New York Stock Exchange Lists Crypto Company, Bakkt On Monday

In a statement, the Intercontinental Exchange announced Bakkt will commence trading on Monday as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Intercontinental Exchange (the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange) launched Bakkt in 2018 as a crypto custodian: it holds Bitcoin safely in cold storage for institutional investors.

With the launch of its Visa debit card in June, Bakkt has transformed into a “digital asset marketplace” offering futures trading in Bitcoin, a mobile app that allows users to spend Bitcoin on everyday items, and a Bitcoin investment fund.

Bakkt and VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings merged on Friday, and the company will begin trading under the ticker “BKKT” on the New York Stock Exchange.

Its business plan consists only of acquiring other companies and helping them go public, thus making it an “empty check” company.

Bakkt said it would go public in January. The Bitcoin company was reportedly valued at more than $2 billion at the time.

Bakkt announced last week that it was partnering with Google for a variety of services. The Bakkt Visa debit card can be used everywhere that uses Google Pay to buy crypto.

Using Google Cloud, Bakkt will also build new analytics with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and geospatial information.

Since 2019, Bakkt has been working on enabling its users to spend Bitcoin as a currency, partnering with Starbucks to let people purchase coffee with the cryptocurrency.

Several cryptocurrency companies have gone public recently, including Bakkt. Nasdaq listed Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, in April.

Stocks in publicly traded cryptocurrency companies are often considered indirect investments in bitcoin since their values are often affected by the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Bakkt has since evolved beyond its original vision of “trust and transparency” for digital assets to create consumer applications for Crypto.