The President-elect’s Trump Media and Technology Group is in talks to buy digital-asset marketplace Bakkt Holdings, according to a report by the FT citing sources familiar with the matter on Nov. 19.
The all-stock acquisition by Trump’s social media firm, which owns Truth Social, would consolidate his position in the digital asset industry.
Bakkt is an institutional crypto asset platform backed by New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
Trump’s social media group in talks to buy crypto trading venue https://t.co/wYiaa6onuM
— Financial Times (@FT) November 18, 2024
More Good News for Crypto
Bakkt shares surged more than 160% as the news broke, while Trump Media stock ended the day up almost 17%. There were no details of the deal but estimates that it could be worth upwards of $100 million were circulating.
“The crypto scene is on the move once again,” commented head of research at Pepperstone Group, Chris Weston, who added that Trump Media’s play for Bakkt is “another piece of positive news that is lifting sentiment.”
“The only thing (Trump Media has) got going for them is the incoming president’s name. But the crypto crowd has backed the president quite strongly, and now they’re expecting a payoff,” said Jim Angel, a finance professor at Georgetown University in Washington.
However, the crypto custody and trading platform received a warning from the NYSE regarding non-compliance in March.
Donald Trump has promised to create supportive regulations for crypto assets and set up a strategic Bitcoin reserve stockpile and this play could be part of that, some speculated.
Bloomberg reported that there were other positive developments for crypto which included Nasdaq’s plan to list options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust as early as Tuesday.
Additionally, Goldman Sachs Group plans to spin out its crypto asset platform which is “signs of how crypto and its underlying blockchain technology are burrowing deeper into the financial system,” it noted.
Bitcoin Price Reaction
Crypto market capitalization returned to its all-time high of just above $3.2 trillion on Nov. 18, led primarily by Bitcoin.
BTC spiked to an intraday high of $92,650 as the news broke but had retreated marginally to $91,700 at the time of writing during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session.
The asset has gained 37% since Trump won the election around two weeks ago. It is currently just 2.4% away from notching another all-time high.
Altcoin movements were mostly muted, aside from Toncoin (TON), Chainlink (LINK), Polkadot (DOT), and Stellar (XLM).
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