Bakkt

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Bakkt
Founded	2018
Headquarters	Alpharetta, Georgia & New York, NY, United States
Key People	Akshay Naheta (CEO), Andy Main (President), Karen Alexander (CFO)
Employees	approx. 550 (2025)
Products	crypto trading, custody & settlement, B2B crypto services, SaaS/payment solutions (historically: consumer app, loyalty points integration)
Twitter	@Bakkt
LinkedIn	Profile
Facebook	Page
Website	Bakkt Home
Blog	Bakkt Blog

Bakkt is a U.S.-based digital asset infrastructure company that develops trading, custody, and loyalty solutions for cryptocurrencies and related digital assets. Formed in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Bakkt has evolved from its initial focus on regulated bitcoin futures and institutional custody toward a diversified mix of business-to-business (B2B) crypto trading, fintech integration, and asset management infrastructure.

The company, which is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker BKKT, originated in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York City as a subsidiary of ICE. Bakkt’s platform has been shaped by industry partnerships and acquisitions—including those of Bridge2 Solutions and Apex Crypto—and by frequent pivots in response to the volatile crypto market, regulation, client needs, and shifts in competitive strategy.

History

Bakkt was launched by ICE in August 2018, with Kelly Loeffler, spouse of Jeffrey Sprecher, appointed as its founding chief executive officer. Early backers included Microsoft and Starbucks, signaling ambitions to bridge the gap between digital assets and mainstream commerce. Bakkt completed its first funding round of $182.5 million in December 2018, drawing investment from financial and technology firms.

Bakkt originally announced that ICE Futures U.S. would launch unmargined, physically delivered bitcoin futures in November 2018. However, the launch was postponed, and trading eventually began on January 24, 2019 after Bakkt secured regulatory clearance from the CFTC.

Bakkt announced on December 31, 2018, that it had secured $182.5 million in its first funding round to build out its bitcoin futures and options business. The twelve investors reportedly included ICE, Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Microsoft’s venture arm (M12), and Pantera Capital, among others.

In February 2019, an individual attempted to defraud potential investors by sending emails claiming a second funding round for Bakkt. The emails directed recipients to register with bakktplatform.io, a fraudulent site, and requested that they provide their names, email addresses, and wallet addresses.

Bakkt opened trading of the industry’s first physically settled bitcoin futures in September 2019 after regulatory delays, appealing to institutional investors seeking regulated crypto exposure. It simultaneously established the Bakkt Warehouse, providing institutional-grade bitcoin custody. In January 2019, Bakkt acquired assets of Rosenthal Collins Group, furthering its payments infrastructure, and in April 2019, acquired Digital Asset Custody Company (DACC) to supplement custody capabilities.

In 2020, Bakkt acquired Bridge2 Solutions, a loyalty and rewards platform, and launched a consumer-facing app for digital asset management and loyalty points conversion. This strategy aimed to capture both retail and enterprise growth but led to mixed results amid increased competition and regulatory uncertainty in the consumer crypto sector.

Spin-off from ICE

On January 11, 2021, Bakkt Holdings, LLC and VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings (a SPAC) announced they had entered a definitive business combination agreement that would result in Bakkt becoming a publicly traded company, with an enterprise valuation near $2.1 billion. In connection with the deal, Gavin Michael—formerly head of technology for Citi’s Global Consumer Bank—was named CEO, and interim CEO David Clifton was slated to join the combined company’s board upon closing.

The merger closed in mid-October 2021, and on October 18 the combined company’s Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the tickers BKKT and BKKT WS.

Though the SPAC transaction officially severed Bakkt’s direct operational status under ICE (though ICE retained an economic stake), the public company henceforth carried forward independently.

In 2023, Bakkt acquired Apex Crypto, a fintech crypto platform, to bolster its technology stack and broaden its B2B offerings.

Subsequently, by 2024–2025, the company shifted its focus away from direct-to-consumer offerings and toward crypto custody, execution services, and embedded fintech integrations for institutional and client partners.

In April 2024, the company implemented a 1-for-25 reverse stock split, and in July 2025 it sold off its loyalty business to streamline operations.

Custody

Bakkt established Bakkt Trust Company LLC, which was granted a charter by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) on August 16, 2019. According to the NYDFS, this charter authorized Bakkt to provide custody services for bitcoin in conjunction with its physically delivered bitcoin futures contracts, aimed at serving institutional clients. In media coverage, this was described as the first virtual-currency trust charter approved by the DFS. Bakkt refers to its custody service as the Bakkt Warehouse.

Bakkt also publicized via social media that bitcoin deposited into its warehouse was covered by a $125 million insurance policy.

Later, Bakkt expanded its NYDFS license to explicitly allow institutional clients to use its custody services. In a blog post on November 11, 2019, COO Adam White announced that Bakkt’s license now supported “institutional custody.”

Shortly thereafter, on November 19, 2019, Galaxy Digital announced that it would use Bakkt as a custodian for its newly launched bitcoin investment funds. In a later joint announcement, Galaxy Digital and Bakkt unveiled a trading and custody partnership for institutional clients, with Galaxy handling execution and Bakkt’s “Warehouse” providing custody.

Bakkt futures

On August 16, 2019, Bakkt published on its blog that ICE Futures U.S. would begin trading physically delivered bitcoin futures (commonly known as “Bakkt futures”) on September 23, 2019. That same day, ICE issued a notice stating that the new futures contracts — for both “Monthly” and “Daily” delivery — would be physically settled via the Bakkt Warehouse and cleared through ICE Clear U.S.

Although public messaging suggested a broader role for Bakkt in marketplace operations, Bakkt’s practical function was limited: its subsidiary Bakkt Warehouse would execute delivery instructions issued by ICE Clear U.S. for contracts that end with open positions. Each futures contract is denominated in U.S. dollars and represents one bitcoin. After the contract’s trading period ends, ICE Clear U.S. pairs buyers and sellers and issues delivery instructions to Bakkt. Beneficial owners who participate must hold Bakkt accounts to receive or deliver bitcoin.

On September 23, 2019, ICE Futures U.S. officially launched the Bakkt bitcoin futures contracts. The contracts saw relatively low adoption at first: in their initial week, only 623 contracts (each equal to one bitcoin) were traded, corresponding to about $5 million in notional volume.

In October 2019, ICE submitted certifications to the CFTC to support incentive programs aimed at enhancing activity, including a liquidity provider program, a market maker program, and a delivery provider program. Around that time, ICE also disclosed a sharp increase in trading activity: on October 22, daily volume stood at about $690,000 (in bitcoin futures equivalent), but the next day spiked to roughly $4.81 million. A record high in contract volume was later recorded on November 8, 2019, when 1,756 contracts traded.

On December 9, 2019, ICE Futures U.S. introduced options on Bakkt Bitcoin futures, adopting a European-style settlement, with options expiring two days before the underlying futures contract’s last trading day. On the same day, Bakkt announced that ICE Futures Singapore — a separate electronic market under ICE — had begun trading cash-settled bitcoin futures using settlement prices derived from ICE Futures U.S.

Bakkt App

In a blog post on October 28, 2019, Bakkt’s Chief Product Officer, Mike Blandina, announced plans to launch a consumer app in 2020 that would enable customers to make payments directly via their mobile devices. He also stated that Starbucks would be the first retailer to allow customers to use the app for purchases.

Bakkt later formally promoted this vision in a press release titled “Bakkt’s consumer app is coming in 2020, and it'll look more like PayPal than Coinbase”. That announcement reiterated the goal of bridging digital assets and payments. It confirmed the company’s intent to work with Starbucks as an early launch partner.

Loyalty points platform

In February 2020, ICE announced it would acquire Bridge2 Solutions, a company managing loyalty and rewards-points platforms for numerous merchants and consumer programs. ICE stated that once its Series B fundraising round for Bakkt closed later in the first quarter of 2020, Bakkt would acquire Bridge2 from ICE.

Bridge2 intended to develop an application that leveraged its merchant network by allowing merchants to integrate payments directly into the Bakkt app, bypassing traditional financial institution intermediaries. According to the Fortune article, Bakkt planned to charge a transaction fee that would be lower than typical interchange fees (~2.5 %) and allow users to convert unused points or rewards into cash or bitcoin.

On March 16, 2020, Bakkt published a blog post stating that it had closed a $300 million Series B funding round, naming ICE, Microsoft’s M12, PayU, Boston Consulting Group, Goldfinch Partners, CMT Digital, and Pantera Capital among investors. In that same post, Bakkt confirmed that it now employed 350 people and indicated that Bridge2 Solutions had been transferred into Bakkt as anticipated. ICE later disclosed in SEC filings that during the three months ending March 31, 2020, Bakkt acquired Bridge2 and certain affiliated entities.

Bakkt President Adam White tweeted on March 16, 2020, that Bakkt’s payment infrastructure had been integrated into the Starbucks mobile app.

Bakkt partners with Mastercard

On October 25, 2021, Mastercard Inc. and Bakkt Holdings announced a partnership to allow cardholders to pay using bitcoin and to enable banks to issue cryptocurrency-enabled debit and credit cards. According to the joint press release, under the collaboration Mastercard’s issuer and fintech partners would gain access to Bakkt’s cryptocurrency infrastructure, enabling consumer services such as BUY/SELL/HOLD of digital assets, crypto rewards programs, and branded crypto cards.

In The Wall Street Journal, the companies were described as enabling card issuers in the Mastercard network to let customers make payments in bitcoin and also to earn cryptocurrency as rewards.

Other analyses and coverage highlight that the deal was part of Mastercard’s broader “Crypto-as-a-Service” initiative, allowing its partners to integrate crypto wallets and reward-in-crypto functions via Bakkt’s infrastructure.

Products & Services

Bakkt initially launched physically settled bitcoin futures contracts and established a regulated digital asset custody solution for institutions. Its offering then expanded to include loyalty program conversion and payments infrastructure for enterprise clients, supported by its acquisitions.

Bakkt’s core products as of 2025 focus on:

• Institutional trading, custody, and settlement services for digital assets
• B2B crypto APIs and software tools for banks, fintechs, and brokerages
• White-label crypto trading and wallet solutions for enterprise users
• Previously, the Bakkt App offered retail trading, digital wallet, rewards, and payment features, an effort discontinued by 2024
• Post-2025, the company reinforced its commitment to regulated institutional infrastructure and dropped non-core consumer operations

Key People

Board of Directors

• Akshay Naheta (Chief Executive Officer)
• Sean Collins (Director)
• Michelle J. Goldberg (Director)
• Jill Simeone (Director)
• De Ana Dow (Director)
• Andrew A. Main (Director)
• Richard Lumb (Director)
• Gordon Watson (Director)
• David C. Clifton (Director)

Executive Management

• Akshay Naheta (Chief Executive Officer)
• Matt White (Chief Financial Officer)
• Phillip Lord, President of Bakkt International
• Nicholas Baes, Chief Operating Officer
• Marc D’Annunzio, General Counsel and Secretary
• Ankit Khemka, Chief Product Officer
• Jeff Kindle, Chief Customer and Revenue Officer, Loyalty
• Austin Logan, Chief Operations Officer, Loyalty

Bakkt has experienced significant executive turnover since its public listing, reflecting the company’s shifts in strategy and market challenges.

In October 2018, Bakkt announced that Adam White, who had been one of Coinbase’s early employees, would join the company as Chief Operating Officer.

In April 2019, Bakkt hired Mike Blandina, formerly of PayPal and Google, as Chief Product Officer.

By June 2019, Bakkt had brought on Chris Petersen—formerly a payments product strategist at Google—to assist in building its mobile app wallet, known as Bakkt Pay.

Risk Management

Bakkt’s risk management approach leverages its ICE-derived background in regulated infrastructure. The company’s services are designed to integrate with traditional institutional controls, following KYC/AML, cyber security, and regulatory protocols suitable to U.S. and international standards. Custody solutions have been tested for operational resilience and regulatory compliance.

Controversies

Bakkt has faced legal and operational risks common to the digital asset sector. In April 2025, investors filed a class action lawsuit after Bakkt disclosed its dependence on Webull Pay LLC, which accounted for a large majority of crypto revenues, and Bank of America, its major loyalty customer. With both partnerships ended, Bakkt suffered a 73% revenue hit, significant stock price declines, and increased cash burn—raising questions about business sustainability, disclosures, and strategy. The lawsuit centers on alleged misrepresentation of revenue diversification and was filed during a period of management transition and ongoing restructuring.

Bakkt’s path has also been complicated by broader digital asset market uncertainty. Shifting U.S. and global standards for cryptocurrencies, changing rules for custodians and exchanges, and public regulatory scrutiny have all influenced the firm’s evolving product focus, financial performance, and partnerships.