ICE’s digital asset platform, Bakkt, announced that it has partnered with Google “to introduce digital assets to millions of consumers.”
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, founded Bakkt in 2018. The digital assets marketplace enables consumers to buy, sell, send and spend digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.
This partnership with Google will enable Bakkt users to add their virtual Bakkt Visa Debit Card (“Bakkt Card”) into Google Pay. Subsequently, the users will be able to purchase goods and services anywhere that accepts Google Pay. Digital assets, like Bitcoin, in the users’ wallets, will be converted to fiat currency for these payments to occur.
Additionally, Bakkt announced that it has selected Google Cloud as a preferred cloud provider. The company will market its solutions powered by Google Cloud to retailers and merchants in the U.S. The digital assets marketplace also plans to leverage the Cloud’s industry-leading tools to generate new business insights. The new analytics would integrate artificial intelligence, machine learning, and geolocation functionality on its platform. These insights will provide Bakkt consumers with expanded loyalty redemption options. At the same time, Bakkt partners will have data on valuable consumer behavior patterns.
“This partnership is a testament to Bakkt’s strong position in the digital asset marketplace, to empower consumers to enjoy their digital assets in a real-time, secure, reliable manner,” said Gavin Michael, Bakkt CEO. “Additionally, partnering with Google Cloud will enable us to continue to build a best-in-class, innovative platform that can undoubtedly scale to meet the needs of millions of users.”
“Google Cloud has been at the forefront of accelerating digital commerce, powering many retailers and merchants,” said Kirsten Kliphouse, Google Cloud President of North America. “We are proud to help Bakkt accelerate and scale the availability of their innovative solutions, powered by our technologies.”