ICE Inc, the parent firm of Bakkt – a leading US based cryptocurrency trading service provider revealed the departure of its current CEO Mr. Mike Blandina who served at the firm for nearly one year. Mike joined Bakkt back in April 2019 in the role of Chief Product Officer and was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer in December of 2019 when his predecessor Kelly Loeffler resigned from the firm due to her appointment as member of Senate in Georgia. Mike is a veteran with more than 25 years of experience in financial services sector and is currently expected to take on a new role in JP Morgan Chase & Co. ICE has revealed that the role of CEO will be taken care of by Mr. David Clifton in interim capacity until a suitable candidate is found as the successor to Mr. Blandina.
David joined ICE Inc, back in July of 2008 and took on the role of Associate General Counsel. He received his first promotion in February of 2014 to the role of Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions and was promoted to his current role as Vice President of Merger & Acquisitions and Integration in November of 2019. David is well known for his accomplishments as a member of M&A team given his contributions during acquisition of Euronext in 2013 as the head of acquisition team and also took part in several other global strategic initiatives and transactions. As the interim CEO of Bakkt, Mr. Clifton is expected to focus on driving the cryptocurrency exchange’s growth initiatives and also work on completing the integration of Bridge2 Solutions which was acquired earlier this year.
Since its inception in 2018, Bakkt has maintained a clear focus on building a trusted relationship with its clients while also working to unlock the true potential and value of digital assets in US and global markets. The firm was officially launched in 2019 as provider of first fully regulated Bitcoin futures and options market. It has since grown exponentially and now includes Bakkt Warehouse platform which provides regulated Bitcoin Custody service which allows firms from across the globe to protect their digital assets from theft and other harmful activities using Bakkt’s enterprise grade technology and infrastructure. The exchange was most recently in headlines for completing its Series B funding round where it raised capital worth USD 300 Million from various leading software firms, Venture capital firms and Intercontinental Exchange.
Commenting on David’s appointment as Interim CEO of Bakkt, Jeffrey Sprecher – Founder and CEO of ICE said “David Clifton has been deeply engaged in many of our most important initiatives over the years and, after helping to lead the acquisition of Bridge2 to accelerate the rollout of Bakkt’s consumer application, I know he will provide outstanding leadership for Bakkt as its Interim CEO” and added “I also want to express our gratitude to Mike Blandina for his work to help grow Bakkt during an important transformational period for the company and wish him all the best in his new endeavor”.
