Blackhawk joins Bakkt's digital currency app

Gift card giant Blackhawk Network has partnered with Bakkt, which offers an app to manage various digital currencies.

The Pleasanton, Calif., company's collaboration with Bakkt enables consumers to buy, send and redeem digital gift cards from 60 retailers using bitcoin and other currencies, the companies said.

Bakkt last month announced its rollout with Starbucks as a core participant, enabling Bakkt users to convert loyalty points and other digital currency into U.S. dollars to reload a Starbucks Card within Starbucks’ app.

“Bakkt aims to provide the app, marketplace and payments infrastructure to make all digital assets transactable, and our partnership with Blackhawk Network is a significant part of enabling that flexibility and utility for consumers,” Gavin Micheal, Bakkt’s CEO, said in a press release Tuesday.

Since 2018 the Atlanta-based Bakkt has been testing its concept with 500,000 consumers. In addition to Blackhawk and Starbucks, Bakkt has partnerships with GolfNow, Best Buy, Choice Hotels and Fiserv, and plans to eventually introduce an airline loyalty program partner, the company said last month.