Bakkt, a cryptocurrency platform from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is in preliminary talks to enter the exchange through a merger with SPAC company VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.

According to Bloomberg sources, the deal will cost more than $2 billion. The deal could be announced as early as next week.

Representatives of Bakkt, ICE and VPC declined to comment. On the back of the news, VPC shares rose 51% on Friday, January 8.

Last year, Bakkt raised $300 million from ICE and other investors and acquired loyalty program management company Bitcoin Storm review Solutions. Bakkt launched a regulated bitcoin futures and options market in 2019.

Bakkt is now led by David Clifton, ICE’s vice president of mergers and acquisitions. Former Bakkt CEO Mike Blandina stepped down in April 2020, four months after his appointment (he moved to JPMorgan). Blandina, in turn, was succeeded by Kelly Loeffler, who became a Republican senator from Georgia and is now preparing to retire.

VPC raised about $200 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in September 2020. VPC is a specialty targeted mergers and acquisitions (SPAC) company. SPACs are created to take other companies public bypassing the IPO process. According to Goldman Sachs, SPACs accounted for 52% of the more than $140 billion raised in new listings in the United States in 2020.