Cryptocurrency infrastructure firm Bakkt has agreed to acquire payments platform Distributed Technologies Research, or DTR, as per a press release on Monday. The deal is expected to speed up Bakkt’s stablecoin settlement technology, as DTR has specialized infrastructure to help Bakkt in this regard.
Both companies are managed by Akshay Naheta.
As part of the deal, Bakkt will be issuing roughly 9.1 million shares to DTR shareholders, which will also extend to CEO Akshay Naheta.
Alongside this announcement, Bakkt also said that it will be changing its name to Bakkt Inc., with no changes to be made to its stock ticker.
“This transaction accelerates Bakkt’s evolution toward programmable money and new-age global financial infrastructure and reflects a disciplined approach to capital allocation aligned with long-term platform value creation,” said Bakkt director Colleen Brown.
“It broadens the scope of what our platform can deliver across digital assets and settlement, and creates a strong foundation for the next chapter of Bakkt’s growth,”
At the time of writing, Bakkt was trading at $19.21 per share. Across 2025, Bakkt has lost 16.70% in value.
“This transaction represents the culmination of a single, cohesive strategy,” said Bakkt CEO Akshay Naheta