Quick Overview

  • Payment company Bakkt Inc. announced on Monday that it has appointed Matt White as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. White previously served as CFO of CoreCard Technologies, and this appointment is part of the company's ongoing strategic transformation aimed at driving new growth. The news comes from the company's press release and securities filings.
  • White succeeds Karen Alexander as Bakkt's CFO. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Alexander stepped down on August 14. Alexander, who previously worked at GE Capital, had served as the financial chief of Atlanta, Georgia-based Bakkt since August 2022, and previously held the role of Chief Accounting Officer, according to her LinkedIn profile.
  • "White possesses the qualities we expect in a CFO for the next phase," said Bakkt CEO Akshay Naheta in a statement released Monday. "He combines public company discipline, technology and payments experience, strategic thinking, and an execution-oriented approach to finance. As Bakkt becomes increasingly global and technology-driven, the CFO function must evolve accordingly."

In-Depth Insights

According to SEC filings, Alexander will serve as an advisor to the company's General Counsel and CFO to assist with a smooth transition until December 31. The filings show she will receive consulting fees at an annualized rate of $400,000, provided she continues to serve in the advisory role.

Under her transition agreement with the company, Alexander will also receive "2% of any amounts actually recovered by the company in connection with specific arbitration" as compensation, capped at $160,000. Additionally, she will receive $200,000 in cash "in exchange for the forfeiture and cancellation of all her unvested equity awards (including all unexercised stock options)," except for two batches of stock options that will continue to remain outstanding, according to SEC filings.

White is a certified public accountant, and according to his LinkedIn profile, he served as CFO of payment technology company CoreCard for seven years before joining Bakkt. Prior to CoreCard, he spent three years at credit bureau Equifax, holding roles such as Senior Director and Accounting Manager. His past experience also includes serving as Accounting Policy Manager at Humana and working as an auditor at Deloitte for six years.

According to SEC filings, upon his appointment as CFO, White will receive an annual base salary of $300,000 and will be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, the amount of which is not disclosed. The filings also show that White will receive a one-time grant of 90,000 restricted stock units, as well as 60,000 Bakkt Class A stock options with an exercise price of $10 per share.

White's appointment comes as the company targets global growth, transitioning from a cryptocurrency trading and loyalty platform to a stablecoin infrastructure provider. Last year, Bakkt sold its loyalty business and custody business to streamline its product portfolio and refocus on payment infrastructure, according to related announcements and filings.

In line with its strategic transformation, the company has also taken several measures to expand into global markets, including becoming the majority shareholder of Japanese entity MarushoHotta Co. and investing approximately $9.4 million in Indian company Transchem Limited.

The company also completed the acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research in April, a stablecoin infrastructure and "agentic payments" company founded by CEO Naheta. The acquisition was initially announced in January, following a cooperation agreement signed between the two companies in March of last year, when Naheta served as co-CEO alongside Andrew Main, according to relevant SEC filings.

Alexander said during Bakkt's most recent earnings call held on August 10 that the company has made "substantial progress" toward its goal of becoming a stablecoin and digital token infrastructure company.

"We enter the second half of the year with a stronger platform, clear commercial momentum, and considerable room for expansion," Alexander said in the meeting transcript.

Bakkt reported a net profit of nearly $81 million for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a net loss of approximately $15 million in the same period last year. However, its second-quarter revenue was approximately $170 million, down sharply by 70% from $568 million in the same period last year, according to the financial report.