Ah, the speed of change. I pushed a big story last week that had ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) in discussions to acquire eBay for $30 billion.
Within hours—literally— ICE announced that a few of its major shareholders objected to the deal, since ICE’s stock dropped almost 7% on the potential offer.
Oh my God! ICE’s stock went down a little bit!
These same shareholders also objected to ICE’s acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange years ago—which turned out to be one of its best deals ever.
Did those same shareholders just pass on a terrific opportunity by not letting ICE’s management do what it does best and create value?
After all, they are good at it.
The rumors were not at all strange if we looked at the big picture.
So, let’s look.
ICE has a new recent subsidiary, a cryptocurrency trading platform named BAKKT. The platform offers bitcoin futures and options. It also is a trust company, BAKKT Trust, which offers secure wallet custody, both warm and cold.
Uniquely, BAKKT offers bitcoin futures that settle daily in cash as well as other normal monthly derivatives.