Intercontinental Exchange Crypto Platform Bakkt Acquires Rosenthal Group Assets
The New York Stock Exchange parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, is moving forth with plans to launch its Bitcoin backed platform Bakkt. The company has consequently acquired assets belonging to Rosenthal Collins Group, which will support the launch of the platform for handling crypto.
Rosenthal Group Assets Purchase
While the purchase is poised to be completed in February Intercontinental Exchange is yet to provide details about the assets. In a statement Bakkt CEO, Kelly Loeffler said they saw an opportunity to purchase a portion of RCG back office to support the crypto platform.
Some of the facets that the company has acquired include those tied to compliance as well as risk management and treasury service department. Loeffler expects the asset purchase to enhance Bakkt mission of taking digital assets mainstream.
“It will enhance our risk management and treasury operations with systems and expertise. Other aspects of the transaction will contribute to our regulatory, AML/KYC and customer service operations as we help enable digital asset acceptance by bringing more choice and control to buyers and sellers,” Loeffler in a statement.
Bakkt is not going slow on its proposed push to launch physically backed futures contract for the crypto space. The company is working round the clock even as it awaits regulatory green light. However, its efforts appear to have received a significant setback on the ongoing government shutdown
The purchase puts to rest initial concerns that Intercontinental Exchange had second thoughts about proposed crypto platform. However, there are regulatory shortcomings that the company will have to bypass on its bid to launch the new platform.
Institutional Investors Pursuit
Intercontinental Exchange is hoping to use Bakkt to attract institutional investors into the crypto space. For the longest time, high net worth investors have shied against investing in cryptocurrencies citing the lack of necessary products and platforms for supporting their investment strategies.
The company has already completed a funding round with reports indicating it raised a whopping $182.5 million, to support its crypto ambitions. In addition, the proposed crypto platform continues to elicit strong interest from high net worth investors as well as firms. Some of the early investor’s include Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital as well as ICE and Microsoft’s venture arm.
The strengthened balance sheet should help enhance the company’s push to drive institutional investor access to crypto and blockchain backed assets. Bakkt is also planning to use its resources to strengthen merchant and consumer crypto adoption.