Bakkt Goes Public on NYSE Under Ticker Symbol BKKT Today!

Today is a big day for Bakkt. The cryptocurrency custodian and exchange platform, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has officially gone public on the New York Stock Exchange. This is due to Bakkt completing its merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings. Bakkt is set to trade under the ticker symbol BKKT.

What is Bakkt

Bakkt is owned by intercontinental exchange (ICE) which is also the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Bakkt enables institutional investors the ability to speculate on the price of Bitcoin. This is achieved in the form of futures trading. This allows institutions the opportunity to buy and sell digital assets – such as Bitcoin – in a US federally regulated environment. Bakkt aims to provide the volume and security of Bitcoin to traders who prefer using traditional stock exchanges.

Unlike other custodial cryptocurrency exchange platforms, Bakkt allows for trades to be physically settled in Bitcoin, rather than fiat cash. Traders receive Bitcoin in their account, rather than USD. All the Bitcoin, which is used for this, is stored by Bakkt and utilizes a separate ledger that records how the stored Bitcoin is being traded, as opposed to physically moving the Bitcoin.

Bakkt’s Inception

Bakkt was first created back in 2018; however, the project did not get off the ground until September 23rd of 2019. Bakkt was created by ICE, therefore the custodial currency exchange is owned by the chairmen of the New York Stock Exchange, Jeffery Sprecher. Sprecher created Bakkt after noticing the large number of traditional Wall Street investors were interested in getting involved with cryptocurrency but was also hesitant to participate in the digital asset class, because they were uncomfortable with using cryptocurrency exchanges which existed outside of the New York Stock Exchange. ICE created Bakkt to fill this investor demand.

Kelly Loeffler who originally served as the CMO of ICE, was originally appointed by Jeffery Sprecher to be the CEO of Bakkt; however, Loeffler resigned her position, to become a US senator, towards the end of 2019. Former PayPal vice president of engineering – Mike Blandina – assumed the role of CEO in Loeffler’s absence. Shortly thereafter, David Clifton – who was then serving as Associate General Counsel for ICE – succeeded Blandina. Lastly, Gavin Michael – Citi’s former head of technology – assumed the position. Michael still currently holds the CEO position for Bakkt.

Where Bakkt is Going

Bakkt has recently partnered with Finastra. Finastra is a global leader in financial services software and is in fact one of the largest fintech companies in the world. This partnership brings Bakkt’s cryptocurrency marketplace options to Finastra’s money transfer customers. Bakkt will also bring its cryptocurrency marketplace to the Finastra Wallet.

Bakkt is planning on adding artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics to leverage the industry-leading tools offered by the Google Cloud. The insights provided by Bakkt will be highly beneficial to Google, as it will offer a great degree if information to the platform, regarding customer behavioral patterns.

Conclusion

This is a big step forward in Bitcoin adoption, as the public offering of Bakkt on the New York Stock Exchange represents yet another new option for indirect investment opportunities in Bitcoin. Bitcoin adoption such as this is incredibly important because it not only places Bitcoin in the spotlight but presents an opportunity for high volume investors to buy into the digital asset, in a way which makes them feel comfortable. With Bitcoin – and overall cryptocurrency adoption on the rise – we at Killer Whale highly recommend checking out our Killer Whale Products Page to find the Killer Whale Products – such as Killer Whale Large Cap Sector Strategy – which are right for you!

Killer Whale Crypto

CHANGE THE WAY YOU TRADE