Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures platform owned and operated by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is reportedly planning to go public after a merger with the Chicago-based blank-check company VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.
By citing “people with knowledge of the matter,” Bloomberg reported the news earlier, saying that the Bitcoin futures platform is already in talks with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.
Should both parties indeed proceed with the deal, the sources estimated that the combined entity could have a value of over $2 billion.
Furthermore, the potential deal could be just around the corner, as the report suggested it might take place next week.
VPC is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and incorporated in the Cayman Islands state. According to the registration page, the company is “primarily in the business of blank checks.”
The firm raised $200 million in an initial public offering in September 2020. John Martin, CEO and Chairman of VPC, said that the team had established a value-creation strategy to “identify, partner with, and help grow a business in the fintech sector.”
Bakkt’s potential IPO comes just a few weeks after another cryptocurrency-related company announced similar plans. The largest US-based exchange Coinbase filed a Form S-1 in December with the SEC, and its valuation is estimated to be nearly $30 billion.
While Bakkt’s interim CEO David Clifton could lead the company to go public, the firm’s former CEO suffered a crushing loss this week.
Kelly Loeffler occupied the executive position at the Bitcoin futures platform since its inception until she vacated the post once Georgia Governor Brian Kemp chose her to take the Senate seat in December 2019.
However, she will leave the post just a year after becoming the state’s Senator. APNews first reported that Democrat Raphael Warnock had won one of the two Senate runoffs to become Georgia’s first African-American senator. While Loeffler maintained initially that the results weren’t final, she conceded a day later.
Her loss came despite President Donald Trump’s attempts to rally his loyal base behind Loeffler and the Republican running for the other seat – David Perdue. Bakkt’s former CEO had previously expressed her “full support” for President Trump prior to the Presidential elections in November 2020.
Although Loeffler was in office for just a year, she managed to attract controversy shortly after her start. Reports emerged that she was involved in inside trading as she had sold a significant stash of her stocks on January 24th, 2020. She reportedly disposed of her shares after a private briefing that discussed the potential consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial markets.