Bitcoin Needs 'Real Use Cases' to Become Digital Gold, Says ICE Chief

Bitcoin might become "Digital gold," but first it needs to be used more in everyday business, Intercontinental Exchange's chief executive said.

During a quarterly earnings call Thursday, ICE head Jeffrey Sprecher said that he sees use in transactions as the prerequisite to bitcoin becoming a long-term store of value.

The company's Bakkt subsidiary, which runs a bitcoin futures market, announced this week that it is developing an app for consumers to buy goods from merchants, beginning with Starbucks.

A number of Bakkt's employees already see bitcoin as digital gold, Sprecher said.

Bitcoin may follow a similar trajectory, Sprecher said, citing its development and mining capabilities.

"It may well be that, rather than convert bitcoin to fiat currency and then use [that] fiat currency to buy goods and services, merchants and users will accept bitcoin directly," he said.

Parties who do transact directly with bitcoin would avoid the foreign exchange costs associated with converting back and forth between fiat.

Bakkt went live with its flagship bitcoin futures last month after more than a year of working on regulatory approvals and building out its platform.

While the company initially saw low volume for its bitcoin futures contracts, trading has recently picked up.

"It just so happens that the way we've launched our bitcoin futures contract is that we are a source of price discovery because we're physically delivered," Sprecher said, meaning the contracts are paid in bitcoin rather than dollars.