Former SoftBank executive Akshay Naheta steps in as co-CEO of Bakkt to assist in revitalizing the struggling crypto trading platform.
Akshay Naheta, who previously held a position at SoftBank, has taken on the role of co-CEO at Bakkt, marking an initiative to rejuvenate the American crypto trading and custody platform that has been facing challenges.
In a March 19 announcement, the company disclosed that Naheta will also join Bakkt’s board of directors and will collaborate with Andy Main, the current CEO. Before his tenure at Bakkt, Naheta established Distributed Technologies Research, a business aimed at developing global payments systems.
“We are confident that Akshay’s addition to the leadership team, along with the integration of DTR’s technology into Bakkt, will elevate us from a prominent crypto technology platform and liquidity provider to a more extensive, utility-driven institutional digital assets trading and payments platform.”
Andy Main
Naheta’s firm is anticipated to merge its payment solutions with Bakkt’s trading and brokerage services, although this will entail gaining regulatory approvals. During his time at SoftBank, Naheta orchestrated a $4 billion investment in Nvidia in 2017, which resulted in a $3 billion profit, together with investments in Arm Holdings.
Since going public in 2021 through a merger with a SPAC, Bakkt has experienced a significant drop in its stock value, plummeting over 62% in the current year. The company has also seen major clients, including Bank of America and Webull, exit, although it retains crucial regulatory licenses, such as the BitLicense issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services.