Bakkt Replaces CEO as NYSE Threatens to Delist Crypto Exchange

Olga Kharif, Bloomberg News

, Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Bakkt Holdings Inc. named a new chief executive officer and president as the crypto trading and custody platform faces being dropped from the New York Stock Exchange for failing to maintain listing requirements.

Andy Main, who has served on Bakkt’s board of directors since its public listing in 2021, will succeed Gavin Michael in the two roles on March 26. Michael, who is stepping down to focus on other opportunities, will serve in an advisory role through March 2025.

Bakkt, which is backed by the parent company of the NYSE, said in February it may not be able to continue as a going concern. Since then, the company entered into a $40 million registered direct offering with institutional investors and a $10 million concurrent registered direct offering, which have “alleviated the conditions that raise the doubt about us as a going concern,” Main said in an interview.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which owns some of the biggest futures markets as well as the NYSE, launched Bakkt with much fanfare in 2018, announcing that it was teaming up at the time in the venture with Starbucks Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Kelly Loeffler, the founding CEO, later went on to serve as a US Senator from Georgia for one year.

The company is also cutting expenses, such as restructuring services from external providers and eliminating an unnecessary duplicate license and related capital requirements, Main said. He also plans to grow the company’s revenue through partnerships.

“The tailwinds are very strong at the moment, and the addressable market that Bakkt can go after is fairly sizable,” Main said.

Until 2022, Main was CEO of Ogilvy, an advertising, marketing and public relations firm. Before then, he headed Deloitte Digital, the digital consultancy branch of Deloitte, where he oversaw the acquisition of multiple creative agencies to grow the brand.

On March 14, Bakkt filed a notice of delisting with the Securities and Exchange Commission after being notified the prior day by the NYSE that it’s not in compliance because of low share price. The company has six months following the notification to regain compliance.

Bakkt rescheduled its fourth-quarter earnings release to March 25.

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