Trading on Bakkt’s new Bitcoin Options remained weak into the week, as multiple outlets have reported. The much hyped exchange and institutional service provider, which has help from the likes of Microsoft and Starbucks, has yet to seriously impress anybody in the crypto trading world.
CME Options Dominate
Bakkt’s Bitcoin volumes remain pitifully low, in a high volume market with often more than $30 billion in daily global volume. That’s for direct trading, of course. The Bitcoin Options and other types of derivative markets are much bigger.
Bakkt is a product of the Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange. Reportedly, Bakkt went all of last week without a single options contract being traded for BTC.
Bakkt received much press in the run-up to its launch, and it still has a number of products in development. The company was finally able to get approval for options contracts, but so far, results have been lackluster.
CME Group has been offering Bitcoin Options for years, and its markets are doing conversely well.
Bakkt has yet to make a public statement about its lackluster performance. It was comparatively excited when it launched the product last month:
At Bakkt, our mission is to bring trust and utility to digital assets. These new contracts represent an important milestone in the development of this emerging asset class and our bitcoin product complex. Backed by the strong support and commitment of the Intercontinental Exchange team, we have great momentum going into 2020 and an exciting product roadmap that includes new trading products, an expanded custody offering, an innovative consumer payments app, and more.
Bakkt Bitcoin Futures Healthy
In the same blog, Bakkt promises to develop “complimentary” products to suit the needs of its users. But the question, at this point, seems to be where the users are.
Options and other types of derivatives products are not all Bakkt has up its sleeve, of course. The project aims to have its fingers into all kinds of things, including point-of-sale.
Despite a lack of interest in its Bitcoin Options contracts, Bakkt has seen a serious increase in its Bitcoin Futures contracts. By one report, roughly 1600% over the last month.
Thus it seems the market currently prefers CME for Bitcoin Options, but its increasingly interested in Bakkt for futures.
