Manasquan Bank will take part in Bakkt Holdings’ early adopter program expected in Q2 2022

Bakkt Holdings revealed via a press release on Tuesday that it has closed yet another partnership, this time with New Jersey’s Manasquan Bank. The community mutual bank would participate in Bakkt’s early adopter program slated for early Q2 next year. Once the program gets up and running, the bank’s retail clients would then be allowed to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and other altcoins.

The plans is to have the crypto services available via the bank’s mobile app. Sheela Zemlin, the chief revenue officer at Bakkt, lauded the initiative as one that would offer the bank’s customers an incredible opportunity to get into the world of crypto assets. She added that it was more so important as crypto is a critical component of the Web3 ecosystem and would, therefore, as an asset, offer value creation.

“Bakkt is proud to roll out new and innovative ways to this burgeoning economy, enabling a path to buy, sell and hold crypto as an extension of the consumer’s relationship with their trusted local bank,” she noted.

James Vaccaro, Chair and President of the bank, said the partnership fell in line with the banks’ ambition to offer opportunities to clients. Vaccaro specifically singled out those wishing to participate in the digital economy. He added that consumers would be able to explore crypto as an asset option without having to venture out of their trusted banking environment.

“We’re focused on driving growth and introducing new opportunities for our clients to participate in the digital economy,” Vaccaro said in a statement.

Bakkt is spreading its tentacles 

At the beginning of October, Bakkt teamed up with Google to expand its crypto payment options. Through the endeavor, the digital assets manager enhanced utility of its Visa Debit Card as users could now transact directly using digital assets at merchants and locations that accept Google Pay.

The idea was to enable seamless conversion of crypto to fiat as money is sent into a recipient’s wallet. Thanks to the collaboration, Bakkt also gained access to Google Cloud tools that enabled it to scale analytics and integrate AI & machine learning onto its platform.

Before the end of October, the Georgia-based investment holding company joined forces with MasterCard as the payment services firm announced entry into the digital assets’ space. The latter taps on Bakkt as the preferred provider to integrate the assets into its products. This was followed by a relevation that the digital asset company was going into business with Fiserv to enhance mainstream crypto adoption. Bakkt has also previously worked with Quiznos and Starbucks in other cryptocurrency-related campaigns.

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• Argo’s CEO Peter Wall says that mining was extremely profitable in 2021 and will likely continue to be even when more miners switch on their machines to increase hashrate in 2022.

• He also notes that miners understand the need to reduce the carbon footprint by moving away from fossil fuels to renewables.

Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall has said 2021 has been a good year for Bitcoin and that his firm saw record profits through the year even with the dip in crypto prices in May and over the last month or so.

Argo is a crypto-focused firm based in the UK and has emerged as one of the leading Bitcoin miners, an aspect Wall highlighted in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

According to the Argo CEO, the broader crypto market saw a remarkable year, and he doesn’t think it would be wise to bet against it despite the current bearish outlook, especially not for Bitcoin.

He noted that the benchmark cryptocurrency has “been knocked over” several times but it still does what it does- bouncing higher and proving its worth and its importance every time. He suggests that this remains the case.

It’s good to note that the cryptocurrency’s value has declined by almost 30% since mid-November, with the rot pushing prices from highs of $69,000 to lows of $44,000 before its current bounce to levels around $48,000.

Wall says the Bitcoin ecosystem has matured going into 2022 and that factors such as increased interest in the asset class as capital inflows surge, regulatory clarity and resilient mining industry will likely aid BTC price over the next year.

“We’re seeing everything mature so quickly you know, not just capital markets but regulators are taking the space more seriously,” he explained.

Argo’s near extreme end of profitability

Wall also spoke about Bitcoin mining and how the explosion in Bitcoin prices over the past one and half years has seen companies make massive profits on their investments.

Argo Blockchain’s returns from mining over 2021, he said, have been record margins and not just for the UK-based miner but for most other crypto mining businesses. Asked to comment at what price of Bitcoin the firm would be profitable, he said they are looking at $5,000-$10,000 and that this depends on the cost of power among other factors.

He notes that the firm is on the “extreme end of profitability right now” and that the outlook for 2022 remains positive. This, he noted, is the case even if profit margins decline given the expected increase in hashrate as more miners switch on their mining machines.

He added that China’s crackdown on mining pushed many miners offline, but with operations set up in other jurisdictions, more will come online.

Argo on use of renewable energy 

Wall also talked about Argo Blockchain’s move to address the question of Bitcoin’s energy consumption and impact on the environment. According to him, many miners are moving away from fossil fuels and Argo leads the way through an aggressive pursuit of renewable sources of energy, including the use of solar

He noted:

“I think miners understand ESG issues and they are looking for renewable power.”

Importantly, Bitcoin miners know about the need for companies to be carbon neutral or even carbon negative, he added.

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The deal marks the fifth of Kraken’s acquisitions this year, which have contributed to the 950% growth seen this year, according to the company

Crypto exchange Kraken said on Tuesday that it had completed the acquisition of Staked, a US-based non-custodial staking platform. Though the company did not reveal further details on the financials around the deal, it held that it was “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date.”

With this new venture, Kraken plans to expand support for proof-of-stake networks and avail new innovative products on its platform for its customers.

Staked employees will remain onboard

Further, Staked CEO Tim Oglivie and his entire team would continue to work as part of the business.  Kraken’s CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell spoke of the deal, voicing his excitement on Staked as one of the standout yield products as it has seen significant uptake from a considerable portion of crypto investors.

Welcoming Staked’s client base to its new home, he explained that Staked offered a highly complementary addition to Kraken’s business model. As such, it would facilitate the crypto exchange in reinforcing its product offering for customers that would keep hold of their staked assets.

“We’re excited to welcome Staked’s clients to Kraken and believe that they will benefit from access to our wider portfolio of products as they seek to broaden their engagement with digital assets.”

Staked offers customers non-custodial staking by which users can earn yield from their crypto assets without the need to necessarily relinquish them. Its incorporation would therefore complement Kraken’s custodial staking. Moreover, Staked gets to join an exchange with world-class infrastructure that optimizes user experience and eliminates the weighty barriers of entry.

Kraken has been adding crypto entities to its portfolio

Kraken’s staking business has seen some significant growth over the course of the year, recording a more than 950% growth in the period reaching November.  The exchange’s staking business clocked $16 billion, with its clients receiving staking yields worth more than $500 million.

Noteworthy, Kraken’s endeavors into acquisitions and investments have played an enormous part in this growth. Over the last few years, the company has added Bit Trade, Circle Trade, CryptoFacilities, CryptoWatch, and other crypto companies onto its portfolio. Staked being  the company’s fifth acquisition this year, Powell said that the company’s business has now evolved to offer something more to customers than just the custodial and trading services.

“We’ve become a holistic crypto platform with a diverse range of products that serves the needs of retail, professional, and institutional clients. Heading into the second decade in our company’s history, I’m excited about the future and Kraken’s continued support of the world’s shift to Web3 and DeFi.”

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