Not Just Ebay, NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Pushes Bakkt to Retail With Latest Acquisition

The proprietor of the New York Inventory Trade, Intercontinental Trade, shocked many on Wall Road not too long ago with a reported takeover bid for e-commerce market Ebay. Now the group is aggressively attempting to push its regulated bitcoin derivatives change Bakkt into the retail house with its newest acquisition of a loyalty options supplier.

Additionally Learn: Bakkt Launches Bitcoin Choices in US, Futures in Asia

Bakkt to Purchase Loyalty Factors Pockets Supplier

Bakkt, the digital belongings subsidiary of the guardian of the New York Inventory Trade ,  Intercontinental Trade (NYSE: ICE), has to this point targeted on offering institutional traders with regulated crypto derivatives devices similar to bitcoin futures and choices. Now it’s heading into the retail market. On Wednesday ICE has introduced that it has agreed to amass Bridge2 Options, a supplier of loyalty options, and that following the completion of this transaction, Bakkt will purchase Bridge2 Options in flip from its guardian firm.

The second section buy will probably be made utilizing proceeds from a Collection B spherical of funding which is predicted to shut later this quarter. The monetary particulars of the deal haven’t been disclosed publicly as of but. When Bridge2 Options finally joins Bakkt, the corporate hopes the strategic mixture will speed up the event of its client app, which can present digital asset aggregation, conversion and funds by way of a single platform.

In accordance with its web site, Bridge2 Options works with among the world’s main manufacturers and powers packages for seven of the highest 10 monetary establishments. It operates 4,500 loyalty, incentive and worker perk packages for corporations throughout a large spectrum of industries. The corporate’s Loyalty Pay answer offers shoppers the power to pay with reward factors each on the level of sale (PoS) in retail shops and in-app by way of digital wallets. Integrating with Bakkt might enable its retail companions to supply loyalty packages based mostly on cryptocurrencies or tokens too.

“With the launch of the Bakkt app, we are going to, for the primary time, provide shoppers a sturdy platform to consolidate and use all of their digital belongings, from crypto to loyalty factors to in recreation tokens, in a single user-friendly pockets,” stated Mike Blandina, CEO of Bakkt. “Combining Bridge2 Options’ embedded relationships with banks and retailers and their progressive Loyalty Pay answer will allow us to launch new merchandise that additional drive loyalty and empower shoppers to commerce, switch and spend digital belongings in completely new methods.”

ICE Pushes Into Retail With Ebay and Bridge2

Intercontinental Trade owns and operates a couple of dozen regulated fairness exchanges and marketplaces world wide such because the New York Inventory Trade. That’s why it shocked many on Wall Road when it was reported a few days in the past that the finance big has made a bid to take over e-commerce market Ebay (NASDAQ: EBAY). On Tuesday ICE denied the media studies with an announcement that it “approached Ebay to discover a variety of potential alternatives which may create worth for the shareholders of each corporations. Ebay has not engaged in a significant approach. We aren’t in negotiations relating to the sale of all or a part of Ebay.”

Relating to the newest Bakkt acquisition deal, it would be capable of body the transfer as a brand new deal with retail shoppers, particularly younger individuals which are extra used to procuring on-line than investing in equities.

Hinting on the reasoning behind the Bridge2 Options deal, ICE famous that the worldwide ecosystem for digital belongings represents over $1.2 trillion in worth and contains digital rewards, loyalty factors, in-game digital belongings, service provider saved worth, present playing cards and cryptocurrencies. “Millennial shoppers, specifically, embrace this type of worth,” ICE acknowledged. “Whether or not they’re monetizing loyalty factors from a favourite airline or buying and selling skins for a online game, the Bakkt app will allow shoppers to unlock a lot of that worth, permitting them to commerce and spend their digital belongings freely, as they’d every other foreign money.”

“Bakkt was created to assist convey transparency and belief to the beforehand unregulated digital asset markets,” stated Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE. “With the launch of the Bakkt Warehouse and Bakkt futures and choices markets, the corporate has achieved fast success with its custody and buying and selling providing. Bakkt’s second spherical of funding, and its acquisition of Bridge2 Options, will assist speed up the event of Bakkt’s client utility, which has been a key a part of our technique since we first checked out this market.”

What do you consider ICE pushing Bakkt into the retail digital pockets house with this acquisition? Share your ideas within the feedback part under.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Avi Mizrahi

Avi Mizrahi is an economist and entrepreneur who has been protecting Bitcoin as a journalist since 2013. He has spoken concerning the promise of cryptocurrency and blockchain expertise at quite a few monetary conferences world wide, from London to Hong-Kong.