New partnership provides secure and efficient means of
buying, selling and storing bitcoin (BTC) for asset managers and
institutional investors seeking exposure to digital assets
NEW YORK, June 10, 2020 /CNW/ -- Galaxy Digital, the
diversified financial services and investment management company
providing quality digital asset exposure for institutional and
accredited investors, and Bakkt®, the digital asset derivatives
trading and custody platform majority-owned by Intercontinental
Exchange ("ICE"), today announced their partnership to launch a
collaborative white-glove service for asset managers looking to
acquire, build positions in and store bitcoin ("BTC").
Galaxy Digital Trading ("GDT"), Galaxy Digital's affiliate,
is providing market access and trading capabilities, while the
Bakkt Warehouse, a qualified custodian of bitcoin regulated by the
New York State Department of
Financial Services, is safeguarding digital assets for clients.
This direct connectivity between Galaxy Digital and Bakkt enables
the two companies to offer clients best-in-class efficiency through
the entire process of onboarding, trade execution and storage of
their digital assets.
"We designed this partnership to service the uptick in demand
our two firms have received from traditional asset managers seeking
access to physical bitcoin," said Tim
Plakas, Head of Sales at Galaxy Digital Trading. "These
funds expect the same caliber of market knowledge and trade
execution expertise in BTC as they would expect from any
established traditional finance desk, and Galaxy provides that,
while Bakkt delivers the high level of regulatory-compliant
security required for storing digital assets. Together, Galaxy
Digital and Bakkt offer a safe, efficient, and well-regulated route
into physical bitcoin access, one that has been already proven
successful in the macro hedge fund space."
"Alongside our adoption of safekeeping requirements that are
unique to the digital asset class and its infrastructure, the Bakkt
Warehouse uses the same best-in-class, trusted enterprise security
framework that protects ICE's dozen exchanges around the world,
including the New York Stock Exchange," said John Conneely, Head of Custody Business
Development at Bakkt. "As one of the largest trading operations in
the digital asset space, Galaxy Digital's execution expertise and
Bakkt's custody solution are highly complementary."
Trading & Market Access
GDT is uniquely positioned to source liquidity from more than 30
venues and providers, mitigating the risks of market fragmentation
and wider spreads impacting counterparty performance.
The business operates a 24-hour global trading model and
provides sophisticated trading strategies spanning spot
trading, lending, derivatives and structured products. In the first
quarter of 2020, GDT traded more than $1
billion of volume across BTC and other digital assets.
"Asset managers and hedge funds considering this service can be
assured by the high standards we hold as a publicly-traded company
with audited, public financial statements and an
institutional-sized balance sheet," added Plakas.
Custody
After launching the first end-to-end regulated futures market
for BTC in 2019 with ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Clear U.S., Bakkt
began offering institutional bitcoin custody at the Bakkt Warehouse
and has onboarded more than 70 firms to the Bakkt Warehouse.
Bakkt uses both warm (online) and cold (offline) storage to
secure customer funds, with the majority of funds held offline.
Both wallet types provide a zero-trust methodology and are covered
by a $125,000,000 insurance policy.
In addition, Bakkt works with the Digital Asset Risk Transfer team
from Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker, providing
customers with the option to purchase more than $500,000,000 in additional insurance coverage,
subject to underwriting criteria. Additional protections
include:
- SOC 1 Type I examination of Bakkt and SOC 2 Type II examination
of ICE infrastructure supporting the Bakkt Warehouse by KPMG and
PwC, respectively;
- On-premise datacenters and dedicated network connectivity
between operational sites to eliminate reliance on multi-tenant
systems, colocation facilities, and third-party data centers;
- Regular external, internal, and physical penetration tests to
evaluate the operation's facilities; and
- Fortune 500 company backing
To learn more about this offering, speak with a representative
from Galaxy Digital or Bakkt, or begin the AML/KYC process, please
contact OTC@galaxydigital.io or sales@bakkt.com.
About Galaxy Digital
Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd.
(TSXV: GLXY), is a diversified financial services and
investment management company in the digital asset, cryptocurrency
and blockchain technology sector. Galaxy Digital's team has
extensive experience spanning investing, portfolio management,
capital markets, operations, asset management, and blockchain
technology. Galaxy Digital currently operates four distinct
business lines, which include: Trading, Asset Management, Principal
Investments and Advisory Services. Galaxy Digital's CEO and Founder
is Michael Novogratz. The Company is
headquartered in New York City,
with offices in San Francisco,
London, Tokyo, Hong
Kong, the Cayman Islands
(registered office) and New
Jersey. Additional information about the Company's
businesses and products is available on www.galaxydigital.io.
About Bakkt
Bakkt® aims to unlock the $1.2+ trillion
of digital assets that is currently held in cryptocurrencies,
rewards and loyalty points, gaming assets and merchant stored
value. Bakkt began in 2018 with the vision to bring trust and
transparency to digital assets. Through the Bakkt Warehouse and
Bakkt® Bitcoin Futures and Options contracts, Bakkt serves
institutional clients in an end-to-end regulated market with true
price transparency, operated in partnership with Intercontinental
Exchange. For consumers, Bakkt will aggregate digital assets to
enable instant liquidity and to empower users to trade, transfer
and pay however they want. Merchants within the Bakkt ecosystem
will benefit from a lower cost of payment acceptance, enhanced
customer engagement, and decreased loyalty liability through a
variety of redemption options. Additional information about Bakkt's
businesses and products is available at www.bakkt.com.
Disclaimers
The TSXV has neither approved nor
disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV
nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in
the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this release. All figures are in U.S. Dollars unless
otherwise noted.
Galaxy Digital Contact
Peter
Wisniewski
Head of Galaxy Digital Trading
Email: OTC@galaxydigital.io
Tel: +1.212.499.0070
Bakkt Contact
Rachel
Ford
Director, Customer Strategy & Corporate Affairs
Email: press@bakkt.com
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SOURCE Galaxy Digital; Bakkt