Bakkt, a cryptocurrency platform introduced to great fanfare in 2018 by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, warned on Wednesday that it may not be able to continue operating.
“We may not be able to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “We do not believe that our cash and restricted funds are sufficient to fund our operations for 12 months after the date” of the application.
The company was created by InterContinental Exchange, which owns large derivatives exchanges in addition to the New York Stock Exchange, with the initial goal of helping Starbucks customers buy coffee with Bitcoin (BTC). Future US Senator Kelly Loeffler was its first CEO. It finally introduced a digital wallet in 2021, but that was discontinued last year as Bakkt pivoted to B2B technology services.
Comprehensive efforts to use Bitcoin, the asset and Bitcoin's blockchain for payments, have had little success, although the accelerator network, a series of second layers where Bitcoin transactions can be offloaded for more efficient processing, aims to make that a reality. .
Bakkt went public in 2021. Its shares closed trading Wednesday at $1.45, down from more than $40 in 2021.
