Digital assets platform Bakkt has just secured an additional $300 million of funding in a Series B financing round. The platform, owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) succeeded in securing this capital through the participation of investors including ICE itself, Microsoft’s M12, PayU, Boston Consulting Group, Goldfinch Partners, CMT Digital, and Pantera Capital.
This is coming in spite of the crash that hit the cryptocurrency market a few days ago. Although the market may be bearish, Bakkt seems to have gained investors’ trust which is why they could raise such capital for the platform at this time. Established in 2018, Bakkt’s single purpose is to bring trust and transparency to the digital asset space both for institutions and individuals.
Digital assets on Bakkt include loyalty and rewards points, in-game assets, merchant stored value, and cryptocurrencies. To make them more easily accessible and easy to keep track of, Bakkt is launching a mobile app this summer to help users spend and manage their assets as seamlessly as possible through a digital wallet that gives customers absolute control over their assets. With the wallet, digital assets can be spent in stores, sent to friends and family or converted to cash conveniently.
When launched, the Bakkt app will unlock about $1 trillion in digital assets, giving customers enormous spending power. With 350 employees, Bakkt recently acquired Bridge2 Solutions which has enabled it to run loyalty redemption programs for top financial institutions and 4500 loyalty and incentive programs including two of the largest US airlines.
Since its launch in 2018, Bakkt’s physically settled Bitcoin futures volume has also been on the rise although it started rather slowly. The current Bitcoin crash, however, seems to be telling on the volume. Last week, it lost 11% in total volume and 13% in open interest.
With the recent funds raised and the coming launch of the Bakkt app, customers may be set to enjoy better services as the platform brings better digital asset access in the coming months which may eventually boost the volume. Recovery of the cryptocurrency market may also be a great boost as the morale is rather low at the moment.
