Public Keys Weekly Roundup

Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks key publicly traded crypto companies. This week: After predicting it wouldn’t survive this long, Bakkt Holdings has undergone another transformation; the largest securities clearinghouse in the world doubles down on Ethereum; and Robinhood launches a prediction market for your March Madness bracket.

Setbacks for Bakkt Holdings

There’s new business afoot for crypto trading and payment solutions company Bakkt, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the BKKT symbol. However, the company also faces challenges.

Bakkt appointed a new co-CEO, Akshay Naheta, previously from SoftBank, and formed a partnership with Distributed Technologies Research to integrate stablecoin-based payment tech into its platform. Bakkt believes this partnership will create new revenue streams in crypto trading and stablecoin payments.

Despite these efforts, the company announced that two major clients—Bank of America and Webull—are not renewing their commercial agreements. Webull accounted for 74% of Bakkt’s crypto services revenue.

Bakkt has experienced tough times before, recently announcing a big international expansion before later revealing uncertainty about its survival prospects. With backing from parent company Intercontinental Exchange, Bakkt has pivoted its focus multiple times since its 2018 launch as a regulated Bitcoin futures and custody platform. Recently, it sold its custody division to ICE for $1.5 million, streamlining operations and reducing expenses.

Tokenization Tea Leaves

Tokenization and real-world assets (RWA) enthusiasts take note: As the RWA segment surpasses $19 billion, market infrastructure companies are picking sides. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has joined the ERC3643 Association and added support for ERC-3643 tokens to its tokenized securities platform, ComposerX. This move signals the largest securities settlement corporation’s support for Ethereum, setting a potential trend.

While DTCC and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation are collaborating on Ethereum, other clearinghouses like Euroclear and Hong Kong’s central securities depository are exploring different blockchain platforms.

Robinhood Sets Sights on Prediction Markets

Trading app Robinhood is making strides in prediction markets by allowing users to speculate on sports. Following the launch of March Madness markets, Robinhood added markets for predicting Fed fund rates.

The company had previously tested prediction markets focused on the U.S. presidential election, coinciding with its competitor Polymarket. Partnering with Kalshi, which recently overcame legal hurdles with the CFTC, Robinhood could potentially create a $260 million revenue stream.

Happy Fri-M&A

Coinbase is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire crypto derivatives exchange Derebit, which dominates the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market. Transaction details are being shared with regulators in Dubai, where Derebit has operations.

Coinbase seeks to expand its derivatives offerings in regions where Derebit is active, while the company’s stock showed slight movement ahead of the acquisition news.

Other Keys

The week started with software company MicroStrategy making its smallest Bitcoin buy, followed by a $723 million offering to facilitate future acquisitions. Bitcoin mining stocks struggled despite favorable ruling clarifications from the SEC, with miners like MARA and CleanSpark seeing declines. However, Bitfarms successfully completed a $175 million acquisition of Stronghold.

Kraken announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of futures broker NinjaTrader and confirmed plans to go public in the future. The Dubai Financial Services Authority is inviting companies for “expressions of interest” to experiment with tokenization services, with a deadline set for April 24, 2025.