Bakkt led the rally, and crypto stocks began to collectively go to the table and start a business again?
Author: Scof, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
has no warm-up, no major positives, but the crypto concept stock Bakkt has skyrocketed by more than 50% overnight.
Not long ago, Bakkt was marginalized by the market due to customer churn and declining revenue, but now it has suddenly rushed to the hot search and has become the brightest presence in crypto stocks. Behind the seemingly accidental surge, what rhythm has been stepped on? Is it a short-term speculative game, or is it a signal that the industry trend is quietly turning?
Bakkt skyrocketing, is it an opportunity or an emotion?
On May 13, Bakkt's stock price soared by more than 50% in a short period of time. The company, once seen as a "bridge between traditional finance and the crypto world", has been mired in customer churn and shrinking revenue in the past few years, and this sudden reversal has attracted market attention. The apparent reason was that it achieved a net profit of $7.7 million in the first quarter, the first profit in recent years. However, a closer look at the earnings report shows that this is mainly due to cost cuts and one-time adjustments, and the core business has not improved significantly.
What really ignited the mood was the new strategy released by the company. Bakkt announced a partnership with DTR, founded by former SoftBank executives, to launch an AI plug-in and stablecoin payment service to tap into the popular "PayFi" track, a global payment infrastructure that combines AI agents and on-chain settlement. This "new narrative" of superimposed AI and encryption quickly sparked market hype.
In addition, Bakkt's "M&A concept" has been reactivated. Negotiations with Trump's TMTG have been unsuccessful, but ICE still holds more than half of its shares, and there are rumors that Apex Fintech may take over. Driven by a very small float and a whopping 23% short position, the short squeeze was quickly staged and the stock price was quickly pulled up.
From a fundamental point of view, the platform is still under tremendous pressure. On the one hand, Bakkt's major customer, NASDAQ-listed brokerage Webull, will terminate its cooperation with it in June. Bakkt used to provide cryptocurrency trading and custody services to Webull, which used to account for more than 70% of Bakkt's total revenue. On the other hand, Bank of America will also end its partnership with Bakgt, which will affect Bakkt's loyalty services segment, which focuses on points redemption, digital rewards and other solutions for corporate customers.
With the loss of two major customers, Bakkt's revenue structure has become more fragile. This round of surge is more like a concentrated release of short-term market sentiment rather than a substantial turning point in fundamentals.
Crypto stocks are collectively restless, what is the market betting on?
Bakkt's anomaly is not an isolated phenomenon. During the same time period, the crypto concept stock sector generally strengthened, and many individual stocks rose significantly. Coinbase rose 23.97%, TeraWulf added 10.06%, Amber Group and DMG Blockchain rose nearly 10%, and MicroStrategy also recovered more than 4%. Overall, the crypto sector rose nearly 10% for the week, showing the intensive distribution of funds in the track.