Bakkt, a cryptocurrency startup led by Intercontinental Exchange, scored $182.5 million to build out its futures trading platform for cryptocurrencies ahead of an anticipated, albeit delayed, launch in 2019. CEO Kelly Loeffler made the announcement of Bakkt’s first capital raise in a Medium post published Monday.

“We’ll share details as the New Year unfolds, but as our COO Adam White and I work through Bakkt’s 2019 objectives, we are focused on opportunities to provide new infrastructure, including the industry’s first institutional grade regulated exchange, clearing and warehousing services for physical delivery and storage,” Loeffler wrote.

Bakkt was originally preparing to launch at the end of 2018, but that plan was pushed back due to regulatory hurdles and tweaks to the customer onboarding process, Loeffler explained in a previous Medium post.

At CoinDesk’s Consensus: Invest conference in New York in November, Loeffler said the company had put out “an ambitious timeline” to launch in 2018. The company around that time had announced a new target launch date of January 24, 2019.

Consultation with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission went on for the better part of 2018, Loeffler said in her latest Medium post. In a separate announcement also released on Monday, ICE said it expects to provide an updated launch timeline in early 2019, “pursuant to the CFTC’s process and timeline.”

Loeffler said Bakkt has continued to work with clearing firms and customers as it navigates the approval process and that Bakkt would continue to onboard customers as it waits for the “green light” from regulators.

“At an industry level, regulatory approval for physically delivered and warehoused bitcoin will establish and amplify the voice of U.S. authorities as the digital asset market evolves globally,” she wrote. “We have filed our applications and the timing for approval is now based on the regulatory review process.”

Bakkt is backed by Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, Naspers’ PayU and other investors, according to the company’s announcement.

With the price of bitcoin hovering around $3,800 these days, down from its peak at roughly $20,000 just a year ago, the idea of a crypto venture backed by an established financial institution could be palatable for crypto enthusiasts and traditional investors alike.

Also See: The State of Cryptocurrency in 2019

Bakkt isn’t the only game in this town. Its fundraising round comes just a few weeks after competitor ErisX, a crypto derivatives exchange planning to offer digital futures and spot trading, closed a $27.5 million Series B funding round with contributions from major financial institutions and cryptocurrency companies, including Nasdaq Ventures, Fidelity, ConsenSys and Bitmain.

According to the ErisX website, the company has operated a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market for the past seven years and has a Derivatives Clearing Organization application, which it filed in 2017, pending with the CFTC.