Bakkt’s Revenue Falls 77% in Q1 as Stablecoin Pivot Takes Shape

Bakkt swung to a first-quarter loss as crypto services revenue fell 77%, underscoring the digital asset platform’s push to reposition itself around stablecoin payments and AI-enabled financial infrastructure.

On Monday, the company reported a net loss attributable to Bakkt of $11.7 million, or 41 cents per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31. That compares with net income attributable to Bakkt of $7.7 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, a year earlier.

Crypto services revenue fell to $243.6 million from $1.07 billion in the prior year’s period, Bakkt said. The company attributed the decline primarily to lower crypto trading volumes. However, nearly all of that revenue figure is offset by crypto costs and brokerage fees, which totaled $242 million in the quarter.

Excluding crypto costs, operating expenses held steady at $18.5 million, down slightly from $18.9 million a year ago. The net loss was $11.7 million, compared to net income of $7.7 million a year ago.

Bakkt ended the quarter with $82.6 million in cash, including $69.6 million raised through equity offerings during the period. The company also revealed that it carries no long-term debt.

Bakkt shares drop in pre-market trading. Source: Yahoo! Finance

Shares closed up 0.71% at $9.92 on Monday but fell 9.14% in pre-market trading on Tuesday to $9.00 following the release.

Related: US Senator Questions Mark Zuckerberg on Meta’s Stablecoin Plans

Bakkt goes all in on stablecoins

Bakkt’s shrinking revenue comes as the company is in the middle of a major pivot, moving away from crypto trading infrastructure and toward stablecoin payments and agentic AI.

The company closed its acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research on April 30, bringing in an AI-native payments engine and stablecoin compliance stack. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zoth, a stablecoin provider targeting $1 billion in annualized payment volumes across South Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We believe stablecoin infrastructure represents one of the most significant structural transformations in global finance in decades,” CEO Akshay Naheta said in the earnings release, pointing to the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act as regulatory tailwinds that could boost the value of Bakkt’s licensed infrastructure.

Related: OpenTrade Raises $17 Million to Expand Stablecoin Yield Platform

Stablecoin infrastructure draws interest

Bakkt’s pivot comes as public-market investors show growing interest in stablecoin infrastructure companies.

Circle Internet Group shares rose nearly 16% Monday after the USDC (USDC) issuer reported a 20% rise in first-quarter total revenue and reserve income to $694 million and disclosed a $222 million presale of its ARC blockchain token at a $3 billion fully diluted network valuation.

Circle’s results showed USDC in circulation rose 28% year over year to $77 billion at quarter-end, while onchain transaction volume rose 263% to $21.5 trillion.

Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin