The yet-to-be-launched Bitcoin futures trading platform Bakkt has a new board constitution as revealed by Kelly Loeffler, the platform’s CEO. Kelly made the announcement through a medium post on Friday saying that her platform is charting a new course and therefore requires a sober board. In her statement, she mentioned that the board will be chaired by former Cisco and IBM executive Tom Noonan, a self-described ‘cyber expert’ and serial entrepreneur.
“We are charting a new course and it requires significant work, including by our Board, so I want to recognize our members,” Loeffler stated and continued, “Chairing the board is Tom Noonan, a cyber-expert and founder of numerous cybersecurity companies, including Internet Security Systems (IBM), JouleX (Cisco) and Endgame. Also joining me on the board are Jeff Sprecher, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of ICE and Chairman of the NYSE; Akshay Naheta, Managing Partner at Softbank; and Sean Collins, Managing Partner at Goldfinch Partners.”
Bakkt is seeking a regulatory license to operate a physically delivered Bitcoin futures platform. So far the approval from the US CFTC has been long coming with no clear determination in sight. Loeffler made the point that her team is not sitting around waiting for the approval. Not so long ago, the CEO announced the completion of a Series A funding round that saw the platform raise $182.5 million, effectively valuing the company at $740 million. Using these funds, Bakkt acquired some assets from independent futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG) which should help bolster the platform’s trade infrastructure.
Over the company’s past few updates, the CEO has maintained that they are working closely with the US CFTC to gain approval but they cannot provide a launch date. In this latest notification, Loeffler stated that they are making solid progress towards getting the necessary approval to launch their much-anticipated platform. She said,
“While we’re not yet able to provide a launch date, we’re making solid progress in bringing the first physical delivery price discovery contracts for bitcoin to the U.S., where price formation will occur in federally regulated, transparent markets.”
