Today Bakkt announced it would shutter its consumer facing cryptocurrency and rewards app after two years. It plans to focus on its business-to-business digital asset solutions that enable other organizations to offer consumer-facing crypto offerings.
Bakkt was founded by NYSE owner ICE in 2018, which still holds a stake of more than two thirds after Bakkt was listed on the NYSE in 2021 through a SPAC merger. At the end of September, ICE took a $1.1 billion charge after a significant revaluation of its Bakkt investment.
The refocus is consistent with Bakkt’s November 2022 acquisition of Apex Crypto, which enables fintechs and other corporates to offer crypto trading to consumers. Apex has 30 customers, and the acquisition will cost up to $200 million.
In the early days of Bakkt, it made another significant B2B acquisition with the purchase of Bridge 2 Solutions, a technology firm that supports businesses offering loyalty and employee incentive schemes with 4,500 clients.
“As we continue to gain traction with our B2B2C strategy, we are laser focused on providing our partners and clients with seamless solutions that best serve their needs. The discontinuation of the app ensures we are supporting the relationship our partners and clients have with their customers,” said Gavin Michael, President & CEO of Bakkt. “With this move, we are focusing our investment on our core solutions that have product-market fit and are positioned to scale quickly.”
One of Bakkt’s most significant wins was a deal with Mastercard in 2021 to enable Mastercard banking clients to offer crypto as rewards and rewards points that can be exchanged for cryptocurrencies. More recently, Mastercard made a deal with Paxos for cryptocurrency trading.
