According to the Financial Times of the united kingdom, the social media company of president-elect Trump is negotiating to acquire$Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.US)$the crypto trading venue under $Bakkt Holdings (BKKT.US)$ to engage in deep negotiations to expand its business beyond online discussions.

Two informed sources said, $Trump Media & Technology (DJT.US)$ A full stock acquisition of Bakkt is approaching, and Trump has promised to retain a 53% stake in the group. The valuation in negotiations has not been clarified, but on Monday, Bakkt's market cap was slightly above $0.15 billion.

Since Trump won the election, TMTG, which operates Truth Social, has become one of the most actively traded stocks in the USA, with retail investors trying to profit from its frequently volatile trades. Although TMTG's revenue this year was only $2.6 million, its stock is valued at $6 billion, providing its management with valuable funds to acquire other companies.

Following the Financial Times report on the negotiations, Bakkt's stock price soared by 162%, triggering several circuit breakers. $Trump Media & Technology (DJT.US)$ The stock price increased by approximately 16.7%.

If the above transaction is successful, it will deepen Trump's entry into the cryptocurrency market, as he previously began promoting a new crypto venture established by his long-time business partner World Liberty Financial, from which he will earn considerable fees. After Trump's election, the crypto market also saw a surge.$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$Prices increased by over 30%, as the market speculated that the Trump administration would enact legislation favorable to the industry.

Since its establishment, Bakkt has struggled to achieve profitability. It was created by the intercontinental exchange, whose owner, the nyse, still holds 55% of the company's economic rights.

Bakkt's first CEO was Kelly Loeffler, who was the marketing director of the intercontinental exchange and a former Republican senator from Georgia during President Trump's first term. She is the co-chair of Trump's inauguration committee for January next year. Her husband is Jeff Sprecher, the founder, chairman, and CEO of the intercontinental exchange.

Bakkt previously stated that its cryptocurrency custody business, which has a regulatory license from New York authorities, might be closed. People familiar with TMTG negotiations indicated that this business would not be included in the trade.

The establishment of the crypto business was intended to hold bitcoin and$Ethereum (ETH.CC)$other digital assets on behalf of clients, but it failed to gain traction. In the three months ending September 30, the company's revenue was $0.328 million, while it faced an operating loss of $0.027 million. Bakkt plans to create a trading platform for institutional investors. Due to poor stock performance, Bakkt faced the risk of being delisted from the nyse until the company conducted a 1-for-25 reverse stock split in April this year. Last week, the company's stock price increased by 15%.

According to Similarweb, this month, the daily average visits to the Truth Social website was 0.646 million, while Elon Musk's X platform had a daily average of 0.155 billion visits. Even so, according to Bloomberg's calculations, Trump's share currently represents more than half of his $5.7 billion wealth.

Editor/Rocky