Bakkt reported a first-quarter loss as revenue from cryptocurrency services fell 77%, underscoring the digital asset platform’s push to reposition itself around stablecoin payments and AI-enabled financial infrastructure.
On Monday, the company reported net loss attributable to Bakkt of $11.7 million, or 41 cents per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31. For comparison, net income attributable to Bakkt was $7.7 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, a year earlier.
Revenue from crypto services fell to $243.6 million from $1.07 billion in the previous year, Bakkt said. The company attributed this decline primarily to lower cryptocurrency trading volumes. However, almost all of this revenue volume is offset by cryptocurrency costs and brokerage fees, which totaled $242 million in the quarter.
Excluding cryptocurrency costs, operating expenses were flat at $18.5 million, down slightly from $18.9 million a year ago. The net loss was $11.7 million compared to a net profit of $7.7 million a year ago.
Bakkt ended the quarter with $82.6 million in cash, including $69.6 million raised through stock offerings during the period. The company also disclosed that it has no long-term debt.
Bakkt shares are falling in pre-market trading. Source: Peasant! Finances
Shares closed up 0.71% at $9.92 on Monday, but dropped 9.14% in pre-market trading on Tuesday to $9.00.
Related: US Senator Questions Mark Zuckerberg About Stablecoin Meta Plans
Bakkt focuses on stablecoins
Bakkt’s shrinking revenue comes as the company is in the midst of a major pivot, away from cryptocurrency trading infrastructure toward stablecoin payments and agent-based AI.
The company completed its acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research on April 30, introducing a native AI-powered payment engine and stablecoin compliance stack. It also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with stablecoin provider Zoth targeting $1 billion in annual payment volumes across South Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.
“We believe stablecoin infrastructure represents one of the most important structural transformations in global finance in decades,” CEO Akshay Naheta said in the earnings release, pointing to the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act as regulatory drivers that could boost the value of Bakkt’s licensed infrastructure.
Related: OpenTrade raises $17 million to expand its Stablecoin income platform
Stablecoin infrastructure is gaining attention
Bakkt’s breakthrough comes as public market investors show growing interest in stablecoin infrastructure companies.
Shares of Circle Internet Group surged nearly 16% on Monday after issuer USDC ( USDC ) reported a 20% boost in first-quarter total revenue and reserve income to $694 million and revealed a $222 million presale of its ARC blockchain token at a fully diluted network valuation of $3 billion.
Circle’s results showed that the value of USDC in circulation increased 28% year-over-year to $77 billion at the end of the quarter, while onchain transaction volume increased 263% to $21.5 trillion.
Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin
