Upstream to Facilitate Trading of NFTs, Tokenized IPOs and More while Porsche Acquires GreyP – Digital Securities Weekly

Upstream Launches

Have you ever wanted a mobile-friendly, global marketplace, which caters to asset classes such as NFTs, digital securities, and more?  Recently launched ‘Upstream’ looks to fill the gap.

As joint venture of both MERJ and Horizon, Upstream looks to hit the ground running with early backing by well-known artists such as Timbaland and Pitbull.

Timbaland commented on this partnership, and the role Upstream will play alongside ‘Beatclub’.

“Beatclub is thrilled to be partnering with Upstream to offer fans the ability to purchase and trade music shares, NFTs and other digital experiences…Allowing fans to buy shares in their favorite songs while benefiting from music royalties, tours and other ventures gives musicians and songwriters a powerful new tool for self-funding while heightening fan engagement.”

Most importantly, Upstream touts itself as the “first digital asset securities market built on the Ethereum blockchain and operated under a fully-fledged securities exchange license and regulations”.  What this all means is that users of Upstream will have the ability to both create and trade a variety of asset-classes in a fully regulatory compliant manner.  Upstream lists the following as a few examples of what these asset-classes entail.

• Tokenized IPOs
• SPACs
• Security Tokens
• Equities
• Royalty Rights to Films and Music

Beyond providing access to the aforementioned assets, Upstream highlights the convenience it provides by offering ability to both create and sell NFTs under a single platform.

Porsche Acquires GreyP

Roughly two years ago GreyP became one of the first companies to host a successful STO.  This was achieved at the time with the help of NeuFund – a German based FinTech startup.  This event has now proven worthwhile for investors in the project as iconic car manufacturer, Porsche, has announced its majority acquisition of GreyP.  With this development, NeuFund notes that 1000+ investors which took part in the STO can soon expect $1.8M USD to be distributed.

As one of the first successful STOs, GreyP has managed to demonstrate the ability of blockchain to provide unique opportunities to a broader class of investor.  Moving forward, it should be interesting to see if other companies which raised money through NeuFund (Nu⁺, Emflux Motors, Black One Entertainment, etc.) can also achieve a successful exit.

NeuFund CEO, Zoe Adamovicz commented on GreyP, stating, “The Greyp Bikes exit proves that private companies can effectively utilize blockchain Public Offerings, whilst lowering the barrier to entry for retail investors. To now anticipate that the full circle of investment is about to be closed, from fundraising to exit, by a company that does not originate from Silicon Valley or other tech hubs, makes us incredibly proud and proves that global, open, transparent, and blockchain-based fundraising is the future”.