Bakkt Appoints Akshay Naheta as Co-CEO Amid Rise in Stablecoin Payments
The main objective of the partnership is to integrate Bakkt's trading platform with DTR's stablecoin-based payment infrastructure.
Author: Francisco Rodriguez | Edited by: Parikshit Mishra 21 Mar 2025 9:25 UTC
Key points:
- Bakkt has appointed Akshay Naheta as co-CEO and formed a strategic partnership with Naheta's payments startup Distributed Technologies Research (DTR).
- The company intends to integrate its trading and brokerage platform with DTR's payment infrastructure, which uses stablecoins.
- The main goal of the integration is to create new sources of income in the field of cryptocurrency trading and cross-border payments.
Bakkt Holdings (BKKT) names Akshay Naheta as co-CEO and enters into a strategic partnership with Naheta's payments startup Distributed Technologies Research (DTR) in an effort to unlock new revenue streams.
Naheta, who previously worked at SoftBank and has experience investing in Nvidia and ARM, will officially join Bakkt’s leadership team starting today. Along with current CEO Andy Main, he is expected to drive the company’s deeper adoption of blockchain payments. Naheta will also join Bakkt’s board of directors.
The announcement centers on the planned integration of Bakkt’s trading and brokerage platform with DTR’s stablecoin-based payment infrastructure. According to the press release, DTR’s infrastructure uses a suite of APIs, blockchain technology, and a proprietary routing system to help reduce the cost and complexity of its solutions.
Bakkt says the merger will create new revenue streams in both cryptocurrency trading and cross-border payments (subject to regulatory approval).
Bakkt shares have fallen more than 18% over the past three days after it was revealed that neither Bank of America (BAC) nor cryptocurrency trading app Webull Pay would renew their agreements with the company.
