Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the latest blockchain trend and acronym to flood headlines. Recently, British auction house Christie’s closed the sale of an NFT by digital artist Beeple for $69 million (£50 million)¹ which set a record for digital art. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet sold as an NFT for $2.9 million.²

Since then, more auction houses, artists, professional athletes, celebrities, and companies have announced or have already launched their own NFTs. So, what exactly are NFTs and are they here to stay?

What are non-fungible tokens (NFTs)?

NFTs are digital tokens that represent ownership of a unique digital item. Think of NFTs like…

By Vanessa Malone

Global Fan Exchange “GFX” is Horizon’s next generation fan engagement platform giving fans the opportunity to invest, drive awareness, and share in the success of celebrity and athlete ventures.

A few weeks ago we explored how Global Fan Exchange offers next generation athlete financing and what makes GFX unique. Now we want to explore how musicians, entertainers, and other celebrities can leverage the platform to fund their next big ventures.

The market

A new movement is taking place. Artists are leveraging their fanbases to fuel their ventures. Whether it’s a high-profile tequila brand, a makeup enterprise, or an artist…

By Vanessa Malone

This week, we announced that Horizon and MERJ Exchange are launching tokenized Special Purpose Acquisition Companies “SPACs” that will list on our joint venture ‘Upstream,’ the revolutionary stock exchange and retail trading app for digital securities.

This is the world’s first blockchain-based SPAC IPO marketplace, aiming to give retail investors direct access to listed SPAC IPOs using stablecoins or fiat on a regulated Securities Exchange. Upstream’s first tokenized SPACs are expected to be available to global investors commencing mid Q2, 2021 with anticipated SPAC IPO sizes ranging from US$25 million to US$100 million.

We’re attracting high-quality SPAC…

By Vanessa Malone

As of March 17, 2021, 268 special purpose acquisition companies ‘SPACs’ have raised over $87 billion in gross IPO proceeds.¹ In 2020, a record year for SPACs, 248 companies raised over $83 billion. This means that in just three months, the SPAC market raised more than it has the entire year of 2020. Europe also recently entered the SPAC race netting $495 million in 2020, with other jurisdictions expected to follow.²

The SPAC frenzy is making headlines with the SPACs’ high-profile management teams and hefty valuations. A number of companies are deciding to join the SPAC party.

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By Vanessa Malone

Upstream, a MERJ Exchange Market expected Q2 of 2021, is a fully regulated global stock exchange for digital securities.

Powered by Horizon’s proprietary blockchain technology, the exchange will enable investors to trade shares in high-growth startups and other unique asset classes directly from the app.

We believe Upstream represents an honest and accessible marketplace that will empower the everyday investor.

Here’s more on how Upstream plans to usher in the next generation of trading.

By Vanessa Malone

We’re thrilled to announce that our client Piemonte Holding, the global financial group, has launched a fund and debenture trading platform using Horizon’s proprietary blockchain trading technology.

The trading venue is the first of its kind in Brazil and Latin America. It will enable Piemonte’s private investors to trade about R$150 million in debentures and investment fund units entirely on the Ethereum public blockchain.

Piemonte’s investors gain direct access to the secondary market from a userfriendly smartphone app made available for download on the Apple Store. A glimpse into the live marketplace can be found at https://piemontetrading.com/.

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By Vanessa Malone

This week, Horizon, Crowdie Advisors and the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA) hosted a webinar to discuss the state of liquidity in the crowdfunding market.

Crowdfunding pioneer and Horizon President, Mark Elenowitz; and JOBS Act lawyer and Crowdie Advisors Principal, Maureen L. Murat, Esq., discussed progress for the crowdfunding industry, the legislation that has created opportunities and roadblocks, and a revolutionary use case aimed at unlocking liquidity in the market.

The webinar is now up on our YouTube channel to watch here. Below please find some key takeaways.

Reg A+ and Reg CF by the numbers

• We’re still in the early days of equity crowdfunding. Regulation…

By Vanessa Malone

The attention surrounding the GameStop stock frenzy has pushed retail investing interest to an all-time-high.

Over the past few weeks, investing and finance apps like Robinhood, Webull, TD Ameritrade, and others have reached record-breaking daily users and chart rankings in Apple and the Google Play Store.