On Monday (September 9), Adam White, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Bakkt, the crypto custodian and Bitcoin futures exchange subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), declared the Bakkt Warehouse “open for business.”

White sent out the following tweet at 15:21 UTC on September 9:

In his blog post, White said:

The launch of the Bakkt Warehouse, our regulated custodian and part of Bakkt Trust Company, allows for the safe, secure storage of bitcoin. It represents a milestone as we prepare for the launch of the Bakkt Bitcoin Daily and Monthly Futures contracts on ICE Futures U.S.

He also added:

We’re thrilled with the initial interest we have seen in the Bakkt Warehouse, and continue to onboard new customers and accept bitcoin deposits.

The Bakkt Warehouse launched last Friday (September 6).

On that day, Bloomberg published an article that provided some more details on how Bakkt’s futures products would work:

  • “Once the futures begin trading on Sept. 23, actual Bitcoin can be acquired by going long in the one-day or 30-day contract and holding to delivery.”
  • “The early opening of the warehouse is meant to allow customers to move Bitcoin in and out of their accounts to become comfortable with the process prior to Sept. 23.”
  • “Both futures contracts will be margined, meaning there’s no need for users to pre-fund their trading accounts or collateralize them at 100% as was previously envisioned by ICE.”
  • “ICE hopes the futures will create price discovery for Bitcoin apart from any cash market influence, as the company has cited abuse and manipulation in spot Bitcoin trading.”
  • “It’s rare in the futures world for a company to act as exchange, clearinghouse and settlement authority; this last part delayed ICE’s plans for months as it sought the NYDFS approval to become a trust.”

Earlier today, Bakkt tweeted: