As regards the Seattle-based coffee giant, however, the notion of a Bitcoin QR code at checkout seems far-fetched.
We have to start somewhere.
I think it would be unrealistic to expect Starbucks, or any major company, to start accepting bitcoin from nowhere, along with all the difficulty and expense of setting up payment terminals, infrastructure, cold storage, taxes, etc. As you say, they are using Bakkt as a payment processor, and so Starbucks will only receive fiat, for the time being. However, another article I read
here included this quote:
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 space evolves.
It's not the ideal situation yet (which would be paying Starbucks directly with bitcoin), but it's a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it's great advertising for bitcoin payments to be available at every Starbucks store in the US.