The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the NYSE, has announced the formation of Bakkt. It is described as “A Global Regulated Ecosystem for Digital Assets”. It will include partnerships with Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Starbucks.
The point of the project is to enable customers to “buy, sell and store digital assets”. It will include federally regulated markets and warehousing (i.e. storing) for Bitcoin and potentially other cryptocurrencies.
Much of it seems like direct competition for Coinbase, the popular exchange funded by Andreessen Horowitz, among others.
“Bakkt is designed to serve as a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant and consumer participation in digital assets by promoting greater efficiency, security and utility,” said Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler in a press release[1] “We are collaborating to build an open platform that helps unlock the transformative potential of digital assets across global markets and commerce.”
The Microsoft partnership comes from the service’s use of the Microsoft cloud platform. Microsoft has been a supporter of bitcoin for years, accepting the digital currency[2] for purchases years ago. They disabled Bitcoin payments when fees became too high but they have overall been[3] bullish[4] on blockchain technology[5] in general.
BCG’s specific role has yet to be defined. But with over 90 offices in 50 countries, and financial know-how, they likely have some use for a global cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
“Blockchain technology holds tremendous potential to enable new business models and trusted ecosystems,” said Sean Collins, Senior Partner, BCG in the same press release. “By leveraging and developing fundamental market infrastructure, the Bakkt platform will enable firms across industries to accelerate a range of innovation.”
As for Starbucks, their partnership is more on the customer side of things. The plan may
