Bakkt Shares Surge 18% After Purchase of Stablecoin Company

Bakkt Holdings Announces Acquisition of Global Stablecoin Payments Firm

Bakkt Holdings, a digital asset platform, experienced a surge in its stock price earlier today following the announcement of its plans to acquire a global stablecoin payments infrastructure company through an equity-based deal.

This acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research is still subject to approval from both the SEC and Bakkt’s shareholders.

Bakkt, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the BKKT ticker, saw its share price climb above $20 on Monday—the highest level since November. Although the price dipped slightly before the market closed in New York, ending at $19.21, it still marked an 18% increase from the day’s opening.

According to a press release shared with Decrypt, Bakkt stated that acquiring Distributed Technologies Research will significantly advance its initiatives in programmable money, global settlements, and modern financial infrastructure. As part of the agreement, Akshay Naheta—who has served as co-CEO of the company since March 2025—will become the sole CEO of the merged entity.

“This deal is the realization of a unified strategic vision,” Naheta commented in the press release. “Integrating DTR into Bakkt finalizes our evolution into a comprehensive global financial infrastructure platform, merging Bakkt’s established market presence and regulatory strengths with DTR’s technological expertise.”

Following the acquisition, Bakkt Holdings will rebrand as Bakkt, Inc. later this month. The company has also announced an Investor Day event scheduled for March 17 at the New York Stock Exchange.

Bakkt remains primarily owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.

When Naheta assumed the role of co-CEO last year, Bakkt had just finalized an agreement to incorporate DTR’s stablecoin solutions into its platform.

However, the company also faced challenges: In March 2025, two major clients—Bank of America and Webull—notified Bakkt that they would not renew their commercial contracts. At that time, Webull accounted for 74% of Bakkt’s crypto services revenue, according to SEC filings.

The abrupt loss of nearly all crypto services revenue led to an investor lawsuit against the company.