Bakkt's owner, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has agreed to acquire a leading provider of loyalty solutions for both consumers and merchants. Upon completion of the transaction, Bakkt intends to integrate it into its platform, thus expanding the services it will provide to its customers.
According to an official press release , Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will acquire Bridge2 Solutions, a leading provider of loyalty solutions. This company enables some of the largest brands to build customer loyalty. It offers 4.500 employee benefits, incentive, and loyalty programs for companies across numerous industries.
Additionally, the company's Loyalty Pay solution extracts more value from rewards programs by giving consumers the ability to pay with reward coins at retail stores, via digital wallets, and at point of sale (POS) stations. ).
[amazon box="B00R6MKDDE"]ICE will acquire Bridge2 solutions
Upon completion of the acquisition, Bakkt, a Bitcoin futures trading platform owned by ICE, will acquire Bridge2 Solutions and integrate it into its list of services. The goal is to accelerate the development of Bakkt's consumer application, turning it into a more complete ecosystem for its customers. Speaking on the matter was Mike Blandina, CEO of Bakkt, who said:
“With the launch of the Bakkt app, for the first time, we will offer consumers a robust platform to consolidate and use all their digital assets, from crypto to loyalty points and in-game tokens, in one easy-to-use wallet… The combination Bridge2 Solutions' built-in relationships with banks and merchants and its innovative Loyalty Pay solution will enable us to launch new products that will further drive loyalty and enable consumers to trade, transfer and spend digital assets in entirely new ways. ”
It is worth noting that this agreement will not have a material impact on ICE's net income and is not expected to affect its overall capital return plans.
Bakkt doing homework
The last few months have been quite busy for Bakkt, as the platform strives to provide more services to its customers. Towards the end of December 2019, the platform announced the launch of the first CFTC-regulated Bitcoin option. Initially, Bakkt began as a physically delivered Bitcoin futures trading platform. This means that traders would receive an actual bitcoin once the futures contract expires.
However, the platform has also moved to launch cash settled contracts. More recently, the president of the company, Adam White, hinted during a closed event in Tel Aviv, they could also be adding Ethereum futures contracts. This is because Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the only cryptocurrencies for which the CFTC has provided clear guidance.
