Crypto trading firm Bakkt saw its shares soar by 162% on Monday as the United States president-elect’s social media group, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), showed interest in acquiring the crypto-focused company.
Following the acquisition talks and negotiation, TMTG shares increased by 16.7%, signaling a potential major crypto and fintech expansion move.
TMGT To Acquire Bakkt
According to the Financial Times, Bakkt’s market capitalization is over $130 million. TMGT is set to close in on an all-share purchase of the crypto firm once the negotiations are finalized.
Bakkt was established by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to hold bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) for investors. However, it has struggled to remain profitable due to its lack of market traction and high cost of capital.
Consequently, Bakkt stated that its crypto custody business would most likely shut down while the company diversifies to the crypto exchange business. Representatives familiar with the TMTG negotiations have not revealed whether it will be part of the talks.
Notably, TMTG is valued at about $6 billion and has become one of the most actively traded U.S. stocks since its founder and largest shareholder, Donald Trump, won the just-concluded U.S. presidential election.
Due to its high capitalization and recent success, TMTG sees itself in a notable position to likely rescue Bakkt from its struggling state through its planned purchase.
Trump’s Crypto Establishments
The U.S. president-elect has been all-in on crypto technology since his election campaign. Alongside his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, he debuted World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto project he designed to boost stablecoin adoption and promote decentralized finance (DeFi) technology in America.
Trump also introduced the $WLFI token, which he designed to be used solely for governance purposes on the WLFI platform.
Moreover, the U.S. president-elect has expressed support for crypto in obvious ways, promising to create a crypto-friendly America during his presidency. He vowed to make America the world’s capital of Bitcoin and ensure that the U.S. creates a strategic Bitcoin reserve by acquiring at least 200,000 units of the world’s leading crypto each year.
