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Crypto asset custodial and trading platform Bakkt has been listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BKKT from Oct 18, 2021. The company is owned by International Exchange Incorporated, which owns the NYSE.
Bakkt Holdings has a current valuation in excess of $2 billion. Coinbase, a competitor to Bakkt, was also listed on the NASDAQ in its own IPO in April of this year.
The company first announced in January that it was making plans to go public, and is now ready to turn those plans into reality after merging with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings and securing a partnership with Google. The merger saw the firm become Bakkt Holdings.
Bakkt Holdings gives users a platform to purchase, sell, and store digital assets. It also provides a bitcoin futures trading service to approved investors, and a mobile payment app, enabling payments at merchants for everyday items.
Bakkt planning for the future
Bakkt’s recent merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings will see $448M going into its coffers, which will be used for developmental investments and partnerships. The Google partnership will allow users of Bakkt’s Visa debit card to pay with bitcoin at merchants that accept Google Pay.
According to the firm’s CEO Gavin Michael, its initial focus will be on securing partnerships and expanding the digital assets that it offers. It will also be using Google Cloud to build a new analytics engine that will make use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and geolocation.
An interesting niche in the crypto space
In a sense, buying Class A common stock in a cryptocurrency company such as Bakkt Holdings can be thought of as indirectly investing in bitcoin. It will be interesting to see how much investors buy its stock, now that a bitcoin futures ETF is set to begin trading on the same day. The company’s share price fluctuations are influenced by the cryptocurrencies’ volatility. Bakkt is backed by venture capital firms Pantera Capital and Microsoft’s venture arm.
Bakkt would no doubt welcome the bolstering of its image, following unkept promises and undue hype in its infancy. Former Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler was accused of insider trading in early 2020 after dumping all her equities following a secretive senator meeting that occurred on Jan 24, 2020.
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