According to the Reuters report, Intercontinental Exchange Inc -owned Bakkt announced on Monday that it has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check firm VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, which would give the cryptocurrency platform an enterprise value of $2.1 billion. The deal is expected to provide Bakkt, founded by outgoing Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler and backed by Microsoft and Boston Consulting Group, with $207 million in cash and $325 million from other investors, including $50 million from ICE.
Demand for Bitcoin from retail and institutional investors rises.
The rush to go public comes as the demand for Bitcoin and other digital tokens from retail investors rise as they look for quick gains in a world of ultra-low yields and negative interest rates. After reaching the record high of $40,000 against the dollar last week, bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, hit a one-week low to $33,447 on Monday, indicating wild price swings in cryptocurrency exchanges. As reported earlier, the US crypto exchange Coinbase also confidentially applied to go public with the SEC, a move that could make it the first such exchange operator in the United States to list on the stock market.
Institutional interest in bitcoin continues to increase.
Stock market debuts by these crypto exchange giants are also likely to give more acceptability to digital assets among skeptics and regulators. One of the main reasons for the recent mammoth rally of bitcoin is the growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s advance also reflects increasing expectations of it becoming a mainstream payment method, with PayPal opening its network to cryptocurrencies. High profile investors like Paul Tudor Jones, for example, have been buying bitcoin. Many bitcoin bulls say the cryptocurrency is akin to “digital gold,” a potential safe-haven asset and a hedge against inflation.
