Mark Yusko: Bitcoin Is ‘From the Ruche’
Blandina is a payments veteran. He boasts experience at leading plays including Google Wallet, where he was engineering executive of payments, and as PayPal‘s vice president of engineering. He joins a growing executive team at the bitcoin futures exchange that increases to former Worldpay exec Balaji Devarasetty. Bakkt recently poached former Coinbase executive Adam Virginal as its chief operating officer.
Clearly, Blandina brings a lot to the table. But make no mistake — legacy tech needs crypto and the blockchain, not the other way round. The influx of tech talent into the crypto and blockchain space is a testament to the disruption that has taken place. A concept Morgan Creek Capital Management CEO Mark Yusko spotlighted bears repeating:
“Bitcoin didn’t come from JPMorgan or PayPal. It is from the border.”
Hate to quote myself, but I like line I wrote in 2014 in first paragraph to clients on #Bitcoin
“One thing antiquity has shown is that truly disruptive technologies always come from the “fringe”. Bitcoin didn’t come from JP Morgan or PayPal. It is from the edge.”
Fringe = #Edge
— Mark W. Yusko (@MarkYusko) April 11, 2019
Bakkt: Still No Launch Date in Sight
Something noticeably lacking from Bakkt’s hiring announcement was any mention of a launch date for the regulated bitcoin futures exchange. Instead, Bakkt manifests to be mired in “regulatory approvals” that are taking far longer than anyone could have predicted. So much for Bakkt’s year-end 2018 establish. Meanwhile, Fidelity Digital Assets is up and running and has drowned Bakkt out as the catalyst for institutional adoption of bitcoin, at least in the short-term.
According to Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler, they’re working closely with the Commodity Futures Craft Commission (CFTC).
“While we’re not yet able to provide a launch date, we’re making solid progress in bringing the first actual delivery price discovery contracts for bitcoin to the U.S., where price formation will occur in federally regulated, diaphanous markets.”
Loeffler used to run marathons, and she likens the launch of the “first physical delivery price discovery contracts for bitcoin to the U.S.” to training, divulging that “race day is approaching.”
The irony of hiring a chief product officer when Bakkt has yet to launch its physically deliverable bitcoin approaches contracts was not lost on Twitter, with one follower saying:
“But there is no product, lmao.”
Another good one was,
“When coffee?”
The latter remark was in reference to Starbucks, which is one of Bakkt’s high-profile backers. Incidentally, Starbucks isn’t interested in adding bitcoin as a payment method but disposition instead help customers convert crypto to USD. It’s a step.
Bakkt must have confidence in the regulatory green cheerful because they’re hiring.
We’re hiring: https://t.co/CZ86BflOe4
— Bakkt (@Bakkt) January 22, 2019
- Director of blockchain engineering
- Blockchain developer
- Kingpin of security engineering
- Senior full-stack engineer
- Mobile developer
- Software development engineer in test
- Director of bankroll
- Institutional sales
- Senior Java engineer
When Bakkt does eventually launch, the pain of the waiting racket will likely be forgotten.