Crypto Trading Platform Bakkt Teams Up With Starbucks On Consumer App

Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading platform, is working on consumer apps for digital assets and is going to launch its first one in partnership with Starbucks.

Last year, Starbucks revealed that it is among the companies that will work with Bakkt “to create an integrated platform that enables consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets on a seamless global network.”

The app is expected to be out in the first half of the year, Reuters reported.

“Bakkt’s approach to secure technology, privacy and innovation means that we are an advocate for consumers who have yet to enter the digital asset space, and for merchants who want to accept new, efficient forms of payments without increasing risks,” said Mike Blandina, chief product officer at Bakkt.

Bakkt recently announced it was going to introduce a regulated options contract for bitcoin futures at the end of the year. The options contract is going to be based on Bakkt’s benchmark Monthly Bitcoin Futures.

Bakkt recently hit a futures milestone: 1,179 contracts. Analysts said current market volatility has helped the increase.

Bakkt is still behind the CME, which saw a huge increase in volume as well. Bakkt offers its customers bitcoin futures contracts that are physically settled, as opposed to CME, which has a cash-settled method.

Earlier this year, Bakkt hired PayPal and Google alum Blandina as its chief product officer. Previously, Blandina was at Google Wallet, where he was engineering director of payments, and at PayPal as vice president of engineering.

At the time, Bakkt announced on Twitter that it need a number of positions filled, including director of blockchain engineering; director of security engineering; senior full-stack engineer; mobile developer; software development engineer in test; director of finance; institutional sales; and senior Java engineer.

In August, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced it had granted a charter under New York Banking Law to Bakkt Trust to operate as a limited liability trust company.