Bakkt announces the launch of a mobile payments app that is scheduled for 2020.
As per an Oct. 28 announcement the cryptocurrency custody and futures trading platform posted in a blogpost that Bakkt will follow its recent success in trading Bitcoin (BTC) futures with a consumer app.
According to the company, the app will help consumers “unlock the value of digital assets, as well as ways in which they can transact or track them.”
We want to share more about our strategy around unlocking the value of digital assets through consumer payments https://t.co/JwfIF9tyYH — Bakkt (@Bakkt) October 28, 2019
Starbucks To Commit To The Payment Application
Starbucks is the first major retailer to commit to the new payment application.
Maria Smith, Starbucks’ vice president of partnerships and payments, said:
“As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks.”
Bakkt’s New App
The announcement made by Bakkt indicates a desire to speed up on the conversion of digital assets into payment systems that can be utilized locally. It reads:
“We’re working to reduce friction in the use of digital assets to reflect their aggregate value and to reflect an increase in purchasing power that was previously siloed.”
Although the announcement is vague on the specifics of the app’s functionalities and the mechanism that will be used for exchanging digital assets at points of sale being unclear.
Maria Smith mentions on 15 million Starbucks Rewards members a template on payments, but the operations that involves on competing retailers and cryptocurrency dependencies present different challenges.
Source: medium.com/bakkt-blog/ | Image: financemagnates.com