“Can Bakkt become the institutional-grade regulated rails for stablecoin payments, digital asset custody, and AI-driven transaction workflows for enterprises and financial institutions globally?”
Founded in 2018 as an ICE subsidiary to build institutional-grade regulated Bitcoin infrastructure (futures + custody), Bakkt went public via SPAC in 2021 and simultaneously launched a consumer digital wallet aimed at loyalty-point and crypto management. By 2026 it had divested or wound down its consumer loyalty and wallet businesses, pivoting sharply toward institutional crypto infrastructure, stablecoin payments rails, and AI-driven transaction workflows under three new product lines — Bakkt Markets, Bakkt Agent, and Bakkt Global — accelerated by the acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research (DTR).