Intercontinental Exchange Inc., or ICE, will launch its public in cryptocurrency, combining it with a special purpose purchasing company, a business that will continue its goal of launching a consumer application for trading and making payments with assets digital.
Ventura, called Bakkt, will have a valuation of $ 2.1 billion after the completion of the merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, the companies said on Monday.
The agreement brings together two of the strongest pieces in today’s markets: crypto and SPAC. the largest digital currency last week surpassed more than $ 40,000 for the first time, and SPACs had the biggest year since 2020, raising a record $ 83 billion in new listings, according to data provider SPACInsider . SPACs, also called blank-check companies, are vehicles that go public to raise cash for mergers and acquisitions.
As part of the transaction, Bakkt will raise an additional $ 532 million in VPC funds and a simultaneous capital increase. This will support the development and commercialization of the Bakkt application, which is designed as a tool to enable people to manage their ownership of various digital assets. These could include bitcoin, loyalty points, and reward programs, such as those offered by Starbucks Corp. and airlines, and virtual assets from video games.
More than 400,000 people have pre-registered for the application, which is expected to have a wide public deployment in March, says Bakkt. Bakkt projects that the application will accumulate over 30 million users in five years, according to a presentation on the agreement launched on Monday. This ambitious goal would put Bakkt in the same league as other successful financial applications, such as Robinhood, Venmo or the Cash Square application.