Shortly after the acquisition was completed, the American corporation Bakkt delisted 70% of the Tokens from the Chicago-based crypto trading platform Apex Crypto. This decision was made to take into account the current regulatory developments in the industry.

The delisted tokens include Aave (AAVE), Avalanche (AVAX), Bancor Network Token (BNT), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Chainlink (LINK), Chiliz (CHZ), Compound Token (COMP), Cosmos (ATOM), Curve DAO (CRV), Enjin Coin (ENJ), Fantom (FTM), Filecoin (FIL), GALA (GALA), The Graph (GRT), Internet Computer (ICP), Loopring (LRC), Maker DAO (MKR), Republic (REN), Stellar (XLM), Sushiswap (SUSHI), Synthetix (SNX), Texos (XTZ), and Uniswap (UNI).

On May 12, a Bakkt spokesperson stated that the delisting of tokens was part of their regular token listing review process:

Our clients’ and their consumers’ best interests are our core commitment, and our review process ensures those interests are best served when we contemplate the most up-to-date regulatory guidance and the latest industry developments.

The delisting of key DeFi tokens comes amid increasing pressure on the cryptocurrency sector in the U.S. and repeated comments by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler that most crypto tokens are securities.

Bakkt, a digital asset platform and bitcoin futures exchange, was launched in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

In November 2022, Bakkt announced the upcoming acquisition of unprofitable Apex Crypto to strategically expand its presence in the fintech market. Apex Crypto is a service provider, offering execution, clearing, custody, cost basis, and tax services to a customer base of five million over 30 fintech clients. Bakkt successfully completed the acquisition in April, using $55 million in cash and $145 million in stock.

The acquisition of Apex is part of the company’s move toward B2B, following the March 9 shutdown of its consumer trading app, which launched two years ago.