At the beginning of August 2018, the coffee retailer announced Bakkt, a joint venture with the Intercontinental Stock Exchange, BCG, and Microsoft, among others. According to Quartz, Starbucks’ payments VP said the company would play an active role in developing practical, trusted and regulated apps for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks.
After this statement, various headlines announced that Starbucks fans would soon be able to pay for their hot drinks with Bitcoin.
However, Starbucks corrected the record, as the retailer is not accepting digital assets at Starbucks. “Rather the exchange will convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks.”
The founding imperative for Bakkt will be to make Bitcoin a secure offering for big financial institutions. The goal is to clear the way for major money managers to offer Bitcoin mutual funds, pension funds, and ETFs, as highly regulated, mainstream investments, the online publication concludes.
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