ATLANTA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today announced the execution of the first block trade of Bakkt Bitcoin Futures submitted to ICE Futures U.S.
“Since launching last week, the Bakkt Bitcoin Futures have achieved several milestones, including first physical delivery of bitcoin against a futures contract, and now the first block trade,” said Trabue Bland, President of ICE Futures U.S. “Each of these achievements, on top of tight bid/offer spreads and a growing base of participants and clearing firms, are contributing to the first end-to-end regulated futures contract from price discovery to custody and physical delivery.”
On Tuesday, October 1, the first Bakkt Bitcoin Futures block trade was executed between Galaxy Digital and XBTO, and was cleared by ED&F Man. A block trade is a privately negotiated trade with a certain minimum size threshold, which is submitted to the Exchange and cleared through ICE Clear US.
“Galaxy Digital Trading views futures as a critical institutional market tool for managing risk,” said Galaxy Digital. “As the digital asset class continues to mature, we view the launch of Bakkt as a foundational piece of market infrastructure.”
XBTO stated: “Last week, we bought the first Bakkt Bitcoin Daily Futures contract and took the first physical delivery of a digital asset under existing commodity futures laws and regulations. This week, we executed the first block trade. We’re pleased to report that the launch was successful and can accommodate large trades.”
About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company formed in the year 2000 to modernize markets. ICE serves customers by operating the exchanges, clearing houses and information services they rely upon to invest, trade and manage risk across global financial and commodity markets. A leader in market data, ICE Data Services serves the information and connectivity needs across virtually all asset classes. As the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, the company is the premier venue for raising capital in the world, driving economic growth and transforming markets.
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Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the SEC on February 7, 2019.
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