Bakkt Stock Rallies Nearly 20% - What’s Behind The Move?

Bakkt said it has agreed to acquire Distributed Technologies Research, a global stablecoin payment infrastructure provider.

• As per the deal, Bakkt will issue about 9.1 million shares of Class A common stock to DTR shareholders. 
• Acquisition of DTR advances Bakkt’s global stablecoin settlement and programmable payments strategy. 
• Separately, it said that it intends to change its corporate name to ‘Bakkt, Inc’ effective January 22, 2026. 

Shares of Bakkt (BKKT) rallied on Monday after it announced that it has agreed to acquire Distributed Technologies Research (DTR), a global stablecoin payment infrastructure provider.

As per the deal, and as consideration for DTR, Bakkt will issue shares of its Class A common stock representing 31.5% of the “Bakkt Share Number,”. Bakkt will issue about 9.1 million shares of Class A common stock to DTR shareholders, it said in a statement. 

“We are pleased to welcome DTR to Bakkt,” said Colleen Brown, Director and member of the Special Committee of Bakkt’s Board of Directors. “This transaction accelerates Bakkt’s evolution toward programmable money and new-age global financial infrastructure and reflects a disciplined approach to capital allocation aligned with long-term platform value creation”. 

Push Towards Stablecoin

Acquisition of DTR advances Bakkt’s global stablecoin settlement and programmable payments strategy. Bakkt has been undergoing a strategic pivot in recent months to get into crypto space. It has also launched a crypto treasury. 

The firm sold its loyalty rewards business last year and began acquiring money transmitter licenses to facilitate crypto trading, transfers, and settlement. The company provides solutions that enable institutional participation in the digital asset economy — spanning Bitcoin, tokenization, stablecoin payments, and AI-driven finance. 

Bakkt announced that it intends to change its corporate name to ‘Bakkt, Inc’ effective January 22, 2026. The company expects to continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘BKKT’.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

Retail sentiment around BKKT trended in ‘extremely bullish’ territory amid ‘extremely high’ message volume. 

One user said that it will not sell the stock until at least it reaches $150.

Another bullish user predicted the stock to touch $30 by the end of the week.

Shares of Bakkt have fallen 20% over the past year. 

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