Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler shared the news on December 31st, announcing that Bakkt had raised $182.5 million upon completing their first funding round.
The money came from partners and investors including the likes of Microsoft, Intercontinental Exchange, and Galaxy Digital.
Who All Participated?
Bakkt is one of the most awaited entrants of the cryptocurrency markets.
Many top names in venture capital attended its first capital raise event.
Among them was Microsoft’s venture capital arm, Galaxy Digital, Intercontinental Exchange, Boston Consulting Group, Alan Howard, Goldfinch Partners, Eagle Seven, CMT Digital, Pantera Capital, M12, PayU, Protocol Ventures, and Goldfinch Partners.
Loeffler noted:
“Our work today is centered on driving institutional access for digital assets, along with merchant and consumer uses, and we’re already expanding on this vision, collaborating with great companies like Starbucks in these efforts.”
What’s the Plan in 2019?
Loeffler noted that she and Bakkt COO Adam White would share the details of their plans as the year unfolds.
Their focus will be on finding opportunities to create a new infrastructure which will include the first institutional grade regulated exchange in the crypto industry.
They will also provide clearing and warehousing services for storage and physical delivery of digital assets.
Loeffler also announced that Bakkt and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have been working closely throughout 2018. Their applications are waiting for approvals from regulators.
She also talked about Bakkt’s history of working with once-nascent asset classes, noting that 2018 was the most active year for digital assets, adding that the real milestones in the industry get overshadowed by Bitcoin’s price movement.
Regarding digital assets, she noted that most innovations don’t reach their full potential in the first decade of their development.
She said Bakkt would be working on creating a strong foundation to help innovation flourish.
