Sources: Intercontinental Exchange subsidiary Bakkt is being valued at around $740M following its $182.5M Series A
Bakkt, ICE's yet-to-launch crypto exchange, is being valued at around $740 million following a recent Series A round of funding, sources close to the project tell The Block.
Context & Ripple Effects
Bakkt's ~$740M valuation lands two months after the ICE subsidiary raised $182.5M to build its cryptocurrency exchange, with sources reporting that regulatory hurdles have delayed its planned bitcoin futures. The market is pricing a product that has not launched yet — effectively underwriting ICE's institutional-grade custody-and-delivery model ahead of any regulatory green light.
The trajectory that follows validates the number: Bakkt went on to raise a $300M Series B with Microsoft's M12 among the investors, then agreed to go public via a SPAC merger at a $2.1B valuation — roughly triple this Series A mark in under two years.
First-order effects
- Investors are assigning a ~$740M price to a pre-launch exchange, betting on ICE's brand and regulatory pathway rather than current revenue — while CFTC approval of the bitcoin futures remains the gating item.
Second-order effects
- The fresh war chest pressures incumbent bitcoin futures venues and institutional custodians to match an exchange-backed competitor whose delivery model is built for physical settlement.
- The oversubscribed interest implied by the valuation sets up the next raise: within a year Bakkt returns for a larger $300M Series B, adding M12 as a marquee backer.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, legacy exchange operators become the consolidation vehicles for regulated crypto infrastructure — taking pre-revenue ventures through successive private rounds to public exits, as Bakkt's $2.1B SPAC listing shows.
- Private-market marks for unlaunched crypto assets get stress-tested by eventual liquidity events, making the gap between the $740M Series A valuation and the $2.1B listing price a template for how crypto infrastructure is priced.
The trend: Legacy exchange incumbents are incubating regulated crypto infrastructure through escalating private rounds toward public listings, with regulatory approval timing setting the pace of each valuation step.