Starbucks is Getting Into Crypto soon or not !! - full analysis report

The coffee retailer on Friday announced Bakkt (pronounced “backed”), a joint venture with the Intercontinental Stock Exchange (NYSE’s parent), BCG, and Microsoft, among others.

OMG - Yes, Starbucks is getting into crypto—just not at the cash register. At least not yet.

The new company aims to create a “seamless global network” for spending digital assets such as bitcoin. Starbucks’ payments VP said the company would play “a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks.”

That was enough for news outlets. Various headlines trumpeted the notion that Starbucks fans would soon be able to pay for their teas and lattes with bitcoin.

Big news came out last week when the Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would be opening up a digital assets platform by this November.

Where blockchain and cryptocurrency are mentioned, the hype train is never far behind. Naturally, when the words “digital assets” are used, people immediately assumed this would mean we could spend our cryptocurrency on coffee.

But it turns out this won’t be the case, according to Motherboard.

Bakkt won’t actually enable Starbucks customers to spend their cryptocurrency at one of the coffee giant’s more than 28,000 international locations. Rather, it will function more like an on demand exchange. It provides an enabler for Bitcoin owners to spend their coins in the real world by easily converting the digital currency to fiat.

“It is important to clarify that we are not accepting digital assets at Starbucks. Rather the exchange will convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Motherboard. “At the current time, we are announcing the launch of trading and conversion of Bitcoin. However, we will continue to talk with customers and regulators as the space evolves.”

Yet again, it might not be the crypto-utpoia we were promised or are hoping for, but hey: at least nobody is using your device to mine cryptocurrency with the Starbucks Wi-Fi this time around.
You won’t be able to spend your coincurrency in Starbucks anytime soon

Forget about buying a coffee with Bitcoin at Starbucks

No, you won’t be able to spend your cryptocurrency at Starbucks.

Last Friday, Starbucks announced that it would be joining and supporting a project known as Bakkt. If successful, Bakkt will leverage Microsoft’s cloud solutions – probably their blockchain based Azure platform – to create an infrastructure for managing and using digital assets. And get this, they say it will be regulated! Regulated digital assets, whatever next!

On Saturday, Starbucks corrected the record.

“It is important to clarify that we are not accepting digital assets at Starbucks,” a spokesman told Motherboard. “Rather the exchange will convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks.” They added, succinctly: “Customers will not be able to pay for Frappuccinos with bitcoin.”

To be sure, Starbucks’ announcement does signal a major interest into the nascent crypto industry, and retail payments will be part of that. Already, the company is beating out Apple Pay and Google Pay when it comes to frequent users of its mobile payment app. Per Fortune:

The founding imperative for Bakkt will be to make Bitcoin a sound and secure offering for key constituents that now mostly shun it—the world’s big financial institutions. The goal is to clear the way for major money managers to offer Bitcoin mutual funds, pension funds, and ETFs, as highly regulated, mainstream investments.

The next step after that could be using Bitcoin to replace your credit card.

So crypto for croissants may very well be in Starbucks’ future. For now though, regular bucks/coins/cards/Mobile Pay only please.

Starbucks would like to clarify that it is not accepting bitcoin

An interesting partner in the deal is Starbucks. More on that below.
The Intercontinental Exchange’s digital asset platform will be called Bakkt and run on the Microsoft Cloud.

According to the reports, Starbucks will be providing expertise on risk management and consumer experience for the project. Also included is the Boston Consulting Group and Microsoft.

That’s surprising to see Starbucks among the companies helping out.

The report also stated Starbucks will also work to develop "practical, trusted and regulated" applications for consumers to convert digital assets into US dollars for use at the firm's outlets.

Maria Smith, vice president of partnerships and payments for Starbucks, had this to say, "As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks."

Starbucks has over 15 million rewards members.

That led a lot of people to believe Starbucks would start accepting cryptos for payments.

However, the company did clarify today it wouldn’t be accepting cryptos in the near future, but will "continue to talk with customers and regulators as the space evolves."

Despite the walk back it looks like Starbucks is at least open to accepting cryptos. That would be a huge positive for the space.

Late last week, news went around that international coffee maker was going to get involved in Bitcoin and cryptos in general. Many saw this development as a welcome one, especially as it provided relief to the crypto community. But the coffee company has come out to clarify the rumors.

Cryptocurrency Foray Doesn’t Mean Bitcoin for Latte

The new company will push Bitcoin and other cryptos towards becoming the mainstream financial asset. The news was timely, as it came at a time when crypto markets lacked the drive to get out of the crypto bear trend.

American coffee company, Starbucks, has come out to debunk rumors that it was accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment. Earlier in the week, the company announced Bakkt, a new global platform that will enable the spending of digital assets.

This is a joint venture involving Intercontinental Exchange, BCG, and Microsoft, amongst others. According to Starbucks’ payments VP:

The company would play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks.

The announcement excited several new outlets who rolled out different headlines with the notion that Starbucks customers would soon pay for their coffees and lattes with Bitcoin. On Saturday, the company decided to set the records straight. To clarify the notion and correct the impression already created, a spokesperson for Starbucks said:

It is important to clarify that we are not accepting digital assets at Starbucks. Rather the exchange will convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks. Customers will not be able to pay for Frappuccinos with bitcoin.

The announcement made by Starbucks indicates a significant interest in the promising crypto industry, and retail payments will be considered. When it comes to the frequent use of its mobile app, it is beating out big names like Apple Pay and Google Pay. According to an article on Fortune:

The founding imperative for Bakkt will be to make Bitcoin a sound and secure offering for key constituents that now mostly shun it—the world’s big financial institutions. The goal is to clear the way for major money managers to offer Bitcoin mutual funds, pension funds, and ETFs, as highly regulated, mainstream investments.

Starbucks Getting Involved in Crypto:

On Friday, Intercontinental Exchange (owners of the NYSE), Microsoft, BCG, and Starbucks, announced that the launch of Bakkt. The announcement came as a relief for the crypto community.