Bakkt pivots into stablecoin infrastructure as revenue tumbles 77% in Q1. The digital asset platform swung to a net loss of $11.7 million in the three months ended 31 March, or 41 cents per share, from net income of $7.7 million a year earlier. Crypto services revenue dropped to $243.6 million from $1.07 billion in the prior-year quarter. Lower trading volumes drove the collapse.
The numbers
| Metric | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income (loss) | ($11.7m) | $7.7m | ($19.4m) |
| EPS (diluted) | ($0.41) | $1.13 | ($1.54) |
| Crypto services revenue | $243.6m | $1.07bn | (77%) |
| Operating expenses (ex-crypto) | $18.5m | $18.9m | ($0.4m) |
| Cash at quarter-end | $82.6m | n/a | n/a |
The revenue line looks brutal. Drill into the structure and most of that figure gets eaten by crypto costs and brokerage fees, which hit $242 million in the quarter. Excluding those pass-through costs, operating expenses held at $18.5 million, down slightly from $18.9 million a year earlier. The platform is not burning cash on the expense side. The problem is the top line.
Bakkt ended the period with $82.6 million in cash. That includes $69.6 million raised through equity offerings during the quarter. The balance sheet carries no long-term debt. Shares closed up 0.71% at $9.92 on Monday. Pre-market trading on Tuesday took them down 9.14% to $9.00 once the print crossed.
Bakkt pivots into stablecoin infrastructure
The revenue collapse comes as Bakkt pivots away from crypto trading infrastructure and toward stablecoin payments and AI-enabled financial plumbing. The company closed its acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research on 30 April, bringing in an AI-native payments engine and a stablecoin compliance stack. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Zoth, a stablecoin provider targeting $1 billion in annualised payment volumes across South Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.
