Bakkt sells loyalty business to focus on being ‘pure-play crypto’

Crypto custody and trading firm Bakkt Holdings Inc. has sold its loyalty services business as it refocuses on being a “pure play crypto infrastructure company.”

Bakkt said on Monday that it agreed to sell its loyalty business, which allows its clients to offer travel and merchandise perks, for $11 million to Project Labrador Holdco, LLC, a subsidiary of the blank-check firm Roman DBDR Technology Advisors, Inc. 

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 and also includes accommodations for working capital, debt and a short-term cash loan to help with the transfer. 

Bakkt added that the sale will allow it to “focus resources on the Company’s core crypto offerings and stablecoin payments infrastructure.”

Bakkt said in March that it wanted to focus on its crypto offerings and was looking to offload its loyalty arm. Earlier that month, it said that two of its largest clients, Bank of America and Webull, would not renew agreements for loyalty and crypto services, respectively.

Bakkt to “pure-play crypto”

“With the pending sale of our Loyalty business, Bakkt is achieving a significant milestone and fully embracing its future as a streamlined, pure-play crypto infrastructure company,” Bakkt president and co-CEO Andy Main said. 

He added that the sale would allow the firm “to dedicate all our resources to our core crypto offerings and the immense opportunities in the stablecoin payments ecosystem.”

Stablecoins have become one of the hottest investments amid the US passing laws earlier this month to regulate the tokens. Even before the laws, stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group debuted an over $1 billion public offering in early June, with its shares gaining nearly 500% since.

Akshay Naheta, who joined Bakkt as co-CEO in March, said the firm would look to “deploy agentic AI solutions targeted at enhancing our crypto and stablecoin offerings” and would “execute aggressively on our treasury strategy.”

In June, Bakkt said it sought to raise up to $1 billion through various securities offerings, with some of the funds earmarked to buy Bitcoin (BTC).

Bakkt’s crypto re-focus comes amid a wave of investor enthusiasm for crypto firms. The company has long admitted to struggling with cash, and its share price has been in decline since 2021.

Shares in Bakkt Holdings (BKKT) closed trading on Monday down nearly 5% and continued to fall around 27.8% after-hours to $12.40, adding to a nearly 31% slump its seen so far this year.

Bakkt’s share price slid after hours amid a series of announcements from the company. Source: Google Finance

Preliminary Q2 results show earnings bump

Bakkt also shared its unaudited preliminary second-quarter earnings, estimating its total revenues for the period would be between $577 million and $579 million.

The indicative results would be at least a 13% bump compared to its $509.9 million in revenues from the year-ago quarter.

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Its estimated gross crypto revenues for Q2 ranged from $568 million to $569 million, up at least 14.2% from its $497.1 million crypto services revenue from Q2 2024.

Bakkt’s $75 million public offering could fund Bitcoin buys

Meanwhile, on Monday, Bakkt separately announced a public offering of its Class A shares and pre-funded warrants to raise $75 million.

It said the offering is slated to close on Wednesday, and some of the funds could be used “to purchase Bitcoin and other digital assets” as well as “general corporate purposes.”

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