Bakkt could be on track to start developing the ‘phase two’ of its roadmap. Bakkt is the platform owned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and that has been thought for institutional investors. The phase two of the operations include the participation of Starbucks and Microsoft. The information was released by The Block a few days ago.
Bakkt is Developing its Platform
According to some reports, Bakkt is working on its investment platform for institutional investors. A few days ago, Kelly Loeffler, CEO of Bakkt, said in a Medium article that they were delaying the launching of the platform for January 2019. The previous date was December 2018.
“Given the volume of interest in Bakkt and work required to get all of the pieces in place, we will now be targeting January 24, 2019, for our launch to ensure that our participants are ready to trade on Day 1,” Loeffler wrote.
When the platform was announced, the ICE informed that they were working with other brands such as Microsoft and Starbucks. The phase two might use Microsoft’s cloud solutions in order to allow individuals to buy and sell virtual currencies. It will also be possible to store and spend virtual currencies on a global network.
Starbucks will also play an important role in Bakkt’s plan to bring new customers to the virtual currency market. In the future, Starbucks customers could convert cryptocurrencies to United States Dollars and make purchases with them.
Back in August, the vice president of partnerships and payments at Starbucks commented:
“As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks.”
Several new customers, mostly millennials, will be able to use Bitcoin and other virtual currencies for daily purchases.
There are other companies working in order to launch platforms for institutional investors. Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs are planning to launch specific products for wealthier and traditional investors.
The virtual currency market has been in a bear trend since the beginning of the year. As Bitcoin dropped under $4,000 dollars, these announcements create positive expectations for the community.
Carlos is an international relations’ analyst specializing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Since 2017, Carlos has written extensively for UseTheBitcoin and other leading cryptocurrency sites; with over 2,000 articles published.
