Bakkt’s corporate Bitcoin play turns Marusho Hotta into crypto treasury hub

Bakkt plans to convert a traditional Japanese firm into a Bitcoin investment vehicle. Marusho Hotta, a little-known Tokyo Stock Exchange company, is set for a radical makeover as Bakkt takes a 30% stake, installs its own CEO, and rebrands it as bitcoin.jp.

On August 6, Bakkt Holdings announced it would acquire a 30% stake in Marusho Hotta, a publicly traded Japanese firm, from RIZAP Group, making it the largest shareholder in a deal that includes a full rebrand to bitcoin.jp and a leadership overhaul.

The acquisition, pending shareholder approval, will see Bakkt International President Phillip Lord take the helm as CEO while integrating Bitcoin (BTC) and digital assets into the company’s treasury strategy. Bakkt said it has already secured the bitcoin.jp domain, signaling its intent to position the revamped entity as a flagship for corporate crypto adoption.

A public pivot with private urgency?

Bakkt’s move to transform Marusho Hotta into a Bitcoin treasury vehicle marks the latest maneuver in a high-stakes reinvention. Over the past year, the company has been the subject of intense speculation, including reported acquisition talks with Trump Media & Technology Group in late 2024.

While that deal never materialized, the rumors underscored Bakkt’s precarious position: a once-promising institutional crypto platform struggling to find its footing. Now, with this Japanese acquisition, Bakkt is making its boldest bet yet—not just on Bitcoin, but on its own survival.

The company’s aggressive pivot to Bitcoin comes amid persistent cash challenges. In February last year, Bakkt warned in an SEC filing that it might not “continue as a going concern,” citing insufficient funds to sustain operations over the next 12 months.

The admission was a stark reversal for a firm that launched in 2018 with the backing of Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and was once hailed as Bitcoin’s institutional savior.

Since then, Bakkt has shed non-core assets, including the sale of its loyalty rewards business, to focus solely on crypto. Its $75 million equity raise in July, followed by a $1 billion shelf offering, suggests a desperate but calculated shift toward becoming a pure-play Bitcoin treasury operator.