Bakkt, the much-anticipated digital assets platform operated by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has closed its first acquisition, a tweet from the company revealed Feb. 8. The move marks the finalization of an acquisition of assets in futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG). “With today’s closing of our transaction with Rosenthal Collins Group, we welcome great new team members to Bakkt,” the statement reads. By acquiring certain assets in the company, Bakkt said it hopes: “RCG’s remarkable heritage, culture and expertise will help us build out a trusted institutional infrastructure for digital assets.” Bakkt had announced the acquisition of assets …

A new Bitcoin (BTC) scam website representing digital assets platform Bakkt has appeared on the internet, with its domain “bakktplatform.io” registered on Jan. 31. The fake Bakkt website claims that the launch of the platform will take place on March 12, also offering investors a chance to participate in another funding round, accepting “investments” in Bitcoin. Citing official data from the genuine Bakkt blog, the fake website mentions that the upcoming digital asset platform had raised $182.5 million in the end of 2018, and announced a second investment round for “all interested investors who believe in the future of the …

Disclaimer: This report previously incorrectly stated that ICE and Blockstream had just launched the Cryptocurrency Data Feed product. Corrections have been made to the article to accurately reflect the development. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and major global blockchain firm Blockstream have upgraded their Cryptocurrency Data Feed product, as ICE Data Services tweeted on Jan. 24. Founded in 2000 in the United States, the Intercontinental Exchange is a global company that owns exchanges for financial commodity markets and operates 23 global exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). According to the announcement, ICE’s crypto data service enables real-time and historical …

Bakkt, the digital assets platform backed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has acquired certain assets in futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG). The acquisition was announced in a Medium post on Monday, Jan. 14. In the post, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler hinted that the company’s latest move is part of Bakkt’s ambitious plans to become the first integrated and institutional grade exchange-traded markets and custody solutions. Loeffler also stressed that the acquisition means that the company is slowing down operations while awaiting regulatory approval by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for the launch of …

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced an update on the launch of the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract in an official notice Dec. 31. The document from ICE — the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and creator of digital assets platform Bakkt — states that “[f]ollowing consultation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC], ICE Futures U.S., Inc. expects to provide an updated launch timeline in early 2019 for the trading, clearing and warehousing” of Bakkt’s Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract. The document reiterated that previously the firm had been targeting Jan. 24, 2019 as a launch date, …

Digital assets platform Bakkt — created by the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — has announced the completion of its first funding round in a blog post today, Dec. 31. The institutional investor-focused cryptocurrency platform from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has officially raised $182.5 million from 12 partners and investors, according to the post. The partners and investors reportedly include major names in both traditional finance and crypto-oriented investing, including ICE, Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Microsoft’s venture capital arm and Pantera Capital. Bakkt also noted in the announcement that the …

Crypto-focused institutional asset manager Morgan Creek Digital has issued a $1 million bet against the S&P 500 (SPX) stock market index, a press release shared with Cointelegraph reveals Dec. 6. The crypto fund has issued a wager that its Digital Asset Index Fund –– a basket of ten major crypto assets –– will outperform the SPX over the next 10 years, starting Jan. 1, 2019. The S&P 500 is based on market capitalizations of 500 large companies that have common stock listed on major U.S. stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ). The …

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) chairman Jeffrey Sprecher expressed optimism about the survival of digital currencies as an asset class, business news outlet Barron’s reported Nov. 27. Speaking at the Consensus Invest conference, Sprecher — who is also the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — said that when he saw headlines asking “Will digital assets survive?,” he would say that “the unequivocal answer is yes.” “We’re kind of agnostic to price,” Sprecher added. On stage at the Consensus Invest event in New York, Sprecher was accompanied by his wife and the CEO of cryptocurrency platform Bakkt, Kelly Loeffler. Bakkt is …

Ten financial and tech firms have established an Association for Digital Asset Markets (ADAM) to create a “code of conduct” for the cryptocurrency sector. The launch was announced in a press release published Nov. 27. Among ADAM’s founding members are Mike Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, global financial services firm BTIG, fintech firm Paxos – of recently-launched stablecoin PAX – and crypto liquidity solutions provider GSR. According to the press release, ADAM will focus on working with regulators to seek “comprehensive standards” for digital asset market participants. These will aim to encompass trading, custody, clearing and settlement in the …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week US SEC Releases Memorandum From Meeting Over Bitcoin ETF Proposal The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has published a memorandum from a meeting about the Bitcoin exchange-traded-fund (ETF) proposal from VanEck and SolidX that included EC Commissioner Elad L. Roisman and his counsels Dean Conway, Matthew Estabrook, and Christina Thomas, along with representatives …

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has announced the launch date for Bitcoin (BTC) futures on its platform Bakkt, according to a document released Oct. 22. Bakkt is a platform for trading, storing, and spending digital assets that was established earlier this year by global exchange operator ICE. Per the document, ICE will list Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contracts for trading on Dec. 12, 2018. The product will be physically-settled and cleared by ICE Clear U.S., Inc. The notice further explains: “Each futures contract calls for delivery of one bitcoin held in …

Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claimed that crypto markets are reflecting some overreaction from investors recently, in comments to CNBC August 8. Speaking in an interview on CNBC's “Fast Money,” Morehead suggested that investors have exaggerated the importance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recent delay on their decision regarding a Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). As per Morehead, crypto investors should instead focus on more bullish events in the market, such as the announcement of upcoming cryptocurrency project Bakkt by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The ICE, which operates 23 large global exchanges including New York Stock Exchange …