The chief executive officer of the intercontinental Exchange (ICE) expects the firm’s digital asset platform Bakkt to launch later in 2019. The comment was made by ICE chief executive officer Jeff Sprecher throughout an earnings call Thursday, Feb. 7.
The call was dedicated to ICE’s monetary results for q4 and the full year of 2018. Sprecher explained that the corporate spent over $1 billion on strategic initiatives, including on the launch of the digital plus platform.
ICE operates 23 leading global exchanges, together with the new york exchange.
The company’s chief financial officer, Scott Hill, further disclosed his expectations on the expenses Bakkt is ready to bring, supported its current monetary performance:
“And finally, our investment in Bakkt can generate $20 million to $25 million of expense based mostly upon the run rate within the first quarter. we are going to update you on progress at Bakkt and also the level of investment as we move through the year.”
When asked regarding the expected returns or revenue growth from recent investments, as well as Bakkt, Sprecher characterized the crypto platform as a “moonshot bet” for ICE:
“So it's a bit of a moonshot bet and it's been organized terribly} manner that's very totally different than the way ICE typically does businesses [...] They're well on in building out an infrastructure that i believe you'll see launch later this year.”
Sprecher additional that Bakkt exists independently from ICE, as it has its own offices, management team and infrastructure. He stressed that the project’s infrastructure has already attracted a number of high-profile investors and partners, as well as Starbucks and Microsoft — as Cointelegraph antecedently reported.
Hill concluded that Bakkt is more of a long project instead of a 2019-focused agenda. “I assume Bakkt is absolutely an investment [...] That's more about the longer term and revenue and market opportunities that we see within the future and less about 2019 topline,” Hill said.
ICE initial announced the launch of its digital plus platform in August 2018. the corporate was set to launch in early 2019, however the date was delayed because of the ongoing consultations with the u. s. commodity Futures and trading Commission.
On Sat, Feb. 9, ICE proclaimed that it's finalized its initial acquisition of assets in futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins group, that was initial proclaimed in mid-January.
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