Crypto And Digital Asset Platform Bakkt Releases First Earnings, Lays Out Bold Partnership Strategy To Growth

Today Bakkt, a mobile wallet provider and digital asset platform founded in 2018 released its first earnings as a public company. The firm began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 18th following a SPAC merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings (VIH).

Casual observers may find the results underwhelming. After all, the company, whose backers include NYSE parent firm Intercontinental Exchange, and which had completed a $300 million Series B round of funding in March 2020 brought in just $9.1 million in revenue this quarter.

Granted it is up 7% from Q2 and 38% year over year, and the company reports having 1.7 million transacting accounts, but the firm still had a net loss of $28.8 million. In contrast, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase earned $1.2 billion in revenue and Square’s Cash App, which offers an easy way for users to buy bitcoin, brought in $1.87 billion in crypto revenue and $42 million in gross profit. PayPal, which offers a simple interface for users to buy and make purchases with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin cash opened 13.3 million accounts last quarter despite disappointing revenues.

However, according to Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael, who spoke exclusively to Forbes prior to the earnings release, this is all part of his plan for the company that has evolved from primarily being a bitcoin custodian and futures exchange to a much more comprehensive platform. Michael, who previously served as a technology executive for banks such as Citi, JPMorgan and Lloyds, intends for Bakkt to become the hub of an extensive ecosystem of business to business and consumer retail activity, with loyalty points and digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in the center of it all.

“We see businesses leveraging our platform to drive loyalty, and to deepen their customer relationships…they’re also able to innovate with crypto services and crypto rewards, appealing to a growing segment of digitally savvy customers.”The company’s merger also brought in a war chest of more than $480 million to use for future partnerships and acquisitions.

Also not reflected in these numbers is the steady stream of brand-name partnerships brought onto the platform, starting with Starbucks this past March and growing to include Choice Hotels, Fiserv, Finastra, Wells Fargo, United Airlines and Mastercard. These tie-ups are intended to do everything from helping community banks and credit union clients invest in crypto to allow merchants on the Mastercard network to offer crypto rewards to users.

“We enable these companies to really deliver consumer choice, [offer] convenience with alternate payment methods that allow consumers to spend the value of their digital assets across merchants and enable businesses to gain access to this increased spending power.”

The market responded particularly well to the MasterCard partnership, announced on October 25th. The firm’s stock rose 400% in a week. It has since surrendered over half of those gains, but it remains up over 160% since the merger was finalized.

In addition, the firm is looking to onboard more digital assets, though Michael says that given the platform’s comparatively conservative nature compared to traditional cryptocurrency exchanges,  “It’s fair to say that we are probably a platform that will have several, rather than several 100.” Regarding stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which are increasingly becoming a focal point for regulators and entwined in global commerce and trading, Michael noted “We’re obviously watching closely what happens with stablecoins and CBDCs, because we’re an obvious choice, particularly with the partners that we’re working with…to really bring them to life.” Bakkt does not support any at this time.

With those integrations likely to wait until 2022 at the earliest, Q4 is shaping up to be an early test for Bakkt’s future. Unlike exchanges such as Coinbase, whose fortunes are highly dependent on the volatile nature of cryptocurrency prices to drive trading fees, Bakkt is more dependent upon retail spending to facilitate user growth and engagement on the platform. Q42020 was its most lucrative from a revenue standpoint in the company’s brief history, which Michael attributed in the interview to the seasonality of retail commercial activity, stating that he expects a similar trend again this year.

However, this trend could be upended, to some degree, by today’s challenging economic climate. Already retail establishments are reporting issues finding temporary staff for the holiday season, and October’s inflation numbers, which saw a 6.2% increase from a year ago, the highest jump in 31 years, may limit customer purchasing power over the next couple of months. More worrying is a growing belief among consumers and policymakers that inflation remains stickier than they would like, even if they still believe it is transitory.

That said, the silver lining could be that two industry segments not experiencing massive inflation are travel and lodging, which Bakkt supports through its partnerships with United Airlines and Choice Hotels. Airline fares actually fell 0.7% on the month and is down 4.6% year on year. The index for lodging away from home increased just 1.4%. As more of the world becomes vaccinated, travel restrictions loosen, and cross-border commerce recovers to pre-pandemic levels, Bakkt could see more engagement with its platform.

One final challenge will be convincing clients to part with their bitcoin and ethereum in exchange for goods and services. Both cryptocurrencies, which each hit new all-time highs on November 10th of $68,721 and $4,851 respectively, are seeing reductions in their circulating supply.

This trend is due to multiple factors, pre-eminent among them is the fear of someone finding in the future that they bought a $1000 cup of coffee in 2021 when they needed a quick boost. Of course, when asked about this challenge, Michael and the team are quick to point out that Bakkt is not necessarily a crypto platform, but a universal ecosystem for all digital assets.

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I am director of research for digital assets at Forbes. I was recently the Social Media/Copy Lead at Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States. Before joining Kraken I

Source: Crypto And Digital Asset Platform Bakkt Releases First Earnings, Lays Out Bold Partnership Strategy To Growth

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What Is Really Australia’s Quintex Capital Doing To Your Investment or Assets

Quintex Capital Pty’s innovative platforms and tools provide the power and reliability you need to feel more confident in your investment, trading and loan access.

Quintex Capital Pty is an investment Company, located at WEST PERTH 6005 Western Australia, Australia. It was founded in 13th December 2016. Quintex Capital Pty is duely and verifiably registered under Australia Securities and Investment Commission(ASIC). Quintex Capital Pty involved in Forex and Crypto currency Trading simultaneously.

Quintex Capital Pty trading team consists of highly qualified analyst, analytical experts who by using their experience and latest software, are able to predict the movements in currency exchange & cryptocurrency market with best accuracy. This company is managed by professional crypto currency trading experts with its vision and aim to help those willing to attain financial freedom but lack the technical know-how to achieve.

We have perpetuated our vision to remain at the pinnacle of the crypto world through the opportunity offered to our distinguished clients. Quintex Capital Pty is founded on the principle that cryptocurrencies is changing the fundamental structure of not only our economy and banking systems but also the way we connect and engage as human beings.

The success of traders inspired the creation of Quintex Capital Pty and enter the international trading market to use all the accumulated knowledge and experience on an international scale, Despite the market decline, cryptocurrencies are very volatile, Such volatility allows to constantly earn high profits regardless of whether the cryptocurrency market is falling or growing, A large number of different cryptocurrencies increases our capabilities and gives us prospects for further development and increasing the overall trading volume.

Quintex Capital Pty uses trading bots that monitor the cryptocurrency with the greatest volatility, At the same time, it does not matter whether the price of the cryptocurrency is falling or rising, Traders of Quintex Capital Pty can earn money in any market, The higher is the volatility of cryptocurrencies, the higher is the profit of Quintex Capital Pty.

We work with different exchanges, It increases our capabilities, because different exchanges list different tokens and prices on different exchanges for the same tokens differ, It allows to earn money on arbitration.

  • Trade with 100% peace of mind as we have the best system security team onboard.
  • With our lightning speed servers, you are sure to get the best out of your investments.
  • Watch your accruals grow in real time and monitor how much revenue is being generated for you
  • With different packages, Our system is modelled to accommodate everyone no matter how much you have to invest.
  • You have zero chances of losing your investments as all our assets are duly covered by insurance.
  • Invest in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and enjoy all the benefits that come with it

Mission and Vision

As a main worldwide market producer,Quintex Capital Pty is focused on making the most easy to use exchanging speculation experience for every one of our customers while accomplishing greatest benefit. We endeavor to bring the most cutting edge innovation and grow new devices to permit dealers to exchange with certainty and achievement.

Notwithstanding our apparatuses, we additionally guarantee that our client support is of the most elevated level. Whatever demand that you as a financial backer may make, we will bend over backward to guarantee that it will be taken care of in an opportune and expert way.

This is not an Initial Coin Offering. We believe that ICO’s should be approached with caution as the majority of “Alt coins” do not offer any benefits to more established crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. Quintex Capital Pty is a managed cryptocurrency trading platform with user friendly interface and attractive offer.

Tradeable Coins: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and XRP. There is no risk whatsoever. Just invest and enjoy the financial freedom..

If you are a registered user of Quintex Capital Pty , please enter your username and password in the appropriate fields at the top of the website and click the “Login to Account” button. You will be redirected to your account automatically as soon as you have done the above.

We take all security measures to protect your account and keep it safe from third parties intrusion. To make investments you should register with Quintex Capital Pty , create an account and then you can make your deposit. All the investments are made in your personal account after login

Source: Quintex Capital Pty Your best crypto investment and trading platform

 

Changelly How To Exchange Currency At The Best Rates

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Changelly is a fast and relatively anonymous cryptocurrency exchange service that allows you to trade almost any cryptocurrency out there. In this post I’ll review the company and its services. Changelly Review Summary Changelly does what it says on the tin: Users can quickly and simply trade between cryptocurrencies to suit their needs.

A 0.5% cryptocurrency trade fee is not extortionate – it’s actually quite cheap for such a convenient product. However the company can be a bit more transparent about their business. The main thing to remember is to not use Changelly for fiat trades because the exchange rates are ridiculously high. That’s Changelly in a nutshell. If you want a more detailed review of Changelly keep on reading, here’s what I’ll cover:

1.Company Overview

Changelly allows you to trade cryptocurrency instantly and without registering at any exchange or verifying your identity. In operation since 2015 and headquartered in Malta, Changelly was originally associated with the Minergate team, which I reviewed as well. However, today these are two different companies (according to a source inside Changelly). Changelly uses an automatic trading robot that integrates with some of the largest trading platforms, including Poloniex, Binance and Bittrex.It operates by making bids and asks on respective exchanges to suggest the best available rates on trading pairs. This is similar to the service offered by Shapeshift.

2. Changelly Services

Changelly offers an instant, simple and relatively anonymous crypto to crypto exchange service. The service can be accessed via the company’s website, its mobile app (Android only) or through various 3rd party wallets. The most popular wallets that integrate Changelly are  TREZOR, Ledger, Exodus, Jaxx, Coinomi and Edge.

Changellyalso offers its API and a customizable payment widget for websites. Using the widget, users can exchange crypto from within the site without needing to go to Changelly’s website. The company’s website also allows you to buy Bitcoin with a credit card via an integration with Simplex. While Changelly boasts about its simple and relatively anonymous buying process, it states that it may require a full verification process if a certain trade or user seems suspicious.

How to Use Changelly?

Decide what coins you want to change (e.g., Bitcoin to Ethereum, Litecoin to Dash, etc.). Verify the transaction fees. Enter your receiving address. Confirm and pay in your chosen currency.

3. Currencies and Payment Methods

Changelly offers access to over 140 different cryptocurrencies. The wide range of cryptocurrency creates an opportunity to exchange any two currencies directly with minimal fuss. Traditional cryptocurrency trading platforms generally have a limited selection of trading pairs, meaning that sometimes users have to make multiple transactions to receive their desired cryptocurrency. With Changelly, you can make up your own trading pairs with any of the cryptocurrency available on the platform, in one transaction.

You only need to select the trading pair and the software will take care of the trades. For example, you can easily trade Doge for Steem in one transaction.  Click here to see all of the supported currencies. Recently, Changelly has added fiat currency support, with the inclusion of credit and debit card purchases. While this is a welcome addition for new users, it’s important to pay attention to the fees with this feature.

4. Changelly Fees

Changelly boasts about its static-rate fees as a major benefit of its service. With Changelly, all trades guarantee a 0.5% fee, which is fairly competitive, when all is said and done. However, cheaper rates can be found when working directly on trading platforms like Bitstamp or Kraken.

Still, If you’re making multiple trades to move altcoins, then Changelly may actually become a cheaper option, particularly with smaller amounts. When it comes to trades using fiat currency, there’s a massive caveat to mention here. Trades from fiat currency (i.e., dollars, euros, etc.) claim to hold the 0.5% static fee, but in reality, this doesn’t appear to be true. The rates vary with this method and you’re more likely to be trading at higher rate due to the unfair exchange rate. In their defence, Changelly does warn you about the high fees and the team claim this is out of their control. The reason for that is that to process these transactions, Changelly needs a third-party payment service (currently Indacoin and Simplex), which massively varies the rate.

Direct Buying Fees

When you’re looking to buy cryptocurrencies with a credit card on Changelly, you’ll notice fees are considerably higher. It’s important to understand why. All bank card transactions on Changelly are provided by Simplex and Indacoin. For BTC, BCH, LTC, XRP and ETH Changelly supports direct payments, which are provided by Simplex, so you can buy these cryptos without double conversion. However, when buying an other coin listed on Changelly, the transaction will be operated by Indacoin. In this case, the fiat amount will be converted twice: from fiat to BTC and from BTC to your requested cryptocurrency.

5. Buying Limits

When trading crypto to crypto there is no limit on the transaction amount. However fiat transaction have buying limits:

  • USA, Canada and Australia – $50 limit for the first transaction. The next purchase could be made in 4 days (100$ limit) and $500 after 7 days of the first buy. No more than 3 payments within the first week. No limits in one month at all.
  • CIS region (Russia/Ukraine/Belarus/Kazakhstan/Armenia/Georgia) – $200 limit for the first transaction. The next limit increase could be done in 24 hours. The total limit for the first week is $2000 and for the first month is $10000.
  • EU and other countries – $100 limit for the first transaction, the next purchase could be made in 4 days with 200$ limit and $500 after 7 days of the first buy. No more than 6 payments within the first week. No limits in one month at all.

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If you’re looking to buy Bitcoin with a credit card via Changelly you’ll have the following limits:

  • First transaction: from $50 to $10,000
  • Daily limit: up to $20,000
  • Monthly limit: up to $50,000

6.Supported Countries

According to Changelly’s Terms of Service you will not be able to use the exchange if you live in any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Crimea, Sudan, Syria, United States of America (including all USA territories like Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Island, and the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas), Bangladesh and Bolivia, as well as any other country subject to United Nations Security Council Sanctions List and its equivalent.

7. Customer Support and Customer Reviews

There is no doubt that the whole industry is struggling to provide reliable customer service. For the most part, Changelly seems to be doing a respectable job with a relatively high satisfaction score on TrustPilot. Team members often reply to queries within hours, and there are many reports of problems being fixed in under 24 hours. The website is particularly clean and easy to understand, so users have a minimal learning curve to start trading.

An in-depth FAQ also helps you educate yourself about the site and service. Support is provided through a chatbox on the website. However, aside from the  respected amount of positive reviews, there are many one-star reviews about expensive trades and missing funds. As mentioned above, Changelly claims to have 0.5% fees, but in reality, it can get a lot more expensive for USD and Euro transactions. Changelly seems to be responding to each and every review with a request for a follow up. You can also read the comment section in this post for additional reviews of the platform.

8. Changelly vs. Shapeshift

Changelly’s ultimate competition is Shapeshift, a similar service headed by Erik Vorohees in 2014 that has gained a lot of respect from the Bitcoin community. From a user perspective, there isn’t a lot of difference between the two services, with Changelly being the cheaper one. From a reputation perspective, Shapeshift is much more open about its business and the people who run the company. I’ve compared both companies in the past, if you’re looking for a more detailed perspective.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Does Changelly Accept Debit Cards?

Yes, Changelly accepts debit cards for cryptocurrency purchases. You may pay with a 3D-secure card from any country and in any currency. Debit cards are much more recommended to use than credit cards, since the latter can get declined by the issuing bank.

How Long Does Changelly Take to Exchange Between Cryptocurrencies?

Changelly transactions usually take between 5-30 minutes. Transactions over 1 BTC have a longer processing time, and can take longer depending on their size.

Source: http:/www.changelly.com

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Forget China—Is This The Real Reason Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, And Ripple’s XRP Bounced?

Bitcoin has swung wildly this week, as many had expected it to, with it losing $1,000 per bitcoin a few days ago before suddenly shooting back up earlier today.

The bitcoin price is now at over $9,000 per bitcoin after dropping to lows of almost $7,000 on Thursday–and heading fast towards the psychological $10,000 mark, according to the latest prices from Luxembourg-based exchange Bitstamp.

Elsewhere, other major cryptocurrencies ethereum, litecoin, Ripple’s XRP, and bitcoin cash rallied between 7% and 23%, adding billions to the value of the combined cryptocurrency market.

Many bitcoin and cryptocurrency market analysts pointed to comments made by China’s president President Xi Jinping that the country should “seize the opportunity” of bitcoin’s blockchain technology as the reason behind bitcoin’s rally.

China banned bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017 and some took Xi’s blockchain comments as a sign the country could ease bitcoin and crypto restrictions.

Today In: Money

“We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies,” Xi reportedly said, speaking at the 18th collective study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in Beijing.

“[We must] clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation.”

However, Xi’s comments, which referred only to blockchain technology and not to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, might not have been the driver behind bitcoin’s recovery.

Following bitcoin’s sudden drop earlier this week, bitcoin and crypto investors feared the worst wasn’t over the for the market.

Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was savaged by U.S. senators over his plans for a bitcoin rival dubbed libra and crypto investors are fretting there could be a global crackdown on bitcoin and other digital tokens.

Elsewhere, technical data pointed to a so-called “death cross” for bitcoin, while the Fear & Greed Index slumped and a Twitter reading of investor temperature was poor.

This sentiment slump meant investors bet against the bitcoin price, predicting it would move lower.

When the bitcoin price recovered a couple of hundred dollars per bitcoin in just a few minutes, some $150 million worth of short positions on the Seychelles-based BitMEX crypto exchange were liquidated, according to bitcoin and cryptocurrency analytics provider Skew.

This triggered what’s known as a “short squeeze,” where an asset rapidly increases in value due to short sellers trying to cover their positions, resulting in buying volume that drives the price up.

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I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported on how technology is changing business, political trends, and the latest culture and lifestyle. I have covered the rise of bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012 and have charted its emergence as a niche technology into the greatest threat to the established financial system the world has ever seen and the most important new technology since the internet itself. I have worked and written for CityAM, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman, amongst others. Follow me on Twitter @billybambrough or email me on billyATbillybambrough.com. Disclosure: I occasionally hold some small amount of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Source: Forget China—Is This The Real Reason Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, And Ripple’s XRP Bounced?

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Facebook’s Libra Is Already Ahead Of Ethereum, Litecoin, And Ripple’s XRP–But Not Bitcoin

Image result for facebook libra

Bitcoin has been around for a little over a decade, while its biggest competitors ethereum, litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP have been knocking around for between seven and four years—but all save bitcoin are already being eclipsed by Facebook’s yet-to-launch libra cryptocurrency.

The bitcoin price has surged over recent months as interest surrounding social media giant Facebook’s planned libra project reached fever-pitch but has swung wildly as global regulators poured cold water on Facebook’s ambitions.

Now, a new survey has found there is “substantial” public interest in Facebook’s potential bitcoin rival, despite a lack of trust in the company, with people already more familiar with it than ethereum, litecoin and Ripple’s XRP.

bitcoin, bitcoin price, ethereum, ethereum price, Litecoin, Ripple, XRP, Facebook, Libra, image

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg might have his work cut out to convince U.S. and global regulators of libra’s potential, but the general public might already be on board.

Bitcoin and Facebook’s libra were given an awareness boost by U.S. president Donald Trump last week when he tweeted his opposition to both technologies but he may have inadvertently introduced the idea of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to a whole new audience.

New research, carried out by U.S. brokerage eToro, has found that while 58% of the U.S. adults have heard of bitcoin, the first and largest cryptocurrency, Facebook’s libra is already known by 16% of people—just a month after it was unveiled.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has achieved only 12% recognition since it went live in July 2015 and it can be assumed that smaller cryptocurrencies litecoin and Ripple’s XRP are still less well known.

“We believe that crypto and the blockchain technology that underpins it will be essential to tomorrow’s economy,” said Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director of eToro. “By introducing the concept to a new audience, libra could play a vital role in the evolution of decentralized and more democratized finance.”

bitcoin, bitcoin price, ethereum, ethereum price, litecoin, ripple, xrp, facebook, libra, chart

The bitcoin price has been climbing so far this year, largely due to interest in cryptocurrencies from Facebook and the world’s biggest tech companies.

Meanwhile, the survey suggests that people may not be willing to trust Facebook to correctly manage payments, perhaps due to its on-going data-sharing scandal.

A little over half (54%) of respondents, out of some 600, expressed doubts over Facebook’s management of their personal data but only 17% indicated they would be willing to trust Facebook with their money the same way they trust their banks.

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I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world.

Source: Facebook’s Libra Is Already Ahead Of Ethereum, Litecoin, And Ripple’s XRP–But Not Bitcoin

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