news.u.today
Only three days are left until Bakkt rolls out its physically-settled Bitcoin futures, which is arguably the most anticipated cryptocurrency event of 2019. While the bulls are already drooling over their potential gains, not everyone shares their excitement.
All options are on the cards
A recent poll posted by Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano vividly shows that the market is on the fence.
After more than 3,500 Twitter users weighed in on the issue, the votes are almost slipt even with the “No change to price” option having a slight edge. Some suggest that the Bakkt hype has been already priced in. Bitcoin barely blipped after Bakkt finally announced its launch date, so its impact on the market could be overestimated.
One user opined that Bitcoin whales could put a spanner in the works for the bulls by shorting Bitcoin en masse right given that everyone expects the price to go up on the Bakkt news.
The problem is these markets are heavily manipulated. So if its obvious that the value should go up, then the Crypto Whales will short it. That's why we have to just #HODL until we have a bigger marketcap.. 👌🏻
— CrypytoFever (@Smithstyle84) September 20, 2019
Another suggestion is that Bakkt will be used by institutions as an opportunity to short Bitcoin just like CME’s futures that were launched right on the verge of the big collapse in January 2018.
Down. See CME Bitcoin Futures Launch.
— Robert Almeida | ロバート (@Robert__Almeida) September 20, 2019
if they were smart they already bought and are waiting for the launch to short the fomo and sell their holdings. then let the short contracts settle positively and voila, get back all their bitcoin 😐
— $ecret₿oss€haracter (@imgislostdotjpg) September 20, 2019
Driving Bitcoin adoption
Moving away from the price talk, a recent Fortune article claims that Bakkt will be able to solve Bitcoin’s adoption problem by dealing with its main pain points, such as volatility and lack of trustworthiness.
The funds that trade on our exchanges expressed to us that they don't want to deal in today's unregulated markets, and want end-to-end federal oversight, on the level of the NYSE, to feel safe trading in Bitcoin," says Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler.
Not to mention the reputational boost that Bitcoin will be able to get solely from the fact that none other than Jeff Sprecher, the financial titan who spearheads Intercontinental Exchange, is finally getting behind crypto.
With a confluence of hedge funds, family offices, and other institutional investors getting on the bandwagon, Bitcoin could become a stable currency that could serve as an alternative to traditional assets. In turn, this would also drive retail adoption.