Author: Scof, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
Without preheating or major good news, crypto concept stock Bakkt suddenly surged by over 50% overnight.
Recently marginalized by the market due to customer loss and revenue decline, Bakkt has now suddenly become the most eye-catching stock in the crypto sector. What rhythm did it hit behind this seemingly accidental surge? Is it a short-term speculative game or a signal of an industry trend turning?
Bakkt's Surge: Opportunity or Sentiment?
On May 13th, Bakkt's stock price soared over 50% in a short time. This company, once viewed as a "bridge for traditional finance entering the crypto world", has been struggling with customer loss and revenue shrinkage in recent years. This sudden reversal has drawn market attention. The surface reason is achieving a net profit of $7.7 million in the first quarter, which is the first profit in recent years. However, a careful look at the financial report reveals that this is mainly due to cost reduction and one-time adjustments, with core business not significantly improving.
What truly ignited sentiment was the company's new strategy. Bakkt announced cooperation with DTR, founded by a former SoftBank executive, planning to launch AI plugins and stablecoin payment services, entering the hot "PayFi" track - a global payment infrastructure combining AI agents and on-chain settlement. This narrative of overlaying AI with crypto quickly sparked market speculation.
Additionally, Bakkt's "merger concept" was reactivated. Although previous acquisition talks with Trump's TMTG did not materialize, ICE still holds over half of its shares, and the market is speculating that Apex Fintech might take over. With an extremely small circulating float and a short interest of up to 23%, a short squeeze quickly unfolded, rapidly pushing the stock price up.
From a fundamental perspective, the platform still faces enormous pressure. On one hand, Bakkt's major client Nasdaq-listed broker Webull will terminate cooperation in June. Bakkt had previously provided crypto trading and custody services for Webull, with this service accounting for over 70% of Bakkt's total revenue. On the other hand, Bank of America will also end its cooperation with Bakkt, affecting Bakkt's loyalty services segment, which primarily provides solutions like point exchange and digital rewards for enterprise clients.
With the loss of these two major clients, Bakkt's revenue structure becomes more fragile. This surge seems more like a concentrated release of short-term market sentiment rather than a substantial fundamental turnaround.
Crypto Stocks Collectively Agitated: What is the Market Betting On?
Bakkt's anomaly is not an isolated phenomenon. During the same period, the crypto concept stock sector generally strengthened, with multiple stocks showing significant gains. Coinbase rose 23.97%, TeraWulf increased 10.06%, Amber Group and DMG Blockchain rose nearly 10%, and MicroStrategy rebounded over 4%. Overall, the crypto stock sector rose nearly 10% for the week, indicating dense capital allocation in this track.
More importantly, the market is beginning to re-examine the value of crypto "infrastructure". In previous crypto market cycles, most funds flowed to exchanges, platform tokens, or mining enterprises. Now, investors' gaze is gradually turning towards "pipeline" companies - enterprises providing custody, settlement, clearing, compliance, and risk control services. They are more like the water, electricity, and gas of this ecosystem, with stable revenue models and easier adaptation to traditional financial valuation systems. Bakkt's surge precisely hit this structural preference, and it is not the only one.
Traditional Finance is Comprehensively Entering
The true turning point of the crypto industry is not in the short-term stock price lift of a platform, but in the increasing number of traditional financial institutions choosing to join this game.
Internet brokers in the Hong Kong region have already taken the lead. Futu Securities launched crypto trading services, allowing users to directly deposit and trade mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT through Hong Kong and US stock accounts; Tiger Securities launched crypto asset deposit, trading, and withdrawal functions, integrating them with traditional stock trading; Victory Securities has also obtained licenses supporting crypto asset-related businesses. Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Kong subsidiary announced participation in the HKMA's stablecoin sandbox, attempting to explore on-chain payment solutions within a compliant framework.
Meanwhile, global payment giants are making even more aggressive moves. Stripe launched stablecoin accounts and programmable stablecoin USDB, serving 101 countries; Visa and Mastercard expanded integration with partners like Circle, bringing stablecoins like USDC into their payment networks, allowing users to consume on-chain assets through traditional cards; PayPal attracts users to hold PYUSD with a 3.7% yield, trying to construct a stablecoin-based settlement loop. Even traditional cross-border remittance companies like MoneyGram are connecting traditional cash and on-chain assets through stablecoin "Ramps", covering over 170 countries.
The common direction of these developments is that traditional finance no longer views crypto as a monster, but is actively "on-chaining" itself. This reflects both a response to changing user needs and a pursuit of cost efficiency. Compared to high-fee, slow-settlement traditional networks, stablecoins and blockchain technology offer a faster, cheaper, and more transparent infrastructure. Whoever can position themselves first in this new system will likely maintain more discourse on the future financial map.
Bakkt's new strategy is a result of this trend. Although it doesn't match Stripe, Visa, and other giants in scale and technology, as an institution holding US licenses and possessing custody and clearing capabilities, it still has the potential to become an acquisition target or cooperation entry point. This is why the market is re-evaluating it - not looking at how much money it makes today, but whether it could be the next entry ticket.
Conclusion
Bakkt's surge is a microcosm of this market movement, but not the entire picture. As capital markets begin to re-examine the value of crypto infrastructure, and more traditional financial institutions no longer avoid crypto technology, "on-chain finance" becomes an executable strategy rather than a distant fantasy, we are witnessing the beginning of an era's transformation.
In this round, it's not those shouting slogans who make money, but those who truly build bridges, pave roads, and connect to mainstream systems.
