How Bakkt Bitcoin options could change the crypto market

The landscape for cryptocurrency investing expanded last week after Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures exchange backed by the owners of the New York Stock Exchange, announced that it would launch Bitcoin options on its platform on December 9. 

While such options are already available at unregulated exchanges like Netherlands-based Deribit outside the United States, the introduction of such products in the world’s biggest financial center is expected to pump up volumes and liquidity in crypto markets. 

An “industry first” for Bitcoin

“Options (obviously) allow investors and traders to do different things, and will facilitate new and important approaches to investing (covered call strategies, for instance),” wrote Matt Hougan, director of research at Bitwise Asset Management, in an email interview with Decrypt.

Bakkt’s options contracts are European-style contracts, meaning they can only be exercised on the date of expiration. “My guess is that they wanted to align the…