Cailian News reported on November 19 that according to media reports citing sources, Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media company of US President-elect Trump, is in in-depth negotiations to acquire Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading platform under Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Boosted by this news, as of the close of Monday, Bakkt's stock price soared 162.46%, with a market value of approximately US$400 million, and Trump Media & Technology Group's stock price rose 16.65%, with a market value of US$7.111 billion. According to people familiar with the matter, Trump Media & Technology Group is close to reaching an all-stock acquisition agreement, and the price of the transaction is still unclear.

Bakkt was created by Intercontinental Exchange, which holds a 55% stake in the company. Bakkt has previously said that its cryptocurrency custody business (which has been licensed by New York regulators) may be shut down. According to people familiar with the matter, the business will not be included in the transaction. Bakkt's cryptocurrency custody business has been difficult to make a profit. The company had revenue of $328,000 and an operating loss of $27,000 in the third quarter of this year. Due to the sluggish stock price, Bakkt was at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange until the company conducted a 1-to-25 reverse stock split in April this year.

Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler served as a Republican senator from Georgia during Trump's first term and was also co-chair of Trump's inauguration organizing committee. If the acquisition is successful, it will mark Trump's further entry into the cryptocurrency market. Trump has previously begun promoting a new cryptocurrency venture founded by his long-time business partner World Liberty Financial, from which he can earn considerable fees. Bitcoin soared more than 30% after Trump's victory, and the market expects his administration to introduce policies that are favorable to the cryptocurrency industry. Trump previously promised that if he returns to the White House, he will ensure that the government retains 100% of its Bitcoin and will list Bitcoin as a U.S. strategic reserve asset. Trump Media & Technology Group is the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social.#BabyMarvinf9c7您拥有您值得

After the riots at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, Trump's Facebook and Twitter (now renamed X) accounts were banned, so he decided to create his own social media platform. Since then, Trump has only published content on Truth Social for a long time. It was not until he accepted an exclusive interview with X boss Musk in August this year that he returned to X and began to post actively on the platform. However, Trump still gives priority to updating on Truth Social and only chooses to post some content on the X platform. Since Truth Social's users are basically limited to Trump's supporters, its visits cannot be compared with mainstream social media platforms. According to data from Similarweb, the average daily visits to Truth Social are only 646,000, while the average daily visits to the X platform are as high as 155 million.

Trump Media & Technology Group has become one of the most actively traded U.S. stocks since Trump won the U.S. election. Although the company's revenue this year is only $2.6 million, its market value has exceeded $7.1 billion, providing it with capital to acquire other companies. Trump has previously promised to retain a 53% stake in Trump Media & Technology Group.