An agreement to list its crypto arm on the stock markets was confirmed by the Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange and the institutional cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt.
Bakkt is expected to combine with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, trading under the ticker VIH, as announced by the Wall Street Journal. VPC is a so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC. It is a shell company whose primary aim is to purchase or combine with another company and to allow it to be listed on the stock markets without an initial public offering, or IPO, going through a long and costly process.
After finishing the merger, Bakkt is anticipated to be estimated at $2.1 billion. To fund the creation of Bakkt Software, a retail-centric wallet and rewards app, the exchange will also raise an additional $532 million.
As Cointelegraph reported, news of the purchase surfaced earlier in January. This year, Bakkt has seen a volume uptick, posting multiple consecutive milestones. Nonetheless, it has a much smaller presence in the crypto industry than its rival, CME.