Bakkt is going public on the New York Stock Exchange via a SPAC

Crypto firm Bakkt announced Monday that it is going public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) via a SPAC deal, confirming Bloomberg's report from last week.

Bakkt is merging with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings at a valuation of about $2.1 billion. VPC, backed by investment firm Victory Park Capital, held its initial public offering in September 2020.

In tandem with the announcement, Bakkt said that it has appointed Gavin Michael, a former Citi executive, as its new CEO. Michael replaces former Bakkt interim CEO David Clifton, who will join the combined company’s board of directors.

Bakkt further announced the targeted launch of its retail app, Bakkt Cash, in March of this year. The firm said over 400,000 consumers have signed up for early access to the app.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Bakkt plans to raise an additional $532 million as part of the deal to develop and market the app. To date, the firm has raised a total of $482.5 million, according to Crunchbase.