Bakkt Holdings Inc (BKKT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Bakkt Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎來到 Bakkt 第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，正在錄製此電話會議。

I will now turn it over to Ann DeVries, Head of Investor Relations of Bakkt. Please proceed.

我現在將把它交給 Bakkt 投資者關係主管 Ann DeVries。請繼續。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for Bakkt's fourth quarter earnings call. Today's presentation, including a separate earnings call presentation that can be found on our Investor Relations website at www.investor.bakkt.com will contain certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. For a more complete discussion of forward-looking statements and the risks and uncertainties related to Bakkt's business, please refer to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

下午好，感謝您加入我們參加 Bakkt 第四季度財報電話會議。今天的演示文稿，包括可在我們的投資者關係網站 www.investor.bakkt.com 上找到的單獨的收益電話演示文稿，將包含某些前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於管理層當前的預期，並受到風險和不確定性的影響，這可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。有關前瞻性陳述以及與 Bakkt 業務相關的風險和不確定性的更完整討論，請參閱其提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件。

During today's presentation, in addition to discussing results that are calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. For more information on this, the basis of presentation for our financial results and our non-GAAP measures, please refer to our earnings release, which was filed this afternoon with the SEC.

在今天的演講中，除了討論根據公認會計原則計算的結果外，我們還將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標。有關這方面的更多信息，我們的財務業績和我們的非 GAAP 措施的介紹基礎，請參閱我們今天下午向美國證券交易委員會提交的收益報告。

Joining me on today's call are Gavin Michael, Chief Executive Officer; Karen Alexander, Chief Financial Officer. And given the market's recent interest in the regulatory environment, Marc D’Annunzio, our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, is also joining us today. After our prepared remarks, we will answer questions we received from our investors through the State Technologies platform. After that, Gavin, Karen and Mark will be available to answer questions from the analyst community. I'll now turn it over to Gavin.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的還有首席執行官 Gavin Michael；卡倫亞歷山大，首席財務官。鑑於市場近期對監管環境的興趣，我們的總法律顧問兼公司秘書馬克·鄧南遮 (Marc D'Annunzio) 今天也將加入我們。在我們準備好的評論之後，我們將通過 State Technologies 平台回答我們從投資者那裡收到的問題。之後，Gavin、Karen 和 Mark 將回答分析師社區的問題。我現在將其交給加文。

Thank you, Ann. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining. Despite a challenging macro environment and a tumultuous crypto market, we're proud of our 2022 accomplishments. We delivered on our product road map for the year, and we've made significant progress with our partner network, and we signed a definitive agreement to acquire Apex Crypto, which we believe will enable us to break into new client verticals and tap into universe of 5 million crypto enabled accounts.

謝謝你，安。大家下午好，感謝您的加入。儘管宏觀環境充滿挑戰，加密貨幣市場動盪不安，但我們為 2022 年取得的成就感到自豪。我們交付了今年的產品路線圖，我們在合作夥伴網絡方面取得了重大進展，我們簽署了收購 Apex Crypto 的最終協議，我們相信這將使我們能夠打入新的客戶垂直領域並進入宇宙500 萬個啟用加密的帳戶。

We have a differentiated approach and platform. We are built to endure. Our competitive moat comes from our regulatory and compliance first approach, our culture of risk management, our embedded finance solution that meets customers where they are either through APIs or web-based experiences and our balance sheet strength.

我們有一個差異化的方法和平台。我們生而為人，經久不衰。我們的競爭優勢來自我們的監管和合規第一方法、我們的風險管理文化、我們的嵌入式金融解決方案，通過 API 或基於網絡的體驗滿足客戶的需求，以及我們的資產負債表實力。

We focused on building responsibly since our founding as part of Intercontinental Exchange in 2018. Our extensive partner network is a potential gateway to rapid, efficient scale. These core strengths really position us to succeed, particularly as we see a flight to quality within the crypto space right now.

自 2018 年作為洲際交易所的一部分成立以來，我們一直專注於負責任的建設。我們廣泛的合作夥伴網絡是實現快速、高效擴展的潛在途徑。這些核心優勢確實使我們能夠取得成功，特別是當我們看到加密空間內的質量飛速發展時。

As we look to 2023, our priorities seek to appropriately balance growth and discipline. We expect the macro environment to remain challenging this year, but we see opportunity in the market for growth, and that is where we're focused.

展望 2023 年，我們的優先事項是尋求適當平衡增長與紀律。我們預計今年宏觀環境仍將充滿挑戰，但我們看到了市場增長的機會，這也是我們關注的重點。

We will continue to balance disciplined capital allocation decisions towards growth opportunities while prudently managing our overall firm-wide expenses.

我們將繼續平衡有紀律的資本分配決策與增長機會，同時審慎管理我們整個公司的整體支出。

In 2022, we made progress against our goals through a combination of organic and inorganic activity. We continued the expansion of our B2B partner network, adding leading brands such as Global Payments and Visa. We signed a definitive agreement to acquire Apex Crypto, which when closed, we expect will provide immediate access to a network of fintech partners and accelerate portions of our crypto product roadmap.

2022 年，我們通過有機活動和無機活動相結合，在實現目標方面取得了進展。我們繼續擴大 B2B 合作夥伴網絡，增加了 Global Payments 和 Visa 等領先品牌。我們簽署了收購 Apex Crypto 的最終協議，收購完成後，我們預計將提供對金融科技合作夥伴網絡的即時訪問，並加速我們的部分加密產品路線圖。

We delivered several core products such as crypto payout and rewards. We continue to test product market fit, and we gained valuable insights on market demand and the biggest opportunities for scale, which is where we are investing as we look ahead.

我們交付了幾個核心產品，例如加密支付和獎勵。我們繼續測試產品的市場契合度，並獲得了有關市場需求和最大規模機會的寶貴見解，這是我們展望未來的投資方向。

Our platform is differentiated and our approach positions us to win amidst the current economic and crypto market dislocation. The regulatory landscape continues to evolve, and we believe our regulatory and compliance first focus separates us from competitors.

我們的平台與眾不同，我們的方法使我們能夠在當前的經濟和加密市場錯位中獲勝。監管環境不斷發展，我們相信我們的監管和合規第一重點將我們與競爭對手區分開來。

We see the prospects of crypto regulation as positive for the industry and for Bakkt and a key factor in support of widespread adoption. We've always said that the crypto economy will mature much faster when there's regulatory clarity.

我們認為加密監管的前景對行業和 Bakkt 都是積極的，也是支持廣泛採用的關鍵因素。我們一直說，當監管明確時，加密經濟會成熟得更快。

We prioritize risk, compliance and security. We do not co-mingle customer funds. We do not lend or re-hypothecate customers' crypto, and we separate custody and trade execution functions to provide additional customer protection and to minimize potential for conflicts of interest.

我們優先考慮風險、合規性和安全性。我們不會混合客戶資金。我們不借出或重新抵押客戶的加密貨幣，我們將託管和交易執行功能分開，以提供額外的客戶保護並最大限度地減少潛在的利益衝突。

Custody is managed through a separate entity regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. The Bakkt Trust Company has a Board of managers that is comprised of 7 individuals with current or prior leadership experience at the New York Stock Exchange, ICE, CME, NYMEX, the CFTC, among others.

託管由紐約金融服務部監管的獨立實體管理。 Bakkt Trust Company 有一個管理委員會，由 7 名個人組成，他們在紐約證券交易所、ICE、CME、NYMEX、CFTC 等機構擁有當前或之前的領導經驗。

Recently, the SEC proposed a new rule on safeguarding of advisory client assets, and I wanted to quickly cover what this means for Bakkt custody.

最近，美國證券交易委員會提出了一項關於保護諮詢客戶資產的新規則，我想快速介紹一下這對 Bakkt 託管意味著什麼。

While this is still a proposed rule, it provides an avenue for state chartered trust companies like our custodian that trust company to maintain qualified custodian status.

雖然這仍然是一項擬議規則，但它為像我們的託管人這樣的州特許信託公司提供了一條途徑，讓信託公司保持合格的託管人地位。

We've always placed a high premium on secure, institutional-grade custody as the foundation of our platform. It's why we built that capability before anything else. We're pleased to see federal regulators stepping up their focus on this important function, and we continue to engage in dialogue as the legislative process continues.

我們一直高度重視安全的機構級託管作為我們平台的基礎。這就是為什麼我們首先構建該功能的原因。我們很高興看到聯邦監管機構加強對這一重要職能的關注，並且隨著立法程序的繼續，我們將繼續進行對話。

We've intentionally stayed away from yield and lending products and continue to pursue a risk-focused culture and approach. That meant missing out on some big boom cycles, but we have conviction about the importance of a thoughtful and compliant structure. And that is why we've taken a more measured approach overall.

我們有意遠離收益和貸款產品，並繼續追求以風險為中心的文化和方法。這意味著錯過了一些大的繁榮週期，但我們堅信周到且合規的結構的重要性。這就是為什麼我們在整體上採取了更加慎重的方法。

To move to some recent developments. We purchased Bumped Financial LLC, a registered broker-dealer as part of our regulatory and compliant first approach. This acquisition, which closed in early February, enables us to take over Bumped Financials, broker-dealer license.

轉移到一些最近的發展。我們購買了 Bumped Financial LLC，這是一家註冊經紀自營商，作為我們監管和合規優先方法的一部分。此次收購於 2 月初完成，使我們能夠接管 Bumped Financials，經紀自營商牌照。

Given the evolving discussions in the crypto regulatory landscape, particularly around which cryptocurrencies may be deemed to be securities, we took a proactive approach and acquired this license. We view it as potentially helpful as these discussions evolve.

鑑於加密監管領域不斷發展的討論，特別是圍繞哪些加密貨幣可被視為證券的討論，我們採取了積極主動的方法並獲得了該許可。隨著這些討論的發展，我們認為它可能會有所幫助。

Lastly, we are intensifying lobbying efforts and increasing our presence in conversations with government officials, their staff and regulators. We are having active conversations, and we'll share more on our perspectives as the legislation takes shape.

最後，我們正在加強遊說工作，並增加我們在與政府官員、他們的工作人員和監管機構的對話中的參與度。我們正在進行積極的對話，隨著立法的形成，我們將更多地分享我們的觀點。

We believe it is extremely important for responsible and trustworthy crypto market players to step up and play a role in the conversations to help the U.S. continue to be a place where crypto innovation can flourish.

我們認為，對於負責任和值得信賴的加密市場參與者來說，加強對話並在對話中發揮作用以幫助美國繼續成為加密創新可以蓬勃發展的地方是極其重要的。

We've already seen the start of crypto legislation in the EU, the U.K., Australia, Brazil and recently, Hong Kong. Cryptos arrived on the world stage and as an industry, we must play a key role in supporting the development of a clear framework that protects consumers while helping to avoid unintended consequences and promote innovation.

我們已經看到歐盟、英國、澳大利亞、巴西和最近的香港開始了加密立法。加密貨幣登上世界舞台，作為一個行業，我們必鬚髮揮關鍵作用，支持制定保護消費者的清晰框架，同時幫助避免意外後果並促進創新。

We have a strong balance sheet and robust liquidity of approximately $239 million in available cash and cash equivalents and available for sale securities. This position, coupled with prudent expense management, provides capacity that enables us to be opportunistic around inorganic and organic growth, as well as adding stability in a challenging market condition.

我們擁有強大的資產負債表和強大的流動性，大約有 2.39 億美元的可用現金和現金等價物以及可供出售的證券。這一職位加上審慎的費用管理，使我們能夠在無機和有機增長方面投機取巧，並在充滿挑戰的市場條件下增加穩定性。

Our strong partner network is a key differentiator, both through the partners that we have on the [Bakkt side] and those that we will serve following the anticipated closing of the Apex Crypto acquisition.

我們強大的合作夥伴網絡是一個關鍵的差異化因素，無論是通過我們在 [Bakkt 方面] 的合作夥伴，還是通過我們在 Apex Crypto 收購預期完成後將服務的合作夥伴。

We have built a broad network that provides scalable reach to millions of users across client verticals that can be easily turned on.

我們已經建立了一個廣泛的網絡，可以輕鬆地為跨客戶垂直領域的數百萬用戶提供可擴展的覆蓋範圍。

Our B2B partners include fintechs, neobanks, RIAs, traditional finance, platform companies, brands and merchants. Lastly, we are differentiated through institutional grade security and compliance focused technology that is built to embed into partner experiences.

我們的 B2B 合作夥伴包括金融科技、新銀行、RIA、傳統金融、平台公司、品牌和商家。最後，我們通過專為嵌入合作夥伴體驗而構建的以機構級安全性和合規性為重點的技術脫穎而出。

So now turning to our key priorities for this year. We're focused on 3 distinct areas of opportunity that balance growth and discipline.

所以現在轉向我們今年的主要優先事項。我們專注於平衡增長和紀律的 3 個不同的機會領域。

First, we're elevating and expanding our crypto platform. We're investing in our custody capabilities to expand the flexibility and features behind our offering and build upon our core approach, which is underpinned by infrastructure that is centered around safety and soundness.

首先，我們正在提升和擴展我們的加密平台。我們正在投資於我們的託管能力，以擴展我們產品背後的靈活性和功能，並以我們的核心方法為基礎，該方法以以安全和穩健為中心的基礎設施為基礎。

Our pending acquisition of Apex Crypto's Crypto’s further adds capability to our platform and accelerates the introduction of several roadmap features. For example, open loop wallet and additional coins.

我們對 Apex Crypto 的 Crypto's 的未決收購進一步增加了我們平台的能力，並加速了多項路線圖功能的引入。例如，開環錢包和額外的硬幣。

We're also planning to expand into international markets, leveraging Apex Crypto's existing partner footprint. We believe crypto utility is a key part of driving value across the spectrum.

我們還計劃利用 Apex Crypto 現有的合作夥伴足跡擴展到國際市場。我們認為加密實用程序是推動整個領域價值的關鍵部分。

We're continuing to focus on enabling new ways to earn crypto, but we're building new ways to transact through the development of a lightning service provider to provide partners with seamless access to bitcoin and fiat-to-fiat instant payments and remittances over bitcoin native rails.

我們將繼續專注於啟用新的方式來賺取加密貨幣，但我們正在通過開發閃電服務提供商來構建新的交易方式，以便為合作夥伴提供無縫訪問比特幣和法幣對法幣的即時支付和匯款。比特幣原生 rails。

We are continuing to activate and expand our partner network to bring capabilities to market, expanding our network with new partners and our pipeline of potential prospects.

我們將繼續激活和擴大我們的合作夥伴網絡，以將能力推向市場，擴大我們與新合作夥伴的網絡以及我們的潛在前景渠道。

Lastly, we continue to prudently invest our capital and manage expenses closely. We have aligned our operating and investing expenses to focus on near-term market opportunities and product market fit, while driving operating efficiencies and cost discipline.

最後，我們繼續審慎地投資我們的資本並密切管理開支。我們調整了運營和投資支出，以專注於近期市場機會和產品市場契合度，同時提高運營效率和成本紀律。

Our key priorities focus on building value in 2023, and we believe these will propel us to be one of the best positioned crypto companies when market conditions improve.

我們的主要優先事項是在 2023 年創造價值，我們相信這些將推動我們在市場狀況改善時成為定位最佳的加密貨幣公司之一。

The competitive landscape in crypto has completely changed in the last 12 months. And given the hard work we've been doing since our inception, we're built for this time.

在過去的 12 個月裡，加密領域的競爭格局發生了徹底的變化。鑑於我們自成立以來一直在努力工作，我們是為這個時代而建的。

To provide more color on how we're working to enhance our crypto capabilities, we wanted to outline our core solutions and areas of investment. The narrative for crypto is moving towards utility, greatly expanding its total addressable market.

為了提供更多關於我們如何努力增強我們的加密功能的顏色，我們想概述我們的核心解決方案和投資領域。加密貨幣的敘述正朝著實用性方向發展，極大地擴大了其總的潛在市場。

We are building out our product suite to align to this utility and how crypto is appealing to customers and meeting business needs. Access and storage remain top needs, and we're providing this through custody and crypto connect.

我們正在構建我們的產品套件以適應該實用程序以及加密如何吸引客戶和滿足業務需求。訪問和存儲仍然是首要需求，我們通過託管和加密連接提供這些。

Crypto custody is a core proficiency of ours, and we continue to invest to ensure we have best-in-class solutions that meets the regulatory and infrastructure needs of all institutions. Cryptos an investable asset continues to be extremely attractive, and we've invested significantly in our crypto connect solution, which will be made stronger with the addition of Apex Crypto by accelerating our future roadmap.

加密託管是我們的核心能力，我們將繼續投資以確保我們擁有一流的解決方案，滿足所有機構的監管和基礎設施需求。加密貨幣作為一種可投資資產仍然極具吸引力，我們在加密連接解決方案上投入了大量資金，通過加速我們未來的路線圖，隨著 Apex Crypto 的加入，該解決方案將變得更加強大。

We'll be looking for ways that we can continue to enrich this offering for partners when our offerings are combined post closing.

當我們的產品在關閉後合併時，我們將尋找可以繼續為合作夥伴豐富此產品的方法。

We're also focused on rolling out crypto payouts and crypto rewards to provide new ways to earn and interact with crypto in customers' everyday lives.

我們還專注於推出加密支付和加密獎勵，以提供在客戶日常生活中賺取加密貨幣並與之互動的新方式。

And then we have an eye for the future. Crypto utility doesn't stop here. We're preparing for additional opportunities as well. We see layer 2 protocols such as the Lightning Network and stable claims to have relevancy and we're investing in these areas so we can benefit as their utility grows.

然後我們著眼於未來。加密實用程序不止於此。我們也在為更多的機會做準備。我們看到第 2 層協議（如閃電網絡）和穩定聲明具有相關性，我們正在對這些領域進行投資，以便隨著它們的效用增長而受益。

For example, we see the Lightning Network, helping with cross-border payments and offering settlement in seconds versus days at a fraction of the cost. We believe there are a lot of attractive and appealing applications of this technology.

例如，我們看到了閃電網絡，它可以幫助進行跨境支付，並以幾分之一的成本在幾秒鐘而不是幾天內提供結算。我們相信這項技術有很多有吸引力和吸引力的應用。

Turning to Apex Crypto. We are collaborating closely and making strong progress on closing the acquisition in the first half of this year. As we've noted, the deal requires regulatory approval, and we filed applications with all of the states that must approve the transaction.

轉向 Apex Crypto。我們正在密切合作，並在今年上半年完成收購方面取得了重大進展。正如我們所指出的，這筆交易需要獲得監管部門的批准，我們向所有必須批准該交易的州提交了申請。

And we've already received approvals from a majority of those states, and we are engaged in active dialogue with regulators in the remaining states whose approval is outstanding.

我們已經獲得了其中大多數州的批准，並且我們正在與尚未獲得批准的其餘州的監管機構進行積極對話。

We continue to work with Apex Crypto in advance of regulatory approval. During this interim period, we're pleased to see continual sales activity on the Apex side with 2 new partners signed since the deal was announced in November of '22, bringing the total number to 33 partners.

在監管部門批准之前，我們將繼續與 Apex Crypto 合作。在此過渡期間，我們很高興看到 Apex 方面的持續銷售活動，自 2022 年 11 月宣布交易以來簽署了 2 個新合作夥伴，使合作夥伴總數達到 33 個。

In spite of a challenging fourth quarter in 2022, Apex Crypto continued to deliver results. Their 4Q 2022 net revenue will result in an earn-out of approximately $9 million in Bakkt stock to be issued after the deal closes. We're really excited to be able to bring this deal to a close so that we can begin working closely together.

儘管 2022 年第四季度充滿挑戰，但 Apex Crypto 繼續取得成果。他們在 2022 年第四季度的淨收入將導致在交易完成後發行約 900 萬美元的 Bakkt 股票。我們真的很高興能夠完成這筆交易，以便我們可以開始密切合作。

Moving to some recent news. We're excited to be expanding our partner network segment with the announcement of a strategic alliance with Caesars Entertainment. Starting later this year and subject to regulatory approvals, Caesars reward vendors will be able to have access to Bakkt crypto rewards, allowing them to redeem Caesars rewards points for cryptocurrency.

轉到最近的一些新聞。我們很高興宣布與 Caesars Entertainment 結成戰略聯盟，從而擴大我們的合作夥伴網絡。從今年晚些時候開始，在獲得監管部門批准的情況下，Caesars 獎勵供應商將能夠獲得 Bakkt 加密獎勵，從而允許他們將 Caesars 獎勵積分兌換成加密貨幣。

We're also continuing to explore and innovate with Caesars around our existing suite of cryptocurrency solutions like Bakkt crypto payout. We're excited to bring these new options to millions of Caesars online customers. This group is increasingly digitally savvy and providing more options, expands the way Caesars can engage with their customers on an ongoing basis.

我們還將繼續與 Caesars 圍繞我們現有的加密貨幣解決方案套件（如 Bakkt 加密支付）進行探索和創新。我們很高興為數百萬 Caesars 在線客戶提供這些新選項。這個群體越來越精通數字技術並提供更多選擇，擴展了 Caesars 與客戶持續互動的方式。

This announcement is a testament to the continuing interest in cryptocurrency even amidst the crypto downturn. We're thrilled to be entering this space with an industry leader like Caesars. We're looking forward to further solidifying our partnership with Caesars and looking for additional ways to partner in the future.

該公告證明了即使在加密貨幣低迷的情況下，人們對加密貨幣的持續興趣。我們很高興能與 Caesars 這樣的行業領導者一起進入這個領域。我們期待進一步鞏固與凱撒的合作夥伴關係，並在未來尋找更多合作方式。

We spoke earlier about how we're focusing our business. As I said, the external environment remains challenging, and we're taking a number of specific and strategic actions to position Bakkt for strength and durability amidst the broader market disruption.

我們之前談到了我們如何專注於我們的業務。正如我所說，外部環境仍然充滿挑戰，我們正在採取一些具體的戰略行動，使 Bakkt 在更廣泛的市場動盪中保持實力和持久性。

While in this type of uncertain market, there are some factors out of our control, but we see many factors that are within our control. Last year, we began eliminating capabilities that did not have strong product market fit. We're constantly assessing our capabilities and taking decisive actions.

雖然在這種不確定的市場中，有些因素是我們無法控制的，但我們看到許多因素是我們可以控制的。去年，我們開始淘汰不適合產品市場的能力。我們不斷評估我們的能力並採取果斷行動。

This critical review of what we're focused on and continual assessment of scalability is a key part of our overall approach going forward.

對我們關注的重點進行批判性審查以及對可擴展性的持續評估是我們未來整體方法的關鍵部分。

We will remain disciplined in how we allocate our capital, and we're solely focusing on solutions with scalability and those that accelerate our path to profitability.

我們將在如何分配資本方面保持自律，我們只專注於具有可擴展性的解決方案以及那些能夠加速我們實現盈利的解決方案。

For crypto, we're continuing to invest in core capabilities that expand partner offerings, markets and further enable institutional participation. With the recent events in the market, we're experiencing demand from institutional players for certain capabilities, and we'll invest in our platform to provide those offerings and features.

對於加密貨幣，我們將繼續投資於擴展合作夥伴產品、市場並進一步促進機構參與的核心能力。隨著最近市場上發生的事件，我們正在經歷機構參與者對某些功能的需求，我們將投資於我們的平台以提供這些產品和功能。

In loyalty, we're focused on serving and growing volume with our existing partners. This means maintaining existing offerings and relationships. We have a strong roster of clients in loyalty, and we're focused on continuing to serve them while we always look for ways to innovate in the loyalty space. Going forward, we'll look to do so jointly with our partners when there is a clear path to revenue.

在忠誠度方面，我們專注於為現有合作夥伴提供服務並增加數量。這意味著維護現有的產品和關係。我們在忠誠度方面擁有強大的客戶名單，我們專注於繼續為他們提供服務，同時我們一直在尋找在忠誠度領域進行創新的方法。展望未來，當有明確的收入途徑時，我們將與我們的合作夥伴一起這樣做。

We are focusing on the most scalable go-to-market opportunities in our B2B approach. An example of this focus can be seen in sunsetting our consumer app. The products where we're investing have broad applicability and we believe they offer the best opportunity for expansive growth.

我們專注於 B2B 方法中最具可擴展性的上市機會。在淘汰我們的消費者應用程序中可以看到這種關注的一個例子。我們投資的產品具有廣泛的適用性，我們相信它們為擴張性增長提供了最佳機會。

With this overall simplification, we also implemented a corporate restructuring today. When it comes to our people, reducing team sizes is extremely difficult. We don't take lightly the impact reduction in force has on people's lives. We'll be approaching our work with leaner team sizes and looking to maximize our impact in core solutions.

通過這種整體簡化，我們今天還實施了公司重組。就我們的人員而言，縮減團隊規模極其困難。我們不會掉以輕心地看待減少武力對人們生活的影響。我們將以更精簡的團隊規模開展工作，並尋求最大限度地發揮我們在核心解決方案中的影響力。

The continued uncertainty of the environment makes it clear that operating at a lower cost basis is the most prudent thing for us to do to ensure we are investing in the right places and being shrewd in our overall approach to fuel growth.

環境的持續不確定性清楚地表明，以較低的成本為基礎運營是我們最謹慎的做法，以確保我們在正確的地方進行投資，並在我們推動增長的整體方法上保持精明。

Expense management and discipline will continue to be an important theme for 2023. In a market that we expect to remain challenging this year, we can control expenses and ensure we're being prudent and nimble with our investments with disciplined capital allocation decisions.

費用管理和紀律將繼續成為 2023 年的一個重要主題。在我們預計今年仍將充滿挑戰的市場中，我們可以控制費用並確保我們通過嚴格的資本分配決策謹慎和靈活地進行投資。

Simplification initiatives include the recent corporate restructuring in December and today. We expect the actions to result in a 40% decline in the head count by year-end 2023 versus year-end 2022. This results in a $29 million cash saving in 2023 and an additional $7 million in cash savings in 2024 for a full year impact of $36 million.

簡化舉措包括最近在 12 月和今天進行的公司重組。我們預計這些行動將導致到 2023 年底員工人數比 2022 年底減少 40%。這將在 2023 年節省 2900 萬美元現金，並在 2024 年全年額外節省 700 萬美元現金3600 萬美元的影響。

We are mindful of the longer-term goal we set for being adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of 2024, and we are making decisions that we believe will help us invest appropriately to meet that goal, while being smart with each investment we make.

我們牢記我們為在 2024 年底之前調整 EBITDA 盈虧平衡而設定的長期目標，我們正在做出我們認為將幫助我們進行適當投資以實現該目標的決策，同時明智地進行每項投資。

Now I'll hand it over to Karen to guide us through the financial results.

現在我將把它交給 Karen 來指導我們完成財務結果。

Thank you, Gavin, and good afternoon, everyone. I will now walk you through the fourth quarter financial results. As a reminder, we use the term predecessor to represent the results of f Bakkt Holdings LLC prior to October 15, 2021. These results exclude any results from VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings. Successor represents the results of Bakkt Holdings, Inc. from October 15, 2021 forward, which is the post-merger period. Combined represents the combination of predecessor and successor for the applicable period. This is a non-GAAP figure.

謝謝你，加文，大家下午好。我現在將向您介紹第四季度的財務業績。提醒一下，我們使用術語前身來表示 f Bakkt Holdings LLC 在 2021 年 10 月 15 日之前的結果。這些結果不包括 VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings 的任何結果。繼任者代表 Bakkt Holdings, Inc. 從 2021 年 10 月 15 日開始的業績，即合併後時期。 Combined 代表適用期間的前任和繼任者的組合。這是一個非 GAAP 數據。

Turning to Slide 14, we have our fourth quarter 2020 financial results. We had net revenue for the quarter of $15.6 million, which increased by $1.9 million or 14% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, primarily driven by transaction activity from loyalty redemptions.

轉到幻燈片 14，我們有 2020 年第四季度的財務業績。我們本季度的淨收入為 1560 萬美元，與 2021 年第四季度相比增加了 190 萬美元或 14%，這主要是由忠誠度兌換的交易活動推動的。

Similar to recent quarters, the key driver here is 2022 travel volume relative to 2021, which was impacted by the pandemic. This quarter included a $271.9 million noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge.

與最近幾個季度類似，這裡的主要驅動因素是 2022 年相對於 2021 年的旅行量，後者受到了大流行的影響。本季度包括 2.719 億美元的非現金商譽和無形資產減值費用。

Similar to last quarter, we took this charge in accordance with GAAP as a result of the revenue impact from the elongated timing for expected crypto asset product activations, as well as the decline in our market capitalization compared to the end of September, as well as our decision to sunset the consumer app.

與上一季度類似，由於預期加密資產產品激活時間延長對收入的影響，以及我們的市值與 9 月底相比有所下降，以及我們決定停止使用消費者應用程序。

Note that in accordance with GAAP, the financial impacts from our pending acquisition of Apex Crypto is not factored into the valuations that resulted in the impairment charge given that the deal has not yet closed.

請注意，根據 GAAP，鑑於交易尚未完成，我們未決收購 Apex Crypto 的財務影響未計入導致減值費用的估值。

The charge is noncash and does not have any impact on our future operations or affect the liquidity or cash flow from operating activities. Excluding the noncash charge for goodwill and intangible asset impairments, our operating expenses were $73.2 million in the period, which is down $65.4 million or 47% year-over-year, primarily due to a reduction in compensation and benefits.

該費用是非現金的，不會對我們未來的運營產生任何影響，也不會影響運營活動的流動性或現金流量。不包括商譽和無形資產減值的非現金支出，我們在此期間的運營費用為 7320 萬美元，同比下降 6540 萬美元或 47%，這主要是由於薪酬和福利的減少。

Recall that in the fourth quarter of 2021, we had significant noncash compensation expenses as a result of the issuance of shares related to the close of our business combination, which did not repeat in the fourth quarter of 2022.

回想一下，在 2021 年第四季度，由於與我們的企業合併結束相關的股票發行，我們有大量的非現金補償費用，這種情況在 2022 年第四季度沒有重複。

The current quarter operating expense also includes a restructuring expense of $2.3 million related to the headcount actions we took in December.

本季度的運營費用還包括與我們在 12 月份採取的裁員行動相關的 230 萬美元重組費用。

Net loss for the quarter was $323.9 million, which resulted in a diluted net loss of $1.24 per share on an average diluted share base of 261.5 million shares.

本季度淨虧損為 3.239 億美元，平均攤薄後每股淨虧損為 2.615 億股，攤薄後淨虧損為 1.24 美元。

Net loss allocated to the noncontrolling interest from the operating company was $227.4 million, leaving a $96.5 million loss attributable to Bakkt Holdings, Inc. for a net loss of $1.22 per share on an average basic share count of 79.4 million shares.

分配給運營公司非控股權益的淨虧損為 2.274 億美元，Bakkt Holdings, Inc. 的淨虧損為 9650 萬美元，平均基本股數為 7940 萬股，每股淨虧損 1.22 美元。

Our total share count as of February 28 was 265.6 million shares. ICE remains our largest shareholder with ownership of 66% of aggregate shares, which has remained relatively consistent with our shareholding as of September 30, 2022.

截至 2 月 28 日，我們的總股數為 2.656 億股。 ICE 仍然是我們的最大股東，擁有 66% 的總股份，這與我們截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日的持股比例保持相對一致。

On Slide 15, we have our condensed results for the full year of 2022. Net revenue of $54.6 million increased by $15.1 million or 38% year-over-year. This increase was due to higher transaction volumes from our loyalty business.

在幻燈片 15 上，我們有 2022 年全年的簡明結果。淨收入為 5460 萬美元，同比增長 1510 萬美元或 38%。這一增長是由於我們忠誠度業務的交易量增加。

Earlier in the year, we provided full year 2022 revenue guidance of $57 million to $62 million. There were a few market headwinds in the latter part of this year that caused revenue to come in lower than what we originally anticipated. This included continued pressure on travel redemption volumes due to high prices and supply constraints and lower-than-expected merchandise redemption volume during the fourth quarter holiday season, consistent with the trends seen in the consumer retail industry.

今年早些時候，我們提供了 5700 萬至 6200 萬美元的 2022 年全年收入指導。今年下半年出現了一些市場逆風，導致收入低於我們最初的預期。這包括由於高價格和供應限制以及第四季度假期期間低於預期的商品兌換量而導致的旅行兌換量持續壓力，這與消費零售行業的趨勢一致。

Longer fulfillment cycles with merchandise suppliers and consumer sentiment about the economy resulted in a lower conversion rate than we initially anticipated when we communicated updated revenue guidance in our second quarter 2022 earnings release.

與商品供應商的較長履行週期和消費者對經濟的信心導致轉化率低於我們在 2022 年第二季度收益發布中傳達更新的收入指導時最初預期的水平。

Excluding the goodwill and intangible asset and impairment charges in the third and fourth quarters that totaled [$1.8 billion]. Our operating expense for the full year was $251.4 million, which was relatively flat from the prior year.

不包括總計 [18 億美元] 的第三和第四季度的商譽和無形資產以及減值費用。我們全年的運營費用為 2.514 億美元，與上年持平。

n Slide 16, we have our EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA reflects adjustments for noncash and acquisition-related items that impacted the period, including the goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge.

在幻燈片 16 中，我們有 2022 年第四季度的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA。調整後的 EBITDA 反映了對影響該期間的非現金和收購相關項目的調整，包括商譽和無形資產減值費用。

EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the quarter were losses of $320.4 million and $30.5 million, respectively, an increase in the adjusted EBITDA loss versus the prior year period was primarily due to higher nonshare-based and unit-based compensation costs related to higher headcount as we grew the company.

本季度的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 分別虧損 3.204 億美元和 3050 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 虧損較上年同期有所增加，這主要是由於與員工人數增加相關的非股份和單位薪酬成本增加，因為我們公司成長。

On Slide 17, we show net revenue broken between subscription and service revenue and transaction revenue. Total revenue in the fourth quarter and full year of 2022 increased 14% and 38%, respectively, compared to the comparable prior year period.

在幻燈片 17 上，我們顯示了訂閱和服務收入與交易收入之間的淨收入。與去年同期相比，2022 年第四季度和全年的總收入分別增長 14% 和 38%。

The year-over-year revenue growth was driven by higher margins and expansion of services with one of our loyalty partners and higher travel and merchandise volumes from prior year periods. As mentioned earlier, in the latter part of 2022, we saw a softening in travel and merchandise loyalty redemption volumes as a result of supply constraints, high prices and consumer economic sentiment.

與去年同期相比，我們的忠誠合作夥伴之一的更高利潤率和服務擴展以及更高的旅行和商品量推動了收入的同比增長。如前所述，在 2022 年下半年，由於供應限制、高價格和消費者經濟情緒，我們發現旅遊和商品忠誠度兌換量有所下降。

The fourth quarter is typically a strong quarter due to merchandise redemption volumes related to the holiday season. In the fourth quarter of 2022, merchandise volumes were lower than anticipated as longer fulfillment cycles with merchandise suppliers caused many consumers to abandon their redemption orders.

由於與假日季節相關的商品贖回量，第四季度通常是一個強勁的季度。 2022 年第四季度，商品銷量低於預期，因為商品供應商的履行週期較長導致許多消費者放棄了他們的兌換訂單。

Turning to Slide 18, we have total operating expense. Total expense for the fourth quarter, excluding the noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge was $73.2 million, which was down 47% year-over-year.

轉到幻燈片 18，我們有總運營費用。不包括非現金商譽和無形資產減值費用的第四季度總支出為 7320 萬美元，同比下降 47%。

Total compensation expense of $31.9 million declined 67% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 due to a decrease in noncash compensation expense. The fourth quarter also included a $2.3 million restructuring expense related to our December 2022 headcount actions. We expect to recognize an additional estimated restructuring charge of $3.7 million to $4.1 million in our first quarter 2023 results to reflect the reduction in force communicated today. This estimated charge includes approximately $2.3 million to $2.7 million of cash payments.

由於非現金補償費用的減少，總補償費用為 3190 萬美元，與 2021 年第四季度相比下降了 67%。第四季度還包括與我們 2022 年 12 月裁員行動相關的 230 萬美元重組費用。我們預計將在 2023 年第一季度的業績中確認額外的估計重組費用 370 萬至 410 萬美元，以反映今天公佈的裁員情況。這一估計費用包括大約 230 萬至 270 萬美元的現金支付。

We have demonstrated through our disciplined actions, our strong focus on simplifying our business, we will limit future hiring and we leverage the team that we've built, as well as the pending acquisition of Apex Crypto to further our roadmap in 2023.

我們通過紀律嚴明的行動證明了我們對簡化業務的強烈關注，我們將限制未來的招聘，我們利用我們已經建立的團隊，以及即將收購的 Apex Crypto 來進一步推進我們在 2023 年的路線圖。

It's a really tough decision for us to reduce our employee base, but we know that these are necessary actions for us to take given the headwinds that we continue to see in the market.

裁員對我們來說是一個非常艱難的決定，但我們知道，鑑於我們在市場上繼續看到的逆風，這些都是我們必須採取的行動。

Our recent restructurings, while unfortunate, help to ensure that we are rightsized for this environment and have the appropriate resources in place for various market cycles.

我們最近的重組雖然不幸，但有助於確保我們針對這種環境進行適當調整，並為各種市場週期提供適當的資源。

On Slide 19, we have our key performance indicators. These KPIs reflect the full breadth of how our capabilities are accessed across both partner and Bakkt experiences and across crypt and loyalty experiences.

在幻燈片 19 上，我們有關鍵績效指標。這些 KPI 反映瞭如何通過合作夥伴和 Bakkt 體驗以及加密貨幣和忠誠度體驗訪問我們的能力的全部範圍。

Transacting accounts across the Bakkt platform were $958,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 11% year-over-year. Transacting accounts were $3 million for the full year, up 16% year-over-year.

2022 年第四季度，Bakkt 平台上的交易賬戶為 958,000 美元，同比增長 11%。全年交易賬戶為 300 萬美元，同比增長 16%。

Digital asset conversions are a dollar-weighted measure and more directly aligned to revenue growth. Volume of $263 million for the quarter was up 19% year-over-year. Full year volume was $832.3 million, an increase of 51% year-over-year. These increases reflect the strong growth we saw in loyalty redemption, particularly travel relative to 2021, which was impacted by the pandemic. We expect these KPIs to increase in 2023 as we close the Apex Crypto acquisition, activate crypto partners that we have [announced] as well as build new relationships.

數字資產轉換是一種美元加權指標，更直接地與收入增長掛鉤。本季度的銷售額為 2.63 億美元，同比增長 19%。全年銷量為 8.323 億美元，同比增長 51%。這些增長反映了我們在忠誠度兌換方面看到的強勁增長，尤其是相對於 2021 年受到大流行影響的旅行。隨著我們完成對 Apex Crypto 的收購、激活我們已經 [宣布] 的加密貨幣合作夥伴以及建立新的關係，我們預計這些 KPI 將在 2023 年增加。

Turning to Slide 20. We have our condensed balance sheet. We ended the fourth quarter with $239.4 million in available cash, cash equivalents and available for sale securities. We believe our liquid assets, combined with the prudent expense management actions we are taking provide us with significant liquidity to self-fund our roadmap to finance the cash component of the Apex Crypto acquisition.

轉到幻燈片 20。我們有簡明的資產負債表。第四季度結束時，我們擁有 2.394 億美元的可用現金、現金等價物和可供出售證券。我們相信我們的流動資產，加上我們正在採取的審慎的費用管理措施，為我們提供了大量的流動性，可以為我們的路線圖提供自籌資金，為 Apex Crypto 收購的現金部分提供資金。

We are highly aware of the challenging market conditions around us and will remain keenly focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet and preserving liquidity to position us through the macroeconomic and industry cycles.

我們非常清楚我們周圍充滿挑戰的市場狀況，並將繼續專注於維持強勁的資產負債表和保持流動性，以使我們在宏觀經濟和行業周期中處於領先地位。

As a result of the noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge we took this quarter and last quarter, our total balance sheet declined to $458 million. I want to reiterate that these noncash impairment charges were due to generally accepted accounting principles, given the macro environment, current market capitalization for us and peers and the sunset of our consumer app. They do not reflect any long-term deterioration of our underlying core business.

由於本季度和上一季度的非現金商譽和無形資產減值費用，我們的資產負債表總額下降至 4.58 億美元。我想重申，考慮到宏觀環境、我們和同行的當前市值以及我們的消費者應用程序的日落，這些非現金減值費用是由於普遍接受的會計原則所致。它們並未反映出我們潛在核心業務的任何長期惡化。

We remain excited about future growth potential of our business, particularly with the pending acquisition of Apex Crypto. Given that the deal has not closed, the valuations that resulted in the impairment charge do not reflect any financial impact from Apex Crypto.

我們仍然對我們業務的未來增長潛力感到興奮，尤其是對 Apex Crypto 的即將收購。鑑於交易尚未完成，導致減值費用的估值並未反映 Apex Crypto 的任何財務影響。

In the fourth quarter, we used $34.3 million of cash. And for the full year, we used $152 million of cash. Nonrecurring use of cash included $1.2 million of severance and other onetime cash payments to employees in the fourth quarter and a $9.2 million cash payment in the third quarter related to our migration to a new purchasing card facility.

第四季度，我們使用了 3430 萬美元的現金。全年，我們使用了 1.52 億美元的現金。非經常性現金使用包括第四季度向員工支付的 120 萬美元遣散費和其他一次性現金，以及第三季度與我們遷移到新的採購卡設施相關的 920 萬美元現金。

Excluding these nonrecurring items, our cash usage for the year came in at $141.6 million, which was slightly above the full year guidance of $135 million to $140 million that we provided earlier in the year due to lower-than-expected revenue results.

不包括這些非經常性項目，我們今年的現金使用量為 1.416 億美元，略高於我們在今年早些時候提供的 1.35 億美元至 1.4 億美元的全年指導，原因是收入結果低於預期。

Turning to Slide 21. We have our expectations around outlook for full year 2023. We expect net revenue for the year to be in the range of $62 million to $72 million, which is up 15% to 30% from 2022. Note that this represents revenue only from Bakkt since the Apex Crypto acquisition has yet to close.

轉到幻燈片 21。我們對 2023 年全年的前景有預期。我們預計全年淨收入將在 6200 萬至 7200 萬美元之間，比 2022 年增長 15% 至 30%。請注意，這代表收入僅來自 Bakkt，因為 Apex Crypto 的收購尚未完成。

Our outlook for revenue incorporates our expectation that crypto activation time lines will continue to be impacted by market conditions. Based on our conversations in market [intel] we expect crypto activations to ramp up in the second half of 2023. While we hope the market takes a positive turn soon, we are being cautious given all the noise we've seen thus far.

我們對收入的展望包含了我們的預期，即加密激活時間線將繼續受到市場狀況的影響。根據我們在市場上的對話 [intel] 我們預計加密激活將在 2023 年下半年增加。雖然我們希望市場很快出現積極轉變，但考慮到迄今為止我們看到的所有噪音，我們仍持謹慎態度。

Our outlook assumes that loyalty redemption activity will continue to face some pressure from a challenging macroeconomic environment. We expect our overall free cash flow utilization in 2023 to be $105 million to $115 million, which represents a 25% to 30% reduction from 2022 free cash flow utilization.

我們的展望假設忠誠度兌換活動將繼續面臨來自具有挑戰性的宏觀經濟環境的壓力。我們預計 2023 年我們的總體自由現金流利用率為 1.05 億美元至 1.15 億美元，比 2022 年的自由現金流利用率減少 25% 至 30%。

Note that these numbers include $13 million of acquisition-related deal expenses and $2.3 million to $2.7 million of cash payments related to the restructuring expense from the headcount reductions that we announced today.

請注意，這些數字包括 1300 萬美元的收購相關交易費用和 230 萬至 270 萬美元與我們今天宣布的裁員重組費用相關的現金支付。

We believe that free cash flow, which is a non-GAAP metric is a helpful outlook metric because it reflects both our cash used in operations as well as our CapEx investments. Free cash flow does not include other cash used for investing activities, which will most notably include the $55 million cash purchase price that will be paid for Apex Crypto when the deal closes.

我們認為，作為非 GAAP 指標的自由現金流是一個有用的前景指標，因為它既反映了我們在運營中使用的現金，也反映了我們的資本支出投資。自由現金流不包括用於投資活動的其他現金，其中最顯著的包括交易完成時將為 Apex Crypto 支付的 5500 萬美元現金購買價格。

Our free cash flow outlook reflects our expectation that the combined impact of increased revenue and expense reductions related to business simplification, including completion of recent restructuring will reduce our free cash flow utilization for the year.

我們的自由現金流前景反映了我們的預期，即與業務簡化相關的收入增加和費用減少的綜合影響，包括最近重組的完成，將減少我們今年的自由現金流利用率。

Our recent restructurings are expected to result in free cash flow savings of $29 million in 2023. We expect to provide more color on the financial outlook for Apex Crypto once the transaction closes, which we are targeting to occur in the first half of 2023.

我們最近的重組預計將在 2023 年節省 2900 萬美元的自由現金流。一旦交易完成，我們預計將為 Apex Crypto 的財務前景提供更多色彩，我們的目標是在 2023 年上半年完成。

Following the close of the deal, we may look to update some of our financial disclosures, including our key performance indicators to ensure that the information we are providing to our investor community best reflects the financial picture and operations of our combined company.

交易完成後，我們可能會更新我們的一些財務披露，包括我們的關鍵績效指標，以確保我們向投資者社區提供的信息最好地反映我們合併後公司的財務狀況和運營情況。

We expect to recognize quarterly losses this year as our business continues to scale. As Gavin mentioned earlier, we do have our longer-term goal of being breakeven on an adjusted EBITDA basis by the end of 2024.

隨著我們的業務繼續擴大，我們預計今年將出現季度虧損。正如 Gavin 之前提到的，我們的長期目標是到 2024 年底在調整後的 EBITDA 基礎上實現收支平衡。

I'll now pass it back to Gavin for his closing remarks.

我現在將它傳回給 Gavin，請他作結束語。

Thanks, Karen. We've reviewed a lot during this call. So just a few closing thoughts from me. We're really excited about our future. We know there are some near-term external headwinds that make the market challenging and that we can't control.

謝謝，凱倫。我們在這次電話會議中審查了很多內容。所以我只是想說說一些結束語。我們對我們的未來感到非常興奮。我們知道有一些近期的外部逆風使市場充滿挑戰，我們無法控制。

So we're focused on everything that we can control, like leveraging our core strengths that differentiate our platform to win. This includes our regulatory and compliance first approach, strong balance sheet and broad partner network. These help us stand out in this type of environment and will use these strengths to our full advantage.

因此，我們專注於我們可以控制的一切，例如利用我們使我們的平台脫穎而出的核心優勢來取勝。這包括我們的監管和合規第一方法、強大的資產負債表和廣泛的合作夥伴網絡。這些幫助我們在這種環境中脫穎而出，並將充分利用這些優勢。

Although the near-term environment still faces some challenges, we're seeing green shoots, and we believe 2023 will provide some pockets of growth. Our focus for this year will be on balancing strategic capital allocation with select investments in our crypto capabilities and our partner network, while maintaining a disciplined approach to our overall expenses. We're eager to invest in areas where we see growth opportunities and pull back our resources where we don't.

儘管近期環境仍面臨一些挑戰，但我們看到了萌芽，我們相信 2023 年將提供一些增長空間。我們今年的重點將是平衡戰略資本分配與對我們的加密功能和合作夥伴網絡的選擇投資，同時對我們的總體支出保持嚴格的態度。我們渴望在我們看到增長機會的領域進行投資，並在我們看不到的領域撤回我們的資源。

Thank you for joining us today. I'll now turn it over to Ann to manage our Q&A.

感謝您今天加入我們。現在我將把它交給 Ann 來管理我們的問答。

Thanks, Gavin. Let's move over to questions from the investor community. Leading into our Q&A session will start by answering the top questions from today ranked by number of votes. After that, we'll turn to live questions from the analyst community. Our first question comes from (inaudible) 37:29 who asks [what came back to 10 extra] revenue in the next 3 to 4 years? How is Bakkt thinking about generating revenue given the slowdown in crypto and delayed partnership activations? Karen, can you take this question?

謝謝，加文。讓我們轉向投資者社區的問題。進入我們的問答環節將首先回答今天按票數排名的熱門問題。之後，我們將轉向分析師社區的現場提問。我們的第一個問題來自（聽不清）37:29，誰問在接下來的 3 到 4 年中 [什麼會額外增加 10 個] 收入？鑑於加密技術放緩和合作夥伴激活延遲，Bakkt 如何考慮創收？凱倫，你能接受這個問題嗎？

Sure, I'm happy to. Thank you for the question. Our focus is on generating long-term value and everything we are doing today is geared towards that.

當然，我很樂意。感謝你的提問。我們的重點是創造長期價值，而我們今天所做的一切都是為了實現這一目標。

Our platform and B2B go-to-market strategy are based on robust repeatable processes that are easy for partners to integrate and scalable. We've designed the entire business with the ability to ramp quickly and grow with our partners in the overall market.

我們的平台和 B2B 上市戰略基於強大的可重複流程，合作夥伴易於集成和擴展。我們設計了整個業務，使其能夠在整個市場上與我們的合作夥伴一起快速發展和成長。

We are confident that we have the right core infrastructure, platform capability and strategy all in place. And we expect the acquisition of Apex Crypto to accelerate our growth by adding 33 signed partners and exciting cross-selling opportunities.

我們相信我們擁有正確的核心基礎設施、平台能力和戰略。我們預計收購 Apex Crypto 將通過增加 33 個簽約合作夥伴和令人興奮的交叉銷售機會來加速我們的發展。

This is still a relatively nascent market. As market conditions improve and the market has a bit more time to mature, we believe we will see our platform really take off and recognize its economic potential.

這仍然是一個相對新生的市場。隨著市場狀況的改善和市場成熟的時間更長，我們相信我們將看到我們的平台真正起飛並認識到其經濟潛力。

We're fortunate to have built a business with a diversified revenue base that could withstand a temporary slowdown in crypto. Our Q4 '22 revenues were up 14% year-over-year, even during an incredibly turbulent time in the market.

我們很幸運建立了一個收入基礎多元化的企業，可以承受加密貨幣暫時放緩的影響。我們的 22 年第四季度收入同比增長 14%，即使在市場動盪時期也是如此。

Subscription and service revenues are about half of our current revenue base and represent a steadier source of recurring revenue to us.

訂閱和服務收入約占我們當前收入基礎的一半，是我們經常性收入的更穩定來源。

While this question was about revenue, I do want to point out that we have and will continue to manage our firm-wide expenses as a general practice and even more aggressively if our top line revenue growth is under pressure.

雖然這個問題是關於收入的，但我確實想指出，如果我們的收入增長面臨壓力，我們已經並將繼續管理我們公司範圍內的費用作為一般做法，甚至會更加積極。

Our prudent expense management is expected to enable us to improve free cash flow usage by 25% to 30% in 2022, while also achieving 15% to 30% revenue growth.

我們審慎的費用管理預計將使我們能夠在 2022 年將自由現金流使用率提高 25% 至 30%，同時實現 15% 至 30% 的收入增長。

Thanks, Karen. Our next question is on whether there is a risk of [by fact] or ICE pulling out crypto investments given the general slowdown in the market? Gavin, can you take this one?

謝謝，凱倫。我們的下一個問題是，鑑於市場普遍放緩，是否存在 [by fact] 或 ICE 撤出加密投資的風險？加文，你能接受這個嗎？

Yes. Look, happy to share thoughts on this. The short answer is no. there isn't a risk of us pulling out of crypto. We firmly believe crypto is clearly here to stay, and we see significant future growth potential for this space.

是的。看，很高興分享對此的想法。最簡潔的答案是不。我們沒有退出加密貨幣的風險。我們堅信加密貨幣顯然會繼續存在，我們看到這個領域未來的巨大增長潛力。

Our most recent research is showing us that even post FTX, the majority of consumers believe that crypto is the future of money. It has the potential to be a driving force in financial services innovation.

我們最近的研究表明，即使在 FTX 之後，大多數消費者也認為加密是貨幣的未來。它有潛力成為金融服務創新的驅動力。

All of our conversations with partners, prospects and other leading market participants affirm our belief that crypto is not going anywhere. Sure. Some of our partners are extending their activation time lines to find the right time to enter the market given the volatility that we're seeing. Many are waiting for regulatory clarity, which we also welcome.

我們與合作夥伴、潛在客戶和其他主要市場參與者的所有對話都證實了我們的信念，即加密技術不會有任何進展。當然。鑑於我們所看到的波動性，我們的一些合作夥伴正在延長他們的激活時間線，以找到進入市場的合適時間。許多人正在等待監管的明確性，我們也對此表示歡迎。

But are they completely saying they're no longer interested in pursuing a crypto strategy? Definitely not. Companies like ours are using this temporary lull in the market to be very opportunistic to create value and build out their capabilities so that when the market rebounds, they're ready to take off.

但他們是否完全表示他們不再對追求加密策略感興趣？當然不。像我們這樣的公司正在利用市場的暫時平靜來創造價值和增強能力，以便在市場反彈時準備起飛。

I mentioned earlier on this call that one of our key priorities in 2023 is to expand our crypto platform by investing in custody, integrating Apex Crypto onto our platform and driving crypto to utility entertainments. Crypto is a core part of our long-term strategy. We're definitely not pulling back from this space.

我早些時候在本次電話會議上提到，我們在 2023 年的主要優先事項之一是通過投資託管、將 Apex Crypto 集成到我們的平台並將加密技術推向實用娛樂來擴展我們的加密平台。加密貨幣是我們長期戰略的核心部分。我們絕對不會退出這個領域。

Our next question is from (inaudible)41:13 who ask what is the market opportunity for Bakkt given recent changes to this business model? For example, you decided recently to sunset your consumer-facing apps. Gavin, can you take this question?

我們的下一個問題來自（聽不清）41:13，誰問 Bakkt 的市場機會是什麼，因為最近這種商業模式發生了變化？例如，您最近決定停止面向消費者的應用程序。加文，你能回答這個問題嗎？

Okay. So let's start off with that decision to sunset our consumer app. Our focus is on providing scalable B2B2C crypto and loyalty solutions that enable businesses to offer their customers unique experiences.

好的。因此，讓我們從停止使用我們的消費者應用程序的決定開始。我們的重點是提供可擴展的 B2B2C 加密和忠誠度解決方案，使企業能夠為其客戶提供獨特的體驗。

We decided to sunset the consumer app because it wasn't core to our approach. It also ensures that we're supporting the relationship our partners and clients have with their customers rather than competing in any way, whether real or perceived.

我們決定停止使用消費者應用程序，因為它不是我們方法的核心。它還確保我們支持我們的合作夥伴和客戶與其客戶之間的關係，而不是以任何方式競爭，無論是真實的還是感知的。

Our market opportunity has not negatively impacted as a result of our decision to sunset the app. Now that we've eliminated the app, we can focus our resources on B2B partners who can provide much more scalability through our existing partner network and reaches well in excess of 100 million consumers.

我們的市場機會並未因我們決定停用該應用程序而受到負面影響。現在我們已經淘汰了該應用程序，我們可以將資源集中在 B2B 合作夥伴身上，他們可以通過我們現有的合作夥伴網絡提供更大的可擴展性，並覆蓋超過 1 億消費者。

Our reach will continue to expand with our acquisition of Apex Crypto. We're confident that the decision to eliminate the app will ultimately drive positive value for the company.

隨著我們對 Apex Crypto 的收購，我們的影響力將繼續擴大。我們相信，淘汰該應用程序的決定最終將為公司帶來積極的價值。

Next question is from [Abraham G] who asked what will you do to help Bakkt shareholders gain confidence in holding the stock? It seems like there's no recovery and 99% of investors are underwater. Karen, can you [plan] on this?

下一個問題來自 [Abraham G]，他問你將如何幫助 Bakkt 股東獲得持有股票的信心？似乎沒有復蘇，99% 的投資者都在水下。凱倫，你能[計劃]嗎？

Of course. I can appreciate the frustration that our shareholders have felt. It hasn't been an easy journey, and I thank you for sticking with us.

當然。我能理解我們的股東所感受到的挫敗感。這不是一段輕鬆的旅程，我感謝您堅持與我們在一起。

I want to remind folks that [there's] been a market-wide reset over the past year in valuations for many types of firms, including those who are high growth, tech or crypto focus as a result of macroeconomic environment.

我想提醒人們，在過去的一年裡，許多類型的公司的估值在整個市場範圍內進行了重置，包括那些因宏觀經濟環境而專注於高增長、科技或加密貨幣的公司。

This isn't a Bakkt specific phenomenon, nor one that we could necessarily control. That said, we are focused on driving positive shareholder value to the things we can control. This includes balancing strategic capital investments in areas where we see a path to profitability in the current environment with disciplined expense management and cost cutting to align cost to revenue opportunities.

這不是 Bakkt 特有的現象，也不是我們必須控制的現象。也就是說，我們專注於為我們可以控制的事情推動積極的股東價值。這包括通過嚴格的費用管理和削減成本來平衡我們在當前環境中看到盈利途徑的領域的戰略資本投資，以使成本與收入機會保持一致。

We're continuing to build value so that when the market conditions improve, we're positioned to win, scale rapidly and deliver the results we know we are capable of. That's ultimately what's going to drive recovery in our stock price.

我們正在繼續創造價值，以便在市場條件改善時，我們能夠取勝、迅速擴大規模並交付我們知道自己有能力做到的成果。這最終將推動我們股價的複蘇。

Thanks, Karen. Our final question from the State Technologies platform is from [Michael G] who asked, when can we expect to see adoption of the Bakkt platform by larger financial institutions? And does that plan to use distributed ledger technology in the future? Gavin, can you take this one?

謝謝，凱倫。我們來自 State Technologies 平台的最後一個問題來自 [Michael G]，他問，我們什麼時候可以期望看到大型金融機構採用 Bakkt 平台？未來是否計劃使用分佈式賬本技術？加文，你能接受這個嗎？

Yes. Look, let's clarify that we already work closely with a number of large financial institutions today. Most of the major money center banks today are our clients. They leverage our platform's loyalty redemption capabilities.

是的。看，讓我們澄清一下，我們今天已經與許多大型金融機構密切合作。今天大多數主要的貨幣中心銀行都是我們的客戶。他們利用我們平台的忠誠度兌換功能。

Our institutional grade platform is already very capable of handling large-scale transaction processing volumes to sizable institutions.

我們的機構級平台已經非常有能力處理大型機構的大規模交易處理量。

On the crypto front, we've already signed up several large financial firms to our platform, both with Bakkt, as well as with Apex Crypto. On the Bakkt side, most of the institutions we signed up historically have been platform partners and traditional finance firs. The uncertainty in the regulatory environment caused some of these players to hit pause temporarily delay activating their crypto strategies.

在加密貨幣方面，我們已經與 Bakkt 和 Apex Crypto 簽約了幾家大型金融公司到我們的平台。在 Bakkt 方面，我們歷史上簽約的大多數機構都是平台合作夥伴和傳統金融第一。監管環境的不確定性導致其中一些玩家暫停，暫時延遲激活他們的加密策略。

But as we've discussed at length, in the past, we've done much of the integration work with them already, and we're really just waiting for the right time to enter the market. Meanwhile, Apex Crypto has 33 signed clients with many of them active and sizable in nature. Apex acquisition will provide immediate scale to our platform with their existing and pipeline client roster.

但正如我們詳細討論過的那樣，在過去，我們已經與他們完成了很多整合工作，我們實際上只是在等待合適的時機進入市場。同時，Apex Crypto 擁有 33 個簽約客戶，其中許多客戶都很活躍且規模龐大。 Apex 的收購將通過他們現有的和管道客戶名冊為我們的平台提供即時規模。

Regarding the part of the question on distributed ledger, today, we integrate with 2 public blockchains, bitcoin and Ethereum. We have plans to support more protocols for both trading and custody over the course of this year. But we do not have plans to add distributed ledger technology beyond the support for public blockchains at this time.

關於分佈式賬本部分的問題，今天，我們整合了2個公鏈，比特幣和以太坊。我們計劃在今年支持更多的交易和託管協議。但是我們目前沒有計劃在支持公共區塊鏈之外添加分佈式賬本技術。

Thanks, Kevin. And with that, I would now like to turn the call back over to the operator to open up the phone line to take questions from the analyst community.

謝謝，凱文。有了這個，我現在想把電話轉回給接線員打開電話線來回答分析師社區的問題。

We will now begin the Q&A session. (Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Andrew Bond with Rosenblatt.

我們現在將開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）第一個問題來自 Andrew Bond 與 Rosenblatt 的對話。

Just a couple on the Apex acquisition. Just in addition to the state regulatory approvals, which appear to be moving along pretty well. Can you update us on any discussions with the SEC? And you guys are still guiding to that first half close, but could the time line change at all moving forward given the recent rhetoric and enforcement actions we've seen from the SEC?

關於 Apex 的收購只是一對夫婦。除了國家監管部門的批准，這些批准似乎進展順利。你能告訴我們與 SEC 的任何討論嗎？你們仍在指導上半年收盤，但考慮到我們最近從美國證券交易委員會看到的言論和執法行動，時間線是否會改變？

Andrew, it's Marc D’Annunzio. I think that we are -- we remain very much on track to close that acquisition and the time frame that we've previously told to market. Obviously, there's a lot of activity both at the federal and state level in terms of enforcement actions and additional guidance, but we feel good about where we sit right now.

安德魯，我是馬克·鄧南遮。我認為我們 - 我們仍然非常有可能完成收購以及我們之前告訴市場的時間框架。顯然，在執法行動和額外指導方面，聯邦和州一級都有很多活動，但我們對目前的狀況感到滿意。

Got it. And I believe there was a $45 million payout based on certain gross profit targets for Q4. In the presentation, you mentioned a $9 million stock earn-out. Is that the only payment due for Q4? And maybe if you can, what was the growth metric that triggered [this out]

知道了。而且我相信，根據第四季度的某些毛利目標，有 4500 萬美元的支出。在演示文稿中，您提到了 900 萬美元的股票收益。這是第四季度的唯一付款嗎？也許如果可以的話，觸發 [this out] 的增長指標是什麼

Yes. Andrew, it's Karen. Yes, so the terms of the transaction had one potential additional stock payment related to Q4 performance of value up to $45 million. And as everybody can realize, this has been a very tough quarter. Q4 has been in the crypto space.

是的。安德魯，是凱倫。是的，因此交易條款有一筆與第四季度業績相關的潛在額外股票付款，價值高達 4500 萬美元。眾所周知，這是一個非常艱難的季度。 Q4 一直在加密領域。

So I think looking at Apex's results and the fact that this earn-out was based on net revenue and they were able to achieve a -- an approximately $9 million earn-out. I think is a -- is basically is a testament to how they're performing in a tough cycle. But it is the only measurement we have on the Q4 to answer your question.

因此，我認為看看 Apex 的業績，以及這種盈利是基於淨收入的事實，他們能夠實現——大約 900 萬美元的盈利。我認為這是一個 - 基本上證明了他們在艱難週期中的表現。但這是我們對 Q4 的唯一測量來回答你的問題。

Okay. Great. And just lastly, could you update us on the status of some of the partnerships that have been announced over the past year or 2. I think [Asteron and Episerver] or to the larger ones. And perhaps our activations are trending with the legacy Crypto Connect business with some of the banks to announce partnerships with.

好的。偉大的。最後，您能否向我們介紹過去一年或兩年宣布的一些合作夥伴關係的狀態。我認為 [Asteron 和 Episerver] 或更大的合作夥伴關係。也許我們的激活與傳統的 Crypto Connect 業務呈趨勢，一些銀行宣布與之建立合作夥伴關係。

Are many of these connected businesses still in wait-and-see mode, given the current environment? Or do you expect an uptick in revenue contribution this year?

鑑於當前環境，這些互聯企業中的許多是否仍處於觀望狀態？還是您預計今年的收入貢獻會增加？

Andrew, why don't I start? In terms of where we are with the partners that we announced, most of the partners that we announced were obviously connected with a more traditional finance pilot the sector. Many of those are definitely in a wait-and-see mode.

安德魯，我為什麼不開始呢？就我們與宣布的合作夥伴的關係而言，我們宣布的大多數合作夥伴顯然與該行業更傳統的金融試點有關。其中許多肯定處於觀望模式。

We mentioned before the elongation that we see in the decision cycles about when the right time to enter the market is. With our platform-based partners, you mentioned, Mastercard, for example, work continues on the integration of our systems on working to develop together with a strong focus on crypto rewards in that case, both the ability to redeem and to look at potentially other applications of the reward use case across what we do with Mastercard with Global Payments, for example, it's been somewhat similar.

我們在決策週期中看到的延長時間之前提到過何時是進入市場的正確時間。與我們基於平台的合作夥伴，例如你提到的萬事達卡，我們繼續致力於整合我們的系統，共同開發，在這種情況下，重點關注加密獎勵，包括贖回能力和尋找其他潛在機會的能力。獎勵用例的應用在我們對 Mastercard 和 Global Payments 所做的事情中，例如，它有點相似。

We ran a pilot towards the end of last year, which I think we've spoken about with respect to NetSpend. And again, we've used our APIs to integrate into the Global Payments systems.

我們在去年年底進行了一次試點，我想我們已經談到了 NetSpend。而且，我們已經使用我們的 API 集成到全球支付系統中。

So I think what happens with the platform partners is we continue to integrate, we continue to work with them. When you think about where we are with some of the announced partnerships, many of those are in a wait-and-see mode as they look for regulatory clarity.

所以我認為與平台合作夥伴發生的事情是我們繼續整合，我們繼續與他們合作。當您考慮我們與一些已宣布的合作夥伴關係的進展情況時，其中許多在尋求監管明確性時處於觀望模式。

The next question comes from the line of Jeff Cantwell with Wells Fargo. Please proceed.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Jeff Cantwell。請繼續。

I appreciate you taking these questions. So my first one is on the decision to transition from your consumer-facing app to B2B2C. Can you talk a little more about the reasons why now? And also kind of help us think about -- understand what that means for the company going forward. I would like to get a good sense of why that positioning makes the most sense in this market from your perspective?

感謝您提出這些問題。所以我的第一個是關於從面向消費者的應用程序過渡到 B2B2C 的決定。你能多談談現在的原因嗎？也有點幫助我們思考 - 了解這對公司未來意味著什麼。從您的角度來看，我想很好地了解為什麼這種定位在這個市場上最有意義？

Yes. Sure, Jeff, it's Gavin. I'll take the question. Look, when we look at all of our offerings in the market, we continue to test product market fit. Do we think that we can achieve rapid scale, efficient and effective scale? We've spoken from the onset of the company around the fact that what we have and what we take to market as a platform and our focus on driving B2B2C volume through that platform.

是的。當然，傑夫，我是加文。我來回答這個問題。看，當我們審視市場上的所有產品時，我們會繼續測試產品市場契合度。我們認為我們可以實現快速規模化、高效規模化和有效規模化嗎？我們從公司成立之初就談到了這樣一個事實，即我們擁有什麼以及我們將什麼作為平台推向市場，以及我們專注於通過該平台推動 B2B2C 交易量。

Through the course of 2022, we continue to add partners onto the platform and to build out those capabilities around crypto connect, crypto rewards and crypto payout. As we rounded the year, we started to look at how efficient and effective we've been in the marketplace with respect to all parts of our offerings, and it became apparent with the app that it really was detracting from the focus that we had around being that platform, that scalable company that is really providing market-level infrastructure without any channel conflict or brand conflict to our partners. And it was through those discussions that we led to the decision to sunset the app.

在 2022 年期間，我們將繼續在平台上增加合作夥伴，並圍繞加密連接、加密獎勵和加密支付構建這些功能。在這一年結束時，我們開始審視我們在市場上對我們產品的所有部分的效率和有效性，並且應用程序很明顯它確實分散了我們對周圍的關注作為該平台，該可擴展的公司真正提供市場級基礎設施，而不會與我們的合作夥伴發生任何渠道沖突或品牌衝突。正是通過這些討論，我們才決定停止使用該應用程序。

As I said at the outset, I think that this provides opportunity for us in terms of focus, obviously, in terms of simplification because we have a very clean and efficient go-to-market model now. And it really is showing that the company's strength exists in its ability to generate growth through being a platform-based business.

正如我一開始所說，我認為這為我們提供了專注的機會，顯然，在簡化方面，因為我們現在有一個非常乾淨和高效的上市模型。這確實表明，該公司的實力在於其通過成為基於平台的企業實現增長的能力。

I don't think that's a strong deviation from where we've been because we've always spoken about the platform and the app being a part of that. By retiring the app, we're shifting our focus entirely to the platform.

我不認為這與我們一直以來的情況有很大的不同，因為我們一直在談論平台和應用程序是其中的一部分。通過停用該應用程序，我們將把注意力完全轉移到平台上。

Okay. I appreciate that. The second one I wanted to ask you is on Silvergate. I think it does make sense to discuss how that development impacts a company like Bakkt, perhaps it makes sense to discuss Apex and whether the trading platform as you guys are understanding it or thinking about it can potentially capture share in this environment as we are trying to factor in developments with SEM, for example, and so forth and what that means for trading in this space?

好的。我很感激。我想問你的第二個問題是關於 Silvergate。我認為討論這種發展如何影響像 Bakkt 這樣的公司是有意義的，也許討論 Apex 以及你們正在理解或考慮它的交易平台是否有可能在我們正在嘗試的這種環境中佔據份額是有意義的例如，考慮 SEM 的發展等等，這對這個領域的交易意味著什麼？

So I was hoping you could kind of give us your thoughts, high level, if you don't mind, on Silvergate, SEN and where you may potentially be seeing opportunity?

所以我希望你能在 Silvergate、SEN 以及你可能會在哪裡看到機會的地方給我們你的想法，如果你不介意的話？

Sure. So let's just start with Silvergate. Our exposure to Silvergate is limited to the consumer funds that we hold as part of the app and the use of their ACH services to sort of facilitate customer flows in and out.

當然。那麼讓我們從 Silvergate 開始吧。我們對 Silvergate 的敞口僅限於我們作為應用程序的一部分持有的消費者資金，以及使用他們的 ACH 服務來促進客戶流入和流出。

We've obviously, as many, we've been anticipating issues with where Silvergate is for some time. We've been working with multiple other providers to minimize any sort of service disruption. We've accelerated that work with the recent news regarding liquidation.

很明顯，與許多人一樣，我們已經預料到 Silvergate 的位置問題已經有一段時間了。我們一直在與其他多家提供商合作，以盡量減少任何類型的服務中斷。我們通過最近有關清算的消息加快了這項工作。

We're taking rapid action really to fully migrate off Silvergate entirely, ensure that any of the consumer funds are protected and minimal service disruptions to those that will continue to be part of our app through a web-based experience as we've spoken about before.

我們正在採取快速行動，真正完全完全遷移出 Silvergate，確保任何消費者資金都受到保護，並最大限度地減少對那些將繼續通過基於 Web 的體驗成為我們應用程序一部分的服務的中斷，正如我們所說的那樣前。

With respect to Apex, I mean the -- again, that's a reinforcement of our B2B2C model. It's where we embed our services into those of others. Clearly, what we're seeing across the market is dislocation. And through that dislocation, we see opportunity, and we'll continue to chase those market growth opportunities where we think we can be effective, efficient and scale and using the platform as a point of leverage.

關於 Apex，我的意思是——再一次，這是對我們 B2B2C 模型的強化。這是我們將我們的服務嵌入到其他服務中的地方。顯然，我們在整個市場上看到的是錯位。通過這種錯位，我們看到了機會，我們將繼續追逐那些我們認為我們可以有效、高效和規模化的市場增長機會，並將該平台用作槓桿點。

Got it. And if I could squeeze one last one in. I just want to make sure I am understanding your 2023 guidance. And so what you're saying is that your revenue guidance, the range you're giving does not include Apex.

知道了。如果我能擠進最後一個。我只是想確保我理解你的 2023 年指導。所以你說的是你的收入指導，你給出的範圍不包括 Apex。

And I'm also curious if there has been any moving of expectations in terms of the accretion from that deal over the past few months since you've last spoken with us?

我也很好奇，自從您上次與我們交談以來，過去幾個月對該交易的增長預期是否有任何變化？

Yes, I could take that. You are correct in your -- how you followed our guidance. So given that the deal has not yet closed. At the moment, we're giving guidance on the organic performance of that. We would expect to update that guidance with a view on Apex after the Apex acquisition closes.

是的，我可以接受。你是正確的——你是如何遵循我們的指導的。因此，鑑於交易尚未完成。目前，我們正在就其有機表現提供指導。我們希望在 Apex 收購結束後更新該指南，以了解 Apex。

I think in terms of – if you could run me the other part of your question?

我認為，如果你能把你問題的另一部分告訴我？

Yes. I'm just trying to figure out -- sorry to take up so much if you, but I wanted to figure out if your prior commentary on the accretion from the deal is still relevant or if there may be any change in how you guys are thinking about the deal?

是的。我只是想弄清楚 - 對不起，如果你佔用了這麼多，但我想弄清楚你之前對交易增加的評論是否仍然相關，或者你們的方式是否有任何變化考慮交易？

Yes. And so, we've provided guidance last year or our expectation last year based on the underwriting that we did on the deal. So we -- our plan at this point is to update that guidance once the acquisition closes.

是的。因此，我們去年根據我們對交易所做的承銷提供了指導或我們去年的預期。所以我們 - 我們目前的計劃是在收購完成後更新該指南。

Got it.

知道了。

The next question comes from the line of Trevor Williams with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Trevor Williams 與 Jefferies 的對話。

Hi. This is [Evan Zhang] on for Trevor. Just a quick one on expenses. Can you give us a sense for how the focus on expenses will translate into the pace of OpEx growth in 2023? And how we should think about the quarterly run rate for expenses?

你好。這是 [Evan Zhang] 替 Trevor 做的。只是一個快速的費用。您能否讓我們了解對支出的關注將如何轉化為 2023 年運營支出的增長速度？我們應該如何考慮費用的季度運行率？

Yes. So I mean, clearly, with the actions that we're taking and the focus on capital allocation decisions, our operating expenses will definitely decrease relative to where we were in 2022.

是的。所以我的意思是，很明顯，通過我們正在採取的行動以及對資本配置決策的關注，我們的運營費用肯定會比 2022 年的水平有所下降。

So if you think about what we did in terms of guidance, we have a range of revenue guidance that then fills into where we think we'll be on a free cash flow basis. And then from there, you can see the -- basically the usage of cash from an operating expense perspective is going down roughly -- from a cash operating expense perspective is going down roughly $40 million from where we were in 2020 at the midpoint.

因此，如果您考慮我們在指導方面所做的工作，我們會提供一系列收入指導，然後將這些指導填入我們認為我們將在自由現金流基礎上的位置。然後從那裡，你可以看到——從運營費用的角度來看，現金的使用基本上在大致下降——從現金運營費用的角度來看，與我們在 2020 年的中點相比下降了大約 4000 萬美元。

The next question comes from the line of Pete Christiansen with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的皮特·克里斯蒂安森。

good evening. Gavin, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit -- dig a little bit more into, I guess, one of the priorities for investments this year is in custody. I just wanted to dig a little further into that, what areas are you investing within cost today?

晚上好。加文，我想知道你是否可以談一談——我想更深入地研究一下，今年投資的重點之一是在押。我只是想更深入地研究一下，您今天在成本範圍內投資了哪些領域？

And generally, how are you seeing custody pricing kind of evolve? Yes there's a bit of a notion that you've seen some commoditization in the space and pricing has kind of come down, just your thinking on how you could differentiate there in the custody side? And then I have a follow-up.

一般來說，您如何看待託管定價的演變？是的，有一種觀點認為您已經看到該領域的一些商品化並且價格有所下降，只是您在考慮如何在託管方面實現差異化？然後我有一個後續行動。

Yes, sure. Look, I think when I look at custody, obviously, we see it as a core offering to what we do. We're upgrading our work to be on a more modern architecture that will help increase our agility to meet both B2B2C partner needs and institutional needs.

是的，當然。看，我認為當我看監護時，顯然，我們將其視為我們所做工作的核心產品。我們正在將我們的工作升級為更現代的架構，這將有助於提高我們的敏捷性以滿足 B2B2C 合作夥伴需求和機構需求。

So think about things like automated wallets to enable consumer deposits and withdrawals, the ability for us to be able to support an increased range of tokens and protocols, including things like stable coins and yield-generating offerings as well in consideration for things like staking.

因此，想想自動錢包之類的東西，使消費者能夠存款和取款，我們能夠支持更多種類的代幣和協議，包括穩定幣和產生收益的產品，以及考慮到質押等事情。

We see custody as a growth area. There are more and more of our partners are looking to work with custodial operations like ours. We've spoken before about the fact that we run the trust. We are a QC in that respect. The trust is run as an independent legal entity within our framework. It has its own Board of managers as we spoke about during the presentation.

我們將託管視為一個增長領域。我們越來越多的合作夥伴希望與我們這樣的託管業務合作。我們之前已經談過我們經營信託的事實。在這方面，我們是 QC。該信託在我們的框架內作為獨立的法人實體運行。正如我們在演示期間談到的那樣，它有自己的管理委員會。

In terms of pricing, we're still seeing the ability for us to be able to take an aggressive approach there, just given the specialized features that we think we're able to offer as we move forward. And the fact that we're not just providing the technology that underpins it, it's the risk management practices, it's the compliance, the cyber. It's everything that goes around it to build that custody opportunity and operation out.

在定價方面，我們仍然看到我們有能力在那裡採取積極的方法，只是考慮到我們認為我們能夠在前進時提供的專業功能。事實上，我們不僅提供支持它的技術，還提供風險管理實踐、合規性和網絡。圍繞它建立託管機會和運營的一切都是如此。

That's helpful. And then I was just curious, we've noticed other crypto players, the average crypto consumer has been extremely passive in the last several months, given the environment.

這很有幫助。然後我很好奇，我們注意到其他加密玩家，在過去幾個月裡，鑑於環境，普通加密消費者一直非常被動。

And I was just curious what you're seeing on demand for like things like crypto rewards and whether or not you're seeing a focus group on -- the appeal to -- for that feature is a strong or is it holding up relative to what we're seeing in the broader market?

我只是很好奇你看到了什麼像加密獎勵這樣的需求，以及你是否看到一個焦點小組——吸引力——因為這個功能是強大的還是相對於我們在更廣闊的市場上看到了什麼？

Yes. Look, I think it is holding up. I think the announcement we made today with Caesars is a testament to that. I think the ability for Caesars Rewards customers to be able to use those rewards to purchase crypto, and that gives us access to millions of customers is a good example of this passive acquisition, this new way to earn, as something that is still showing relevance in the market.

是的。看，我認為它在堅持。我認為我們今天與 Caesars 宣布的消息就是對這一點的證明。我認為 Caesars Rewards 客戶能夠使用這些獎勵購買加密貨幣的能力，這讓我們能夠接觸到數百萬客戶，這是這種被動獲取的一個很好的例子，這種新的賺錢方式仍然顯示出相關性在市場上。

We continue to work with a number of partners on what the rewards value proposition could look like. Many are interested in it because it allows them to build new engagement with their consumers in their everyday lives.

我們繼續與許多合作夥伴合作，研究獎勵價值主張的樣子。許多人對此感興趣，因為它可以讓他們在日常生活中與消費者建立新的互動關係。

And so we feel that the demand is still there. And we think it's an offering that is somewhat unique by the way, we're taking it to market. And we think it's something that again continues to differentiate us with other players in the space.

所以我們覺得需求仍然存在。我們認為這是一種有點獨特的產品，我們正在將其推向市場。我們認為它再次繼續使我們與該領域的其他參與者區分開來。

And last one for me. Karen, I was just curious, earnout for Apex, is that still applicable for 1Q, if the deal is not completed by them?

最後一個給我。凱倫，我只是好奇，Apex 的收入是否仍然適用於 1Q，如果他們沒有完成交易？

Yes. So if you recall how we structured the purchase price, we had an earnout of up to $45 million related to Q4 '22 performance. And then there is an additional earnout up to another $100 million of stock based on '23, '24 and a little bit into '25 on performance. So that will be measured over time. But the Q4 window where they've earned relative to the 45, that is just based on Q4 performance.

是的。因此，如果您還記得我們是如何構建購買價格的，我們在 22 年第 4 季度的業績方面獲得了高達 4500 萬美元的收益。然後根據 23 年、24 年和 25 年的表現，還有額外的 1 億美元股票。因此，這將隨著時間的推移進行衡量。但是他們相對於 45 的第四季度窗口，這只是基於第四季度的表現。

Okay. That's helpful.

好的。這很有幫助。

The next question comes from the line of John Roy with Water Tower Research. Please proceed.

下一個問題來自 John Roy 與 Water Tower Research 的合作。請繼續。

Great. So Gavin, maybe just mentioning Caesars there. Maybe you could give us a little more color on how that came to happen? What do you expect to see from it? And could we see others in the future?

偉大的。所以加文，也許只是在那裡提到凱撒。也許你可以給我們更多關於這是如何發生的顏色？你希望從中看到什麼？我們可以在未來看到其他人嗎？

Yes. We -- this strategic alliance that we've announced today, I think, has a huge amount of potential, as I said earlier, just largely in the fact that we're offering the ability for Caesars Rewards members to really have access to crypto rewards through our platform. They can redeem Caesars Rewards points for cryptocurrency.

是的。正如我之前所說，我認為我們今天宣布的這個戰略聯盟具有巨大的潛力，主要是因為我們正在為 Caesars Rewards 會員提供真正獲得加密貨幣的能力通過我們的平台獎勵。他們可以將 Caesars Rewards 積分兌換成加密貨幣。

But it doesn't stop there. We're also looking for our ability to look around innovating further using things like our Crypto payout facility. I think what's so exciting about this is it's a new client vertical. So we've gone into a different space in the entertainment sector and a space that we think with Caesars as an anchor client will actually start to lead to more demand generation as we move forward.

但它並不止於此。我們也在尋求使用我們的加密貨幣支付設施等方式進一步創新的能力。我認為這令人興奮的是它是一個新的垂直客戶。因此，我們進入了娛樂領域的一個不同領域，我們認為凱撒作為主要客戶的領域實際上將隨著我們的前進而開始產生更多的需求。

So we're excited by the move into the new vertical. We're excited by the fact that we're taking rewards to scale to market through a partner like Caesars, and we think it then opens up additional opportunities as you start to think about the applicability of this in a broader entertainment context.

因此，我們對進入新的垂直領域感到興奮。我們很高興我們正在通過像凱撒這樣的合作夥伴將獎勵擴大到市場，我們認為當你開始考慮它在更廣泛的娛樂環境中的適用性時，它會打開更多的機會。

So maybe as a follow-on to that. From a regulatory approval standpoint, do you think it's significantly harder because it's a -- of Caesars gambling environment? Or is that not really that much of an impact on you?

所以也許作為後續行動。從監管審批的角度來看，您是否認為它更難，因為它是凱撒賭博環境？或者這對你的影響真的沒有那麼大嗎？

For us, it's subject to regulatory approval across all of our regulators. Right now, we don't see at as a -- we see it as an exercise in briefing them on what it is that we're doing. I think the way in which we structured the agreements and the way in which the transaction actually works, it looks like a crypto by at the end of the day in a crypto sell. So we think it's a reasonably straightforward, but it is subject to regulatory approval.

對我們來說，它需要得到我們所有監管機構的監管批准。現在，我們不把它看作是——我們把它看作是向他們簡要介紹我們正在做的事情的一種練習。我認為我們構建協議的方式以及交易實際運作的方式，在一天結束時看起來像是加密貨幣出售。所以我們認為這是一個相當簡單的方法，但它需要得到監管部門的批准。

(Operator Instructions) There are no additional questions at this time. I will hand it back to the management team for closing remarks.

（操作員說明）目前沒有其他問題。我將把它交還給管理團隊以作結束語。

Thank you, everyone, for attending our earnings call this evening, and we look forward to connecting with you again soon. Have a good night.

感謝大家今晚參加我們的財報電話會議，我們期待很快再次與您聯繫。祝你晚安。

That concludes today's conference call. Thank you. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝。您現在可以斷開線路。