to give a green signal to the platform.

In the most recent news, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange is seeking a license from NY regulator that would permit Bakkt itself to hold custody of customers’ tokens, Bloomberg today quoted three unnamed sources.

In the meantime, Bakkt continues to bring on new talents to build out its crypto platform. This included poaching key executives from rivals such as its current COO, Adam White, who joined from Coinbase.

About the Author: Aziz Abdel-Qader
Aziz Abdel-Qader
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About the Author: Aziz Abdel-Qader
  • 4984 Articles
  • 31 Followers

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