Blockchain Technology Platform Bakkt Turns to Europe After MiCA

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The international cryptocurrency regulatory environment is improving and the company is eyeing retail expansion on the continent, said Dan OPrey, chief product officer of Bakkt. Overall, OPrey has seen positive long-term trends.

Speaking to Cointelegraphs US News Editor Sam Bourgi at Bitcoin 2023, OPrey described Bakkt as prioritizing its role as a B2B2C company over the past two years. As such, it has seen a significant portion of the major institutional interest focused on Bitcoin (BTC), despite the fallout from the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He said:

We’ve seen a lot of fallout and issues with companies, practices, and coins in this space over the past year that I think dragged Bitcoin down with it, even though it had nothing to do with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has benefited from the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States compared to other cryptocurrencies, as its commodity status has been established by regulators. Nevertheless, the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States for cryptocurrencies in general has certainly been the most significant obstacle for the adoption of Bitcoin, says OPrey.

Over the past three or four years, doing it right, it’s been a little slower, but now we were in a much stronger position, and recent events have really highlighted the need for these practices.

Bakkts’ retail platform for integrated commerce, payments, and rewards only operates in the United States, but Bakkt plans to expand its retail operations internationally. According to the blockchain executive, the company is working with some of our partners to identify jurisdictions in which they may already be mining stocks or looking to add crypto or already have a presence.

OPrey praised the regulations on crypto-asset markets recently adopted in the European Union: any form of clarity is generally good. [] At least people know where they are, they know how they can operate and they know how they can comply, and that allows businesses and institutions to participate in the space,” he said, adding that regions that provide regulatory clarity for crypto will get a lot of influx of talent, capital [and] jobs.”

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