Why SPACs are here to stay as a global opportunity
By Vanessa Malone
The Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) industry; made up of companies formed solely to raise capital, acquire existing private companies, and take them public, grew at an unprecedented rate over the last two years.
In 2020, already a record year for SPACs, 248 companies raised over $83 billion.¹ Within the first half of 2021, 343 SPACs raised over $107 billion in gross IPO proceeds, surpassing all of 2020.²
How GFX can help drive funding and awareness to charities
By Vanessa Malone
Global Fan Exchange is Horizon’s next generation fan engagement platform that will give fans the opportunity to invest, drive awareness, and share in the success of athlete and celebrity ventures.
Not only are athletes and celebrities empowered to generate their own revenue streams driven by their personal brands, GFX also represents a revolutionary opportunity to give back to fans who played a major role in their success. In exchange for letting fans own a percentage of their venture, fans have the chance to own a real equity stake alongside their favorite athlete, team, musician, or entertainer.
GFX…
Ethereum-powered markets are driving mainstream acceptance and adoption for blockchain technology
By Vanessa Malone
Bitcoin and Ether continue to hold their places as the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Hovering around $684 billion and $306 billion, respectively, these digital currencies are ushering in a new way to transfer money outside the control of a centralized entity.
This is a major feat in itself, yet even more recently, their underlying blockchain technologies are showing application beyond digital currencies.
Whereas Bitcoin acts as a store of value primarily, like digital gold, the Ethereum blockchain acts as an infrastructure for all types of decentralized applications to be built on top of.
Ethereum’s versatility…
Real-time trading, instant settlement, & direct exchange access using blockchain technology
By Vanessa Malone
Stock trading has greatly evolved over the last few decades. Gone are the movie-esque trading floor scenes with hordes of men in suits loudly executing trades.
In the 1980s, exchanges began replacing floor trading with automated trading systems and transactions started to be executed over the phone.
A decade later in the 1990s, those systems were replaced with electronic trading platforms, what most individual traders are used to today. Think TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, E* TRADE, etc.
Instead of having to call a broker to buy or sell a security, investors are able to trade shares through online…
Why Upstream exchange will accept both digital currency and traditional bank payments
By Vanessa Malone
We’re getting close to the official launch of Upstream, our next generation exchange and trading app for digital securities.
On the surface, Upstream offers investors of all levels direct access to a regulated stock exchange through a userfriendly trading app.
Under the hood, Upstream introduces what we believe to be the future of trading featuring increased transparency and investor protections enforced using blockchain technology. …
A mid-year look at our latest milestones & what to look forward to
By Vanessa Malone
At the end of 2020, Horizon announced the launch of two key marketplaces we built and are powering: Upstream, the digital stock exchange and trading app; and the fan engagement platform, Global Fan Exchange “GFX”.
As we reach mid-year, we’d like to update our growing community on the milestones Horizon has reached surrounding these markets and our other technology pursuits.
We’ve also made some changes to our Horizon website for you to explore.
Upstream
Upstream is a MERJ Exchange Market, which is an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges. The next generation exchange and trading app for…
New geotagging feature enabled to simplify identity verification process for users
By Vanessa Malone
Horizon’s exceptional team of software engineers is continually working to enhance our next generation compliance solutions for our global client base.
We are happy to announce a new geotagging feature added to our white-label identity verification app, KYCware, which works in conjunction with a listed mailing zipcode to verify users’ places of residency.
Click here to schedule a KYCWare demo.
A common request during the identity verification process is to submit a utility bill to establish proof of address. We believe this type of requirement is becoming outdated. These documents can be faked, people are moving more…
The benefits of tokenized SPACs versus traditional SPACs for issuers and investors
By Vanessa Malone
A few weeks ago, 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 trading app for digital securities.
Upstream offers the world’s first blockchain-based SPAC IPO marketplace, aiming to give investors of all levels direct access to listed SPAC IPOs using crypto in the form of USDC stablecoin or fiat.
As of April 30, 2021, the SPAC market cap has surpassed $100 Billion. Yet to date, the upside for SPACs has almost exclusively been offered to well-connected institutional…
The music industry is ripe for disruption, here’s how Horizon’s fan engagement platform empowers musicians and their fans
By Vanessa Malone
We believe that blockchain is revolutionizing fan engagement.
A few months ago, Grammy-nominated rapper Lil Yachty sold $275,000 worth of $YACHTY tokens to his fans in just 21 minutes. Fans purchased the tokens for $15 each and gained exclusive fan perks and access to Lil Yachty.¹
NFTs, another blockchain opportunity, have also taken the world by storm. British auction house Christie’s sold an NFT by digital artist Beeple for $69 million.² …
How Coinbase’s direct listing points to larger opportunity for markets priced by investors rather than market makers
By Vanessa Malone
This week was big for the crypto community.
Bitcoin surged to over $60,000 on Wednesday, March 14th right before Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) became the largest crypto firm to go public on Nasdaq through a direct listing.¹
Coinbase ended its first day of trading at $328 per share,² giving the company a valuation of $85 billion.
We believe Coinbase’s direct listing reflects cryptocurrency and the greater blockchain industry’s major leap forward into mainstream finance.
Coinbase’s direct listing also points to a greater trend happening in capital markets with forward-thinking companies seeking non-traditional ways to go public.
