Bakkt’s corporate Bitcoin play turns Marusho Hotta into crypto treasury hub

Bakkt plans to convert a traditional Japanese company into a Bitcoin investment vehicle. Marusho Hotta, a little -known Tokyo scholarship company, is planned for a radical youthful treatment while Bakkt takes a 30%stake, sets up its own CEO and rebranda as Bitcoin.jp.

August 6, Bakkt Holdings announcement He would buy a 30% stake in Marusho Hotta, a Japanese company listed on the stock market, of Rizap Group, making it the most important shareholder of a agreement which includes a complete change of brand of Bitcoin.jp and a redesign of leadership.

The acquisition, awaiting the approval of the shareholders, will see the international president of Bakkt, Phillip Lord, taking the bar as CEO while integrating Bitcoin (BTC) and digital assets in the company’s treasure strategy. Bakkt said that he had already secured the Bitcoin.JP domain, signaling his intention to position the reworked entity as a flagship product for the adoption of corporate cryptography.

“The Japan regulatory environment creates an ideal platform for a Bitcoin growth company. We are looking forward to working with the MHT team to integrate Bitcoin into their operating model and financial and establish MHT as a leading Bitcoin cash company, “said Akshay Naheta, Bakkt Co-Peo.

A public pivot with private urgency?

The Bakkt movement to transform Marusho Hotta into a Bitcoin cash vehicle marks the last maneuver of a reinvention with high issues. During the last year, the company has been the subject of intense speculation, including discussions on acquisition with Trump Media & Technology Group at the end of 2024.

Although this agreement has never been materialized, rumors highlighted Bakkt’s precarious position: an formerly promising institutional cryptographic platform that has trouble finding its place. Now, with this Japanese acquisition, Bakkt makes its most daring bet to date – not just on Bitcoin, but to its survival.

The aggressive pivot of the Bitcoin company is done in the middle of persistent cash challenges. In February of last year, Bakkt warned in a Dry deposit that he may not “continue as an in progress concern”, citing insufficient funds to maintain operations over the next 12 months.

Admission was a striking reversal for a company that launched in 2018 with the support of Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and was once praised as Bitcoin Institutional Savior.

Since then, Bakkt has lost non -essential assets, including Sale of his loyalty awards businessTo focus only on crypto. Its increase on the shares of $ 75 million in July, followed by an $ 1 billion shelf offer, suggests a desperate but calculated change to become a Bitcoin Pure-Play cash operator.