消息发布后，两家公司股价双双暴涨，Bakkt股价周一飙升162%，盘后继续涨超15%，DJT股价上涨约16.7%。DJT is currently in deep negotiations to acquire the cryptos trade platform Bakkt. If the agreement is reached, it will further advance Trump's layout in the cryptos market. Previously, he started promoting a new cryptos enterprise established by his long-term business partner World Liberty Financial and earned substantial fees from it.
Trump accelerates his layout in the crypto market, with his social media group DJT planning to negotiate the acquisition of the crypto trading platform Bakkt.
On Tuesday, according to sources cited by the Financial Times, former President Trump’s media and technology group is about to fully acquire Bakkt, with Trump promising to retain his 53% stake in the group. The valuation currently discussed by both parties is not clear, but Bakkt's market cap was slightly above $0.15 billion on Monday.
After the news broke, both companies' stock prices surged, with Bakkt's stock soaring 162% on Monday, continuing to rise over 15% in after-hours trading, and DJT's stock increasing by about 16.7%.
According to two individuals familiar with the negotiations, DJT is in deep discussions to acquire the crypto trading platform Bakkt, which is owned by the intercontinental exchange, to expand its business beyond online discussions.
Specifically, since Trump's election, the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, DJT, has become one of the most actively traded stocks in the USA. Although DJT's revenue this year is only $2.6 million, its equity valuation reaches $6 billion. The user base of Truth Social remains very small; according to Similarweb data, this month, Truth Social had an average daily traffic of only 0.646 million visits, while the X platform reached an average of 0.155 billion visits.
Since its launch, Bakkt has struggled with profitability. In the three months ending September 30, its revenue was $328,000, but it incurred an operational loss of $27,000. Bakkt plans to create a trading platform for institutional investors to hold digital assets such as bitcoin and ether on behalf of clients, but it has failed to grow. Due to its low stock price, Bakkt once faced the risk of being delisted from the nyse until implementing a 1:25 reverse stock split in April. Last week, its stock price rose by 15%.
It is worth mentioning that Bakkt has a close relationship with Trump. The first CEO of Bakkt is Kelly Loeffler, who served as a Republican senator from Georgia during Trump's first term. She will also be the co-chair of the committee organizing Trump's inauguration in January. Her husband is Jeff Sprecher, the founder, chairman, and CEO of the intercontinental exchange.
If this agreement is successfully reached, it will further advance Trump's layout in the cryptos market. Previously, he began promoting a new crypto joint venture established by his long-time business partner World Liberty Financial and has earned a significant amount of fees from it. After Trump won the election, the cryptos market also surged, with bitcoin rising over 30%, as the market bets that favorable legislation for the industry will be issued during his administration.
In addition, on Monday, Trump also met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, expected to discuss personnel appointments in the Trump administration, as he continues to nominate cabinet and other senior positions.
