The owner of the New York Stock Exchange is teaming up with Microsoft and Starbucks to build an ‘ecosystem’ for crypto

Reuters

• ICE, the parent company of NYSE, unveiled its crypto
  asset platform, Bakkt, on Friday. 
• The firm says it’ll serve as a global ecosystem for
  crypto. 

ICE, the parent company of the iconic New York Stock Exchange, is
making a big move into the crypto market with a digital asset
platform.

The firm, which previously dove into the market for digital
assets via a data feed product earlier this year, had reportedly
been exploring a cryptocurrency exchange platform. On Friday, the
company officially announced it had been developing out such an
offering.

ICE is teaming up with Microsoft to build out Bakkt, a new
company that will serve as a “ecosystem for digital assets,”
including bitcoin. 

The platform would allow firms to buy and sell digital assets.

Other companies partnering with ICE on the platform include BCG
and Starbucks, according to a release. The firm hopes the effort
will  help mature the market for digital coins, which is
known for market manipulation and spine-tingling volatility.
Starbucks will leverage the platform to allow their customers to
use digital assets at their coffee shops. 

“In bringing regulated, connected infrastructure together with
institutional and consumer applications for digital assets, we
aim to build confidence in the asset class on a global scale,
consistent with our track record of bringing transparency and
trust to previously unregulated markets,” said ICE’s CEO Jeffrey
Sprecher in a statement. 

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