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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Crypto Currents: Circle Internet, Bakkt report Q2 earnings
As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the 'Crypto Currents' weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. CRYPTO EARNINGS: On Tuesday, Circle Internet Group (CRCL) reported a second quarter loss per share of ($4.48) on revenue of $658.08M, which compared to EPS of 0c for the same period last year and analyst revenue consensus of $644.72M. The company also reported USDC in circulation grew 90% year-over-year to $61.3B at quarter end, and has grown an additional 6.4% to $65.2B as of August 10. Adjusted EBITDA grew 52% year-over-year to $126M. Circle also forecast USDC in circulation as 40% CAGR and FY25 adjusted operating expenses $475M-$490M. 'I'm proud of Circle's performance in the second quarter, our first as a public company, where we demonstrated sustained growth and adoption of our platform across a multitude of use cases and with a diverse set of industry-defining partners,' said Jeremy Allaire, CEO. 'Circle's successful IPO in June marked a pivotal moment, not just for our company, but for the broader adoption of stablecoins and the growth of the new internet financial system. This is an extraordinary moment for our company and industry, and we are seeing accelerating interest in building on stablecoins and partnering with Circle across every significant sector of the financial industry, with major internet companies and commercial engagement all around the world.' Following the report, Baird lowered the firm's price target on Circle Internet to $185 from $210 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm updated its model following the results and the announcement of its follow-on offering of roughly 4-5% of the shares. On Monday, Bakkt (BKKT) reported a Q2 loss per share of ($2.16) on revenue of $577.9M, which compared to a loss per share of ($2.67) on a revenue of $509.9M for the same period last year. Total transacting accounts remained relatively flat year-over-year and declined 11.4% sequentially to approximately 689,000, driven by reduced market activity. Andy Main, former Co-CEO said, 'Over the past year as CEO of Bakkt, we strategically realigned the company to position it to unlock its full potential, streamlining operations, reducing costs, exiting non-core businesses, forging a transformative partnership with DTR to expand into stablecoin payments and strengthening our leadership with Akshay Naheta and other senior executives. Today, Bakkt is a leaner, more agile organization, fully focused on the massive and accelerating digital asset trend, where we see the greatest opportunity for long-term growth. With the sale of Bakkt Trust to ICE completed, a definitive agreement to sell our Loyalty business to Roman DBDR Technology Advisors in place, and the successful recapitalization of our balance sheet with $100M in new growth capital, effective today, I am handing the reins to Akshay, who will assume the sole CEO position to lead Bakkt forward, focused fully on strengthening and expanding Bakkt's crypto platform. With Bakkt's strong regulatory moat, institutional-grade technology and Akshay's leadership and vision, I am confident we are well-positioned to lead the next wave of digital asset innovation.' On Thursday, Bit Digital (BTBT) reported Q2 EPS of 7c on revenue of $25.7M, which compared to a loss per share of (9c) on a revenue of $29M for the same period last year. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $181.2M and total digital assets were $91.2M as of June 30. Subsequent to quarter-end, the company liquidated substantially all BTC and used the proceeds to acquire ETH. 'This quarter marked the beginning of Bit Digital's transformation into a dedicated Ethereum treasury and staking platform,' said Sam Tabar, CEO. 'In June, we formally launched our ETH strategy and have already scaled our holdings significantly, reaching 121,076 ETH as of August 11, 2025. Our objective is to build one of the largest on-chain ETH balance sheets in the public markets and to generate attractive staking yields for shareholders. This isn't a trend we're chasing, we've held ETH since 2021 and have deep conviction in its long-term value. We intend to opportunistically and cost-effectively scale our ETH position using a disciplined capital allocation framework. This includes deploying proceeds from operations and leveraging various capital markets tools where appropriate to maximize returns while maintaining prudent risk management. We are valuation-sensitive and focused on growing long-term value per share, not simply scaling for the sake of it.' On Wednesday, Greenidge Generation (GREE) reported Q2 loss per share of (27c) on revenue of $12.9M, which compared to loss per share of (56c) on a revenue of $13.1M last year. Greenidge ended the second quarter with $3.4M of cash, $7.3M of bitcoin and $58.2M in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured debt. Greenidge CEO Jordan Kovler commented, 'With the successful completion of our tender and exchange offer, we have significantly reduced our October 2026 debt obligations by $27.6M since October 2024, while continuing to secure opportunities to optimize and scale our mining operations. Building on this momentum, we remain focused on aggressively pursuing strategic opportunities to maximize value for all Greenidge stakeholders, including further restructuring of our October 2026 senior unsecured debt at a significant discount to par value.' COINBASE CLOSES ACQUISITION OF DERIBIT: Coinbase Global (COIN) announced Thursday it has closed its acquisition of Deribit. The company said, 'This acquisition comes on the heels of a record month of volume and revenue for Deribit, with July '25 volumes exceeding $185B and approximately $60B of current platform open interest, as international momentum around crypto options heats up…We're thrilled to welcome the world's leading crypto options exchange to Coinbase. This milestone marks a major step forward in our mission to build the most comprehensive, trusted platform for global crypto derivatives trading…Together, we're building the future of crypto derivatives markets: faster, more sophisticated, and more accessible than ever before.' On Friday, Barclays raised the firm's price target on Coinbase to $365 from $352 and kept an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm updated its model to reflect the close of the Deribit acquisition. Coinbase provided some incremental disclosures that indicate Deribit is run-rating at $240M in annual EBITDA, implying mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA accretion, the analyst said. Also on Friday, Deribit announced the launch of new linear options contracts for BTC and ETH, priced and settled in USDC, effective August 19. They come with new USDC-settled BTC & ETH dated futures, alongside the existing USDC-settled perpetual futures. Additionally on Wednesday, Thumzup Media (TZUP) announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with Coinbase as part of its accelerated cryptocurrency accumulation and mining strategy. Under the agreement, Coinbase Prime will continue to serve as Thumzup's custodian and prime broker, providing institutional-grade trading and financing solutions, all backed by NYDFS-qualified custody. SOLUNA EXPANDS PARTNERSHIP WITH GALAXY: Soluna Holdings (SLNH) announced Tuesday (GLXY). Under the new agreement, Galaxy will deploy proprietary bitcoin mining operations, previously housed at their Helios datacenter campus in the Texas panhandle, at a 48 MW expansion of Soluna's Project Kati 1 in Texas. The expansion brings Project Kati 1 to its full capacity of 83 MW and, having cleared tax abatement approvals, construction is expected to launch before the end of August. Soluna previously entered a $5M loan facility with Galaxy in Q1. With this new deployment, the partnership extends into an operational collaboration. Project Kati 1 is currently expected to be operational in Q1 2026. Galaxy will be the first customer to begin mining operations at Project Kati 1 once construction is complete. 'As we transition our Helios campus to an AI and high-performance computing data center, we're pleased to relocate a portion of our existing Bitcoin mining assets to Soluna to manage,' said Sam Kiernan, Business Development Lead at Galaxy. Additionally on Friday, Galaxy announced the closing of a $1.4B project financing facility to support the continued development of its Helios datacenter campus in West Texas. The gacility will fully fund the initial retrofit and expansion of Helios to deliver the first phase of power for AI and high-performance computing operations under a long-term agreement with CoreWeave (CRWV). Galaxy also announced Monday that Matt Friedrich will be joining as Chief Legal Officer, effective September 8. Friedrich will be responsible for Galaxy's global legal and compliance matters, including regulatory engagement, corporate governance, litigation and public policy. Friedrich succeeds Andrew Siegel, who has served as Galaxy's General Counsel since 2017. MICROSTRATEGY BUYS MORE BITCOIN: In a Monday regulatory filing, Strategy (MSTR) disclosed that the company acquired 155 bitcoin for an aggregate purchase price of $18M during the period of August 4 to August 10. The company's aggregate bitcoin holdings amount to 628,946 as of August 10, the filing stated. Also on Monday, Mizuho raised the firm's price target on Strategy to $586 from $563 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The shares continue to outperform bitcoin as the company's momentum is strong, with it again upping its bitcoin yield and gain guidance for 2025, the analyst said. The firm updated its model to reflect Strategy's new guidance, capital markets activity and bitcoin purchases. TERAWULF SECURES AI HOSTING AGREEMENTS: On Thursday, TeraWulf (WULF) announced two 10-year high-performance computing colocation agreements with Fluidstack. Under the agreements, TeraWulf will deliver more than 200 MW of critical IT load at its Lake Mariner data center campus in Western New York. The agreements represent approximately $3.7B in contracted revenue over the initial 10-year terms and include two five-year extension options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract revenue to approximately $8.7B. To support the buildout, Google (GOOGL) will backstop $1.8B of Fluidstack's lease obligations to support project-related debt financing and will receive warrants to acquire approximately 41M shares of TeraWulf common stock, equating to an approximately 8% pro forma equity ownership stake. TeraWulf also plans to access the capital markets to fund a portion of the project. 'This is a defining moment for TeraWulf,' said Paul Prager, CEO. 'We are proud to unite world-class capital and compute partners to deliver the next generation of AI infrastructure, powered by low-cost, predominantly zero-carbon energy. This transaction underscores Lake Mariner's status as a premier hyperscale-ready campus and further accelerates our strategic expansion into high-performance compute.' TeraWulf also announced Thursday the execution of a long-term ground lease for approximately 183 acres at the Cayuga site in Lansing, New York. The lease, executed with Cayuga Operating Company, has a term of 80 years and includes reciprocal purchase and sale options exercisable for $100 beginning in year 50. The lease provides TeraWulf with exclusive rights to develop up to 400 MW of digital infrastructure capacity, with 138 MW of low-cost, predominantly zero-carbon power expected to be ready for service in 2026. Following the reports, Northland raised the firm's price target on TeraWulf to $12 from $10 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The company's 200 MW deal with Fluidstack and partnership with Google is 'game-changer,' with the $1.8B backstop reflecting strong confidence from one of artificial intelligence's most influential players, the analyst said. The firm believes Google's backstop significantly enhances TeraWulf's credit profile. Meanwhile, Clear Street raised the firm's price target on TeraWulf to $12 from $9 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The colocation agreements and 80-year ground lease 'materially enhance' TeraWulf's long-term growth profile, the analyst said. The firm upped its 2027E EBITDA expectations to reflect TeraWulf's expanding high performance compute portfolio and sees potential upside to its outlook as it does not consider new business wins. Adding Fluidstack as a client, along with Google's commitment, 'will create significant momentum and increase the likelihood of additional contract wins going forward,' contended Clear Street. Citizens JMP raised the firm's price target on TeraWulf to $13 from $7 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. TeraWulf reported solid Q2 results, underscoring progress in its strategic pivot toward high-performance computing hosting, the analyst said. The company is likely to exit mining by the next halving event, and it retains the flexibility to redeploy mining capacity toward HPC, aligning with customer demand trends, the firm said. Additionally, Rosenblatt raised the firm's price target on TeraWulf to $10.50 from $6 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The company's relationships with Fluidstack and Google are 'transformational' for both TeraWulf and the sector, the analyst said. The firm sees further share upside beyond Thursday's rally, saying the deal and related Google investment 'dramatically improves' TeraWulf's risk profile and overall cost of capital.
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bakkt Sells Loyalty Business and Pivots to Pure-Play Crypto, Offers Shares
Technology platform Bakkt (BKKT) is moving to complete its transition into a pure-play crypto infrastructure firm with the planned sale of its loyalty business, the company said in a press release Monday. The Nasdaq-listed company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the unit to Project Labrador Holdco, a subsidiary of Roman DBDR Technology Advisors. The deal, expected to close in Q3 2025, includes $11 million in cash, adjustments for working capital and debt and a short-term restricted cash loan to facilitate the handoff. 'With the pending sale of our Loyalty business, Bakkt is achieving a significant milestone and fully embracing its future as a streamlined, pure-play crypto infrastructure company,' Andy Main, president and co-CEO of Bakkt, said in the release. The announcement came alongside preliminary second-quarter crypto revenues, estimated between $568 million and $569 million, and plans for a public offering of Class A shares and/or pre-funded warrants. The proceeds will be used to purchase digital assets, fund working capital and support general corporate needs, Bakkt said. Timing and terms of the offering remain subject to market conditions, the company saidError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
28-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Bakkt Announces Preliminary Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Definitive Agreement to Sell Loyalty Business
ALPHARETTA, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bakkt Holdings, Inc. ('Bakkt') (NYSE: BKKT) today announced certain preliminary financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2025, and the signing of a definitive agreement to sell its Loyalty business, marking the final step in the Company's realignment to a pure-play crypto infrastructure company. Preliminary financial results for three-month period ended June 30, 2025: Total revenues for the second quarter of 2025 are estimated to be in a range of $577 million to $579 million. Gross crypto revenues for the second quarter of 2025 are estimated to be in a range of $568 million to $569 million. Net loyalty revenues for the second quarter of 2025 are estimated to be in a range of $9 million to $10 million. Total crypto costs and execution, clearing and brokerage fees for the second quarter of 2025 are estimated to be in a range of $565 million to $566 million. Available cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash 1 at June 30, 2025 are estimated to be in a range of $60 million to $62 million. The Company has access to $40 million of liquidity from the Revolving Credit Agreement, all of which is undrawn. Net cash used in operating activities (excluding customer funds payable) for the second quarter of 2025 is estimated to be in a range of $13 million to $15 million. Sale of Loyalty Business: On July 23, 2025, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Loyalty business to Project Labrador Holdco, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roman DBDR Technology Advisors, Inc. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025. The transaction will include monetary accommodations to the buyer of an amount of cash equal to $11 million plus (i) the amount of estimated negative working capital of the business as of the closing and (ii) the amount of estimated indebtedness, subject to post-closing adjustments, as well as a short-term loan of certain restricted cash transferred with the business to facilitate the transfer. The Company will report the Loyalty business as a discontinued operation beginning in Q3 2025, allowing management to focus resources on the Company's core crypto offerings and stablecoin payments infrastructure. Management Commentary: 'With the pending sale of our Loyalty business, Bakkt is achieving a significant milestone and fully embracing its future as a streamlined, pure-play crypto infrastructure company,' commented Andy Main, President and Co-CEO of Bakkt. 'This strategic realignment is about sharpening our focus, allowing us to dedicate all our resources to our core crypto offerings and the immense opportunities in the stablecoin payments ecosystem. We are pleased with the capabilities of Roman DBDR to innovate the loyalty business and serve clients with excellence.' Akshay Naheta, Co-CEO, stated, 'As we conclude on our divestiture initiatives, we are now singularly focused on accelerating innovation, enhancing operational efficiency, and building for scale. This refined strategy positions us to unlock new client opportunities, deploy agentic AI solutions targeted at enhancing our crypto and stablecoin offerings, upgrade our trading technology stack, and execute aggressively on our treasury strategy. We believe the path ahead is clear—and will lead to meaningful, long-term value creation for both our customers and shareholders.' Disclosures regarding preliminary financials: The preliminary financial information set forth above has not been reviewed or audited by Bakkt's independent registered accounting firm and is subject to revision and is anticipated to be finalized in connection with the completion of the Bakkt's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2025. Bakkt's preliminary estimates above are not a comprehensive statement of Bakkt's financial results and are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected as of or for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, or any future period. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these preliminary estimates. Bakkt expects to report its second quarter 2025 results during a conference call in August, at which point it will discuss its second quarter 2025 financial results in more detail. During the course of Bakkt's quarter-end closing procedures and review process, including the finalization of its financial statements for and as of the quarter ended June 30, 2025, Bakkt may identify items that would require it to make adjustments, which may be material, to the information presented above. As a result, the estimates above constitute forward-looking information and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including possible adjustments to preliminary results. See 'Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements' for further details. About Bakkt Founded in 2018, Bakkt builds solutions that enable our clients to grow with the crypto economy. Through institutional-grade trading and onramp capabilities, our clients leverage technology that's built for sustainable, long-term involvement in crypto. Bakkt is headquartered in Alpharetta, GA. For more information, visit: | X - @Bakkt | LinkedIn. Bakkt-E Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include, but are not limited to, Bakkt's preliminary financial results and the timing for Bakkt announcing its audited financial results, among others. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as 'will,' 'likely,' 'expect,' 'continue,' 'anticipate,' 'estimate,' 'believe,' 'intend,' 'plan,' 'projection,' 'outlook,' 'grow,' 'progress,' 'potential' or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Bakkt's management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond Bakkt's control. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of the following factors, among others: changes resulting from the Company's finalization of its financial statements for and as of the quarter ended June 30, 2025; information or new changes in facts or circumstances that may occur prior to the filing of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 that are required to be included in such quarterly report; the Company's failure to implement the Company's business plans or strategies; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to grow and manage growth profitably; the possibility that the Company may be unable to obtain the applicable regulatory approvals to execute on the cooperation agreement with Distributed Technologies Research Global Ltd. ('DTR'); finalizing the proposed commercial agreement with DTR, including whether such agreement will be executed on terms favorable to the Company or if at all, or be completed on the expected timeline, and whether the Company will be able to successfully integrate its operations with those of DTR, including its infrastructure, and achieve the expected benefits therefrom; the regulatory environment for crypto currencies and digital stablecoin payments; changes in the Company's business strategy, including its adoption of its updated investment policy ('Investment Policy') as described in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on June 10, 2025 (the 'June 10, 2025 8-K'); the price of digital assets, including Bitcoin; risks associated with owning digital assets, including Bitcoin, including price volatility, limited liquidity and trading volumes, relative anonymity, potential widespread susceptibility to market abuse and manipulation, compliance and internal control failures at exchanges and other risks inherent in its entirely electronic, virtual, form and decentralized network; the fluctuation of the Company's operating results, including because the Company may be required to account for its digital assets at fair value; the Company's ability to time the price of its purchase of digital assets pursuant to its strategy; the impact of the market value of digital assets on the Company's ability to satisfy its financial obligations, including any debt financings; unrealized fair value gains on its digital asset holdings subjecting the Company to the corporate alternative minimum tax; legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding digital assets and enhanced regulatory oversight of companies holding digital assets including the possibility that regulators reclassify any digital assets the Company holds, including Bitcoin, as a security causing the Company to be in violation of securities laws and be classified as an 'investment company' under the Investment Company Act of 1940; competition by other Bitcoin treasury companies and the availability of spot-traded products for Bitcoin; enhanced regulatory oversight as a result of the Company's Investment Policy; the possibility of experiencing greater fraud, security failures or operational problems on digital asset trading venues compared to trading venues for more established asset classes, and any malfunction, breakdown or abandonment of the underlying blockchain protocols, or other technological difficulties, may prevent access to or use of such digital assets; the concentration of the Company's expected digital asset holdings relative to non-digital assets; the inability to use the Company's digital asset holdings as a source of liquidity to the same extent as cash and cash equivalents, due to, for example, risks associated with digital assets and other risks inherent to its entirely electronic, virtual form and decentralized network; the Company or a third-party service provider experiencing a security breach or cyber-attack where unauthorized parties obtain access to its digital assets; the loss of access to or theft or data loss of the Company's digital assets, which could be unrecoverable due to the immutable nature of blockchain transactions; if the Company elects to hold its digital assets through a third-party custodian, the loss of direct control over its digital assets and dependence on the custodian's security practices and operational integrity which may lead to the loss of its digital assets as a result of the insolvency of the custodian, theft by employees or insiders of the custodian or if the custodian's security measures are comprised, including as a result of a cyber-attack; the Company not being subject to the legal and regulatory protections applicable to investment companies such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, or to obligations applicable to investment advisers; the non-performance, breach of contract or other violations by counterparties assisting the Company in effecting its Investment Policy; the Company's future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash, including funds to satisfy its liquidity needs and continued access to the line of credit with Intercontinental Exchange Holdings, Inc.; changes in the market in which the Company competes, including with respect to its competitive landscape, technology evolution or changes in applicable laws or regulations; changes in the markets that the Company targets; volatility and disruptions in the crypto, digital payments and stablecoin markets that subject the Company to additional risks, including the risk that banks may not provide banking services to the Company and market sentiments regarding crypto currencies, digital payments and stablecoins; the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other macroeconomic, geopolitical, business, and/or competitive factors; the Company's ability to launch new services and products, including with its expected commercial partners, or to profitably expand into new markets and services; the Company's ability to execute its growth strategies, including identifying and executing acquisitions and divestitures and the Company's initiatives to add new clients; the Company's ability to reach definitive agreements with its expected commercial counterparties; the Company's ability to successfully complete a strategic transaction of the Loyalty business; the Company's failure to comply with extensive government regulations, oversight, licensure and appraisals; uncertain and evolving regulatory regime governing blockchain technologies, stablecoins, digital payments and crypto; the Company's ability to establish and maintain effective internal controls and procedures; the exposure to any liability, protracted and costly litigation or reputational damage relating to the Company's data security; the impact of any goodwill or other intangible assets impairments on the Company's operating results; the Company's ability to maintain the listing of its securities on the New York Stock Exchange; and other risks and uncertainties indicated in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, and the risks regarding the Company's adoption of its Investment Policy set forth in Exhibit 99.1 to the June 10, 2025 8-K. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made and are based on information available to us as of the date of this press release. Unless otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events. 1 Restricted cash is held to satisfy certain minimum capital requirements pursuant to regulatory requirements, or as collateral for insurance contracts and our purchasing card facility.
