Bakkt, an Atlanta-based cryptocurrency exchange, raised $182.5 million from 12 notable investors and VC firms, according to a New Year's Eve announcement.
Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft’s venture capital arm, M12, Pantera Capital, PayU, the fintech arm of Naspers, and Protocol Ventures participated in the round.
In a Medium blog post, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler said the company's mission is focused on "driving institutional access for digital assets, along with merchant and consumer uses." The startup will also be collaborating with major companies like Starbucks in the future, she said.
"At Bakkt, we’re focused on the work required, both near- and long-term, to evolve the applications for digital assets."
"We’ll share details as the New Year unfolds, but as our COO Adam White and I work through Bakkt’s 2019 objectives, we are focused on opportunities to provide new infrastructure, including the industry’s first institutional grade regulated exchange, clearing and warehousing services for physical delivery and storage," she said.
Loeffler said 2018 was the most active year for cryptocurrency, due to rising investment in distributed ledger technology and digital assets, along with daily bitcoin transaction value. In her post, Loeffler said major tech advances prior to 2000, like cell phones in the 1980's and commercializing the internet in the 1990's, weren't under the watchful eye of constant digital headlines and tweets. She said this was a risk of "marking to market" before innovations, like digital assets, have the opportunity to mature.
"At Bakkt, we’re focused on the work required, both near- and long-term, to evolve the applications for digital assets," she said. "Market quality, regulation, scale, security and utility are critical for establishing a strong foundation where innovation can flourish. Our first step is to establish the trust and infrastructure that builds confidence and grows participation at the institutional and merchant level."
In 2018, the company worked closely with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, seeking regulatory approval for physically delivered and warehoused bitcoin, Loeffler said.
"The path to developing new markets is rarely linear: progress tends to modulate between innovation, dismissal, reinvention, and, finally, acceptance," she said. "Each step, whether part of discovery or adversity, ultimately strengthens the product. Twenty years ago, it was controversial to suggest that commodities or bonds could trade electronically on a screen, and many steps were required for that evolution to play out."
Bakkt is a cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity provider created by the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company ICE. The company is working with a group of customers, such as BCG, Microsoft, Starbucks and others, to create an integrated platform that enables consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets on a global network.
