Bakkt Shifts Focus Back to Digital Asset Custody, Adds Support for Six New Coins
The Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) digital asset platform Bakkt has announced that it is expanding its offering to provide digital asset custody services for six new coins. The service will include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Pax Gold (PAXG).
The platform initially focused on futures and options trading when it launched in September 2019 but has since moved away from that. Bakkt’s CEO Mike Blandina explained in a blog post that the company’s focus has always been on custody and that the decision to offer expanded services was in response to demand from institutional investors.
He added that Bakkt will introduce institutional-grade custody in the coming months for greater protection of digital assets and provide an ever-increasing range of digital asset services to its clients. The announcement also revealed that the company has moved to a “hybrid model” of custody, combining cold-storage and multi-signature hot wallets.
Blandina believes that the introduction of the new coins and custody solutions will help to further institutionalize crypto markets and ensure their long-term sustainability. He also noted that Bakkt is developing additional features to enhance digital asset services including open APIs and support for Greater Shanghai Foreign Exchange (GSFX), a Chinese commodity trading platform.