Share this article
Bakkt Makes Initial Hiring Push for Bitcoin Futures Exchange
The hotly anticipated bitcoin futures platform plans to hire at least eight individuals in areas from sales to tech to finance.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:49 a.m. Published Jan 22, 2019, 10:05 p.m.
Ahead of its hotly anticipated launch, bitcoin futures exchange Bakkt has launched a hiring campaign. Eight new job posting were published Tuesday on the company's website.
Bakkt is looking for several experienced software developers, including mobile and blockchain developers; an institutional sales manager with experience in North America or Asia; and three higher-level positions including a director of finance, director of security engineering and director for blockchain engineering.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
An institutional-grade regulated exchange for crypto derivatives founded by the Intercontinental Exchange (the New York Stock Exchange's parent company), Bakkt was expected to go live on December 12 last year, but the launch was postponed twice.
It was initially delayed to until January 24, with the company citing a need for "additional time for customer and clearing member onboarding." It is now delayed indefinitely while the exchange waits for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to grant an exemption for Bakkt’s plan to custody bitcoin on behalf of its clients.
The ongoing government shutdown has contributed to the delay. The CFTC needs at least 30 days for a public comment period, plus however much time may be needed to review the comments and make a decision once this period concludes. It is unclear when this comment period may begin.
However, Bakkt's team hasn't been sitting idly by waiting for the green light: it closed a $182.5-million funding round and acquired "certain assets" belonging to Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG), an independent futures commission merchant, earlier this month.
The deal, involving RCG's staff and technology, was supposed to help Bakkt improve its risk management, anti-money-laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC) and treasury operations, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler said in announcing the acquisition.
Her most prominent hire to date has been Adam White, one of the longest-serving employees at industry unicorn Coinbase, who joined Bakkt as chief operating officer last year.
From left: CoinDesk advisory board chairman Michael Casey, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher at Consensus: Invest 2018. Image via CoinDesk archives
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
CME loses top spot to Binance in bitcoin futures open interest as institutional demand wanes
Behind the move is a sharp narrowing in the profitability of the basis trade, in which traders attempt to capture a spread by buying spot bitcoin while selling BTC futures.
What to know:
- Binance has now become the largest venue for bitcoin futures open interest with roughly 125,000 BTC, or about $11.2 billion in notional value.
- CME bitcoin futures open interest has fallen to around 123,000 BTC, its lowest level since February 2024.
- Tightening spot futures spreads triggered basis trade unwinds and reduced institutional demand on CME.
Top Stories
