Bakkt stock soars 18%! $178 million acquisition of DTR, transforming from an exchange to a payment giant

Bakkt fully acquires stablecoin payment provider DTR, issuing 9.13 million shares valued at $178 million, with the stock price soaring 18% to $19.21. On January 22, it was renamed Bakkt, Inc., with DTR founder Akshay Naheta appointed as the sole CEO. Transitioning from a crypto trading platform to a regulated global payments infrastructure provider.

$178 Million Fully Stock Acquisition Strategic Puzzle

Digital asset infrastructure platform Bakkt Holdings (NYSE: BKKT) officially announced on January 12 that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Distributed Technologies Research Ltd. (DTR), a global stablecoin payments infrastructure provider. Inspired by this news, Bakkt’s stock price surged over 20% during trading on the New York Stock Exchange, reaching above $20 at its peak, marking a new high since November 2025. Ultimately, the stock closed at $19.21, with an 18% single-day increase.

According to the terms of the agreement, Bakkt will issue approximately 9.13 million Class A common shares to DTR shareholders. This equity consideration accounts for about 31.5% of the previously agreed “Bakkt Share Base.” Based on Monday’s closing price, the transaction is valued at approximately $178 million. The all-stock acquisition demonstrates Bakkt’s high recognition of DTR’s team and technology, willing to exchange equity for long-term strategic value rather than short-term financial gains.

Key Data on Bakkt’s Acquisition of DTR

Transaction Size: Issuance of 9.13 million shares, valued at approximately $178 million

Equity Share: About 31.5% of Bakkt’s share base, making DTR shareholders significant stakeholders

Stock Reaction: Single-day surge of 20%, closing at $19.21, a new high since November

Renaming Plan: Renamed to Bakkt, Inc. on January 22, retaining the BKKT ticker

Investor Day: Scheduled for March 17 at NYSE to unveil the 2026 strategic blueprint

To align with this pivotal acquisition, Bakkt also announced that it will officially rename to “Bakkt, Inc.” on January 22, 2026, while retaining the current “BKKT” trading symbol. This rebranding signifies not only a brand overhaul but also a transformation from a “cryptocurrency trading platform” to a “financial infrastructure provider.” The deal has been approved by Bakkt’s special committee of the board of directors, and its largest shareholder, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), holding about 31%, has expressed support.

From Crisis to Transformation: A Life-and-Death Breakthrough

Looking back at 2025, Bakkt experienced a difficult painful period. At that time, two major clients, Bank of America and Webull, announced termination of their contracts, with Webull contributing up to 74% of the company’s crypto services revenue. This crisis triggered investor lawsuits and doubts about the company’s viability, with stock prices falling to single digits mid-2025.

Subsequently, Bakkt decisively pivoted by selling its non-core loyalty rewards business and focusing on obtaining money transfer licenses across all 50 US states, as well as establishing a Bitcoin treasury. These moves showed Bakkt’s realization that a pure crypto trading business could not sustain long-term growth; it needed to extend into upstream infrastructure or downstream payment applications.

DTR founder Akshay Naheta has served as Bakkt’s Co-CEO since March 2025, and in August of the same year, he succeeded the resigned Andy Main to become the sole CEO of the merged company. Naheta previously held senior roles at SoftBank Group, participating in major investments in ARM, Auto1, and Nvidia, and is viewed as capable of leading Bakkt from a simple crypto trading platform to a technology-driven “pure infrastructure company.”

The core value of this acquisition lies in DTR’s advanced stablecoin settlement technology. Bakkt states that integrating DTR’s technology into its ecosystem will significantly accelerate its strategic deployment in programmable money, global settlement, and next-generation financial infrastructure industries. Over the past few months, Bakkt has continuously tested integration with DTR, confirming that the technology can effectively reduce reliance on third-party service providers and speed up the market launch of stablecoin settlement products.

March Investor Day and Virtual Banking Ambitions

Looking ahead, Bakkt is prepared to leverage its cleaned-up balance sheet and strengthened technological reserves to embark on a new wave of growth. Members of Bakkt’s special committee, Colleen Brown and Mike Alfred, emphasized that this integration is the final piece in the company’s “transformation into a unified global financial infrastructure platform.” Mike Alfred pointed out that acquiring DTR will enable Bakkt to collaborate with multiple channel partners to launch its virtual banking strategy in the coming months.

DTR’s core technology includes support for cross-border stablecoin payments and AI-driven on-chain applications, allowing Bakkt to leverage blockchain’s flexibility and efficiency within a compliant traditional financial framework. For merchants and financial institutions, this means they can directly access faster, lower-cost payment settlement solutions through Bakkt’s regulated channels in the future.

To provide the market with detailed updates on the integration progress and the 2026 strategic vision, Bakkt has scheduled an “Investor Day” event on March 17, 2026, at NYSE. As the crypto asset industry enters an integration phase, global M&A deals in 2025 reached a record high of $8.6 billion, including Coinbase’s acquisition of Deribit and Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road. Bakkt’s move not only demonstrates its ambition in the stablecoin payments sector but also reflects the industry’s collective shift from speculative products toward building robust settlement and infrastructure systems.