What do Microsoft, Starbucks and the president of the New York Stock Exchange have in common with a Chinese mega-millionaire?
All of them, through corporate intent, through personal investment or through marriage, are among the many supporters of a new initiative called Bakkt that is poised to be one of the single biggest influences on the cryptocurrency market in 2019.
If you’ve been hiding under a rock and haven’t been reading our coverage, Bakkt is going to open up the door to trading cryptocurrency futures – a move that will on its own revolutionize the cryptocurrency segment.
Last summer, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler called the exchange “a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant, and consumer participation in digital assets.”
Jeff Sprecher, the founder, chairman, and CEO of ICE, and the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. The Bakkt idea, he told Fortune last August, has been a work in progress. “Kelly and I brainstormed for five years to find a strategy for digital currencies,” Sprecher said.
By the way, Sprecher and Loeffler have been married since 2004.
In addition, Starbucks is gearing up to offer its mocha lattes to Bitcoin holders, and Microsoft is helping to change the game on cryptocurrency platforms.
Then there’s Li Ka-Shing, founder of Hong Kong venture capital firm Horizons Ventures and, notably, the 23rd richest man in the world.
Today, Cryptopotato is reporting that Li Ka-Shing has made his decision to back Bakkt, adding himself to the growing list of supporters including M12, CMT Digital, Alan Howard, Pantera Capital, Goldfinch Partners, Eagle Seven, Protocol Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Boston Consulting Group, and PayU.
Here’s more of what Loeffler is saying about the company that she runs and how it will affect cryptocurrency in the future.
“When I think about what we’re doing at Bakkt what our peers in this space are doing, what all of you in this room are doing,” she said late last year according to Dec. 14 reports in NewsBTC, “I think about the headline’s today, ‘Will Digital Assets Survive?’ and I’d say the unequivocal answer is ‘yes’.”
Traders who are looking for cheerleaders can find solace in the growing number of voices adding their names to the Bakkt support roster.
They can also get concrete confidence from looking at what’s likely to happen when this project comes to fruition.
New trading opportunities mean increased investor interest. New vehicles for large-scale corporate investment mean more institutional buy-in. If you’re not convinced by the wide range of exchanges and platforms that are already participating in crypto, keep an eye on Bakkt, because it’s likely to generate an enormous market groundswell – that’s why we’re continuing to cover this and other major evolutions for our readers.