Bakkt is quietly planning to boost the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in everyday purchases.
Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher, the founder and CEO of Bakkt’s parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, confirm Bakkt is “in talks” with consumer brands looking to accept digital assets, reports Fortune.
Starbucks already plans to install Bakkt’s payment software in its stores, which customers can use to make their daily purchases in Bitcoin. The coffee giant reportedly holds “significant” equity in the company.
Bitcoin has the potential to disrupt the retail credit card industry from a cost perspective. On average, retailers have to pay fees of 1.95-2% for Visa, Mastercard and Discover transactions, according to CardFellow. That percentage rises to 2.3-2.5% for card-not-present businesses like online shops.
Bakkt officials told Fortune their immediate goal is to establish BTC as a reputable investment alternative, something the company says it took a step towards doing with the launch of its Bitcoin futures product last week. Their initial trading volume numbers have been underwhelming, however.
Economist and crypto analyst Alex Krüger noted the difference between Bakkt’s launch and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s first week with a futures product.
Loeffler says Bakkt’s regulation and security will make Bitcoin more palatable to investment funds.
“The funds that trade on our exchanges expressed to us that they don’t want to deal in today’s unregulated markets, and want end-to-end federal oversight, on the level of the NYSE, to feel safe trading in Bitcoin.”