Exhibit D
Risk Factors
An investment in the securities offered hereby is speculative in nature, involves a high degree of risk and should not be made by any investor who cannot afford the loss of his/her entire investment. Each prospective investor should carefully consider the following risks and speculative factors associated with this offering, before making any investments. The risks set out below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In such case, the value of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Our Industry
We are an early-stage company and have not yet generated any profits.
GlobexUS Holdings Corp was formed in January 2019 and Horizon Globex GmbH was formed in October 2010 Accordingly, GlobexUS and our business, as it is currently operated, have a limited history upon which an evaluation of our performance and future prospects can be made. Our current and proposed operations are subject to all the business risks associated with new enterprises. These include likely fluctuations in operating results as we react to developments in the market, managing our growth and the entry of competitors into the market. We have no current plans to pay dividends on any shares and would only be able to do so once we achieve profitability and our board of directors makes a determination it would be in the best interest of the Company and its stockholders. There is no assurance that we will be profitable or generate sufficient revenues to pay dividends to the holders of our shares
We have a limited operating history and, therefore, cannot accurately project our revenues and operating expenses.
Because we have a limited history, it is difficult to evaluate our proposed business and future prospects, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. Our limited operating experience, combined with the rapidly evolving nature of the digital security and Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) market in which we intend to operate, substantial uncertainty concerning how this market may develop, and other economic factors beyond our control reduce our ability to accurately forecast quarterly or annual revenue. We anticipate that our operating expenses will increase in the near future, and there is no assurance that we will be profitable in the near future. You should consider our business, operations, and prospects in light of the risks, expenses, and challenges faced as an early-stage company. Failure to manage our current and future growth effectively could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Our business should be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties that we have encountered to date and will continue to encounter.
We may encounter numerous difficulties frequently encountered by companies in the early stage of operations.
We have a limited operating history upon which any investor may evaluate our current business and future prospects. Any potential investor must consider the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by early-stage companies. Historically, there has been a high failure rate among early-stage companies. Our future performance will depend upon a number of factors, including our ability to:
• implement our growth strategy;
• aggressively counter and respond to actions by our competitors;
• pursue new users and maintain relationship with current users;
• maintain adequate control of our expenses;
• attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel;
• react to user preferences and demands;
• our ability to successfully implement, launch, and achieve market acceptance of our products and to anticipate and manage the risks associated therewith; and
• regulatory compliance.
We cannot assure investors that we will successfully address any of these factors, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future prospects.
Our revenues and profits are subject to fluctuations.
It is difficult to accurately forecast our revenues and operating results, and these could fluctuate in the future due to a number of factors. These factors may include adverse changes in: global securities markets, general economic conditions, our ability to market our products and services to companies, markets and other market participants, headcount and other operating costs, and general industry and regulatory conditions and requirements. Our operating results may fluctuate from year to year due to the factors listed above and others that are not listed. At times, these fluctuations may be significant and could impact our ability to operate our business.
Any valuation of our Company at this stage is difficult to assess.
The valuation for the offering was established by our management. Unlike listed companies that are valued publicly through market-driven stock prices, the valuation of private companies, especially startups, is difficult to assess and, as a result, there is a risk that you may be overpaying for your investment.
Our Company may not be of interest to the market.
If there is limited public interest in the development of Globex and our products, it would negatively impact our Company’s future success. It is possible that our products cannot be developed and sold as intended, as the blockchain industry depends substantially on the current market situation with regard to development and pricing. We may also face regulatory changes and/or challenges, as regulation of blockchain and its application to certain industries, such as the securities industry, is still evolving.
We have an evolving business model.
Our business model is one of innovation, including continuously working to expand our product lines and services to our clients, it is unclear whether our products services will be successful. Further, we continuously try to offer additional types of products and services, and we cannot offer any assurance that any of them will be successful. From time to time we may also modify aspects of our business model relating to our product and service offerings. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to the business. We may not be able to manage growth effectively, which could damage our reputation, limit our growth, and negatively affect our operating results.
We have not developed a strong customer base, and we have not generated sustainable revenue since inception. We cannot assure you that we ever will. We may incur significant losses in launching products and we may not realize sufficient subscriptions or profits in order to sustain our business.
We have not yet developed a strong customer base and we have not generated sustainable revenue since inception. We are subject to the substantial risk of failure facing businesses seeking to develop and commercialize new products and technologies. Maintaining and improving GlobexUS and our products will require significant capital. If our offerings to customers are unsuccessful, result in insufficient revenue, or result in us not being able to sustain revenue, we will be forced to reduce expenses, which may result in an inability to gain new customers.
We expect to raise additional capital through equity and/or debt offerings to support our working capital requirements and operating losses.
To fund future growth and development, we will likely need to raise additional funds in the future by offering shares of its Common or Preferred Stock and/or other classes of equity, or debt that convert into shares of Common or Preferred Stock, any of which offerings would dilute the ownership percentage of investors in this offering. If we raises capital through debt, the holders of our debt would have priority over holders of Common and Preferred Stock, and the Company may be required to accept terms that restrict its ability to incur more debt. We cannot assure you that the necessary funds will be available on a timely basis, on favorable terms, or at all, or that such funds, if raised, would be sufficient. The level and timing of future expenditure will depend on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. If we are not able to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be forced to curtail or abandon our growth plans, which could adversely impact the Company, its business, development, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
We depend on key personnel and face challenges recruiting needed personnel.
Our future success depends on the efforts of a small number of key personnel, including our founder and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Collins, and our President Mark Elenowitz, and our compliance, engineering and marketing teams. Our software engineering team and, in particular Dr. Andrew Le Gear, our Chief Technical Officer and Peter Hall, our Chief Information Officer, are critical to continually innovate and improve our products while operating in a highly regulated industry. We do not maintain a key person life insurance policy on any of the members of our senior management team. As a result, we would have no way to cover the financial loss if we were to lose the services of our directors or officers. In addition, due to our limited financial resources and the specialized expertise required, we may not be able to recruit the individuals needed for our business needs. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in attracting and retaining the personnel we require to continue to the grow the firm.
Our failure to attract and retain highly qualified personnel in the future could harm our business.
As the Company grows, we will need to hire and attract additional qualified professionals such as software engineers, project managers, regulatory professionals, sales and marketing professionals, accounting, legal, and finance experts. We expect to face intense competition for such personnel, and we may not be able to locate or attract qualified individuals for such positions, which will affect our ability to grow and expand our business.
Digital ecosystems, including offerings of digital assets, is evolving, and uncertain, and new regulations or policies may materially adversely affect our development.
The technologies supporting digital assets like blockchain and NFTs are new and rapidly evolving. To the extent these technologies become more widely utilized in the industry, our revenues could be negatively impacted. If we fail to explore these new technologies and apply them innovatively to keep our products and services competitive, we may not experience significant growth of our business. Regulation of digital assets like cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies, NFTs, and cryptocurrency exchanges is currently underdeveloped and likely to rapidly evolve as government agencies take greater interest in them. Regulation also varies significantly among international, federal, state and local jurisdictions and is subject to significant uncertainty. Various legislative and executive bodies in the United States and in other countries may in the future adopt laws, regulations, or guidance, or take other actions, which may severely impact the permissibility of tokens generally and the technology behind them or the means of transacting in or transferring them. The regulatory regime governing blockchain technologies, NFTs, cryptocurrencies, digital assets, utility tokens, digital securities and offerings of such assets is uncertain, and new regulations or policies may materially adversely affect our development and our value in the future.
Marketplace demand of the NFTs is unpredictable.
The appetite in the marketplace regarding NFTs is unpredictable and may change over time. The trading of NFTs in the open market and use in gameplay are based purely on marketplace demand. If demand for NFTs lessens our revenues could be materially adversely affected.
Our Company and our providers are vulnerable to hackers and cyber-attacks.
As an internet-based business, we are vulnerable to hackers who may defeat our information security countermeasures to access the data of our investors and the issuer companies that utilize our applications. Furthermore, platforms that use blockchain technology can be subject to cybersecurity threats. Hackers or other malicious groups or organizations may attempt to interfere with the blockchain through different means, including but not limited to malware attacks, denial of service attacks, or consensus-based attacks. Transactions can also be subject to fraud and theft. Any disruptions or cyber-attacks, either to us directly or to our customers could harm our reputation and materially negatively impact our financial condition and business.
We face significant market competition.
We face a number of established competitors and new competitors who are entering our space on a regular basis. Although blockchain related products and services are relatively new, the market for such products and services is already highly competitive. Some of our existing competitors and future competitors may be better capitalized than us, which would give them a significant advantage in marketing and operations.
Changes in market dynamics or actions of competitors, including industry consolidation and the emergence of new competitors and strategic alliances, could materially and adversely impact our business. Disruptive innovation by existing or new competitors could alter the competitive landscape in the future and require us to accurately identify and assess such changes and make timely and effective changes to our strategies and business model to compete effectively.
We may need to spend material amounts on marketing the Company and its products. The returns from marketing are highly speculative and often challenging to measure. If the marketing spending is ineffective, it could materially harm our business.
If we cannot keep pace with rapid industry changes to provide new and innovative products and services, the use of our products and services, and consequently our net revenue, could decline, which could adversely impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Our industry has been characterized by many rapid, significant, and disruptive products and services in recent years. These include decentralized applications, DeFi, yield farming, NFTs, play-to-earn games, lending, staking, token wrapping, governance tokens, innovative programs to attract customers such as transaction fee mining programs, initiatives to attract traders such as trading competitions, airdrops and giveaways, staking reward programs, and novel cryptocurrency fundraising and distribution schemes, such as “initial exchange offerings.”
We expect new services and technologies to continue to emerge and evolve, which may be superior to, or render obsolete, the products and services that we currently provide. We cannot predict the effects of new services and technologies on our business. However, our ability to grow our customer base and net revenue will depend heavily on our ability to innovate and create successful new products and services, both independently and in conjunction with third-party developers.
In particular, developing and incorporating new products and services into our business may require substantial expenditures, take considerable time, and ultimately may not be successful. Any new products or services could fail to attract customers, generate revenue, or perform or integrate well with third-party applications and platforms. In addition, our ability to adapt and compete with new products and services may be inhibited by regulatory requirements and general uncertainty in the law, constraints by our banking partners and payment processors, third-party intellectual property rights, or other factors. Moreover, we must continue to enhance our technical infrastructure and other technology offerings to remain competitive and maintain a platform that has the required functionality, performance, capacity, security, and speed to attract and retain customers including large, institutional. As a result, we expect to incur significant costs and expenses to develop and upgrade our technical infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of the industry. Our success will depend on our ability to develop and incorporate new offerings and adapt to technological changes and evolving industry practices. If we are unable to do so in a timely or cost-effective manner, our business and our ability to successfully compete, to retain existing customers, and to attract new customers may be adversely affected.
We may not be able to protect all of our intellectual property.
Our profitability may depend in part on our ability to effectively protect our proprietary rights, including obtaining trademarks for our brand names, protecting our products and websites, maintaining the secrecy of our internal workings and preserving our trade secrets, as well as our ability to operate without inadvertently infringing on the proprietary rights of others. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain future protections for our intellectual property or defend our current trademarks and future trademarks and patents. Further, policing and protecting our intellectual property against unauthorized use by third parties is time-consuming and expensive, and certain countries may not even recognize our intellectual property rights. There can also be no assurance that a third party will not assert infringement claims with respect to our products or technologies. Any litigation related to protecting our intellectual property or defending our use of certain technologies could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition, regardless of the outcome of such litigation.
If third parties claim that we infringe their intellectual property, it may result in costly litigation.
We cannot assure you that third parties will not claim our current or future products or services infringe their intellectual property rights. Any such claims, with or without merit, could cause costly litigation that could consume significant management time. Such claims also might require us to enter into royalty or license agreements. If required, we may not be able to obtain such royalty or license agreements, or obtain them on terms acceptable to us.
The success of our business depends on the continued availability of access to the Internet.
The future success of our business depends upon the continued maintenance and development of the Internet infrastructure. If for any reason the Internet does not remain a widespread communications medium and commercial platform, the demand for our services would be significantly reduced, which would harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. To the extent the Internet continues to experience increased numbers of users, frequency of use or bandwidth requirements, the Internet may become congested and be unable to support the demands placed on it, and its performance or reliability may decline. Any future Internet outages or delays could adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition. Our business growth would be impeded if the performance or perception of the Internet was harmed by security problems such as “viruses,” “worms” or other malicious programs, reliability issues arising from outages and damage to Internet infrastructure, delays in development or adoption of new standards and protocols to handle increased demands of Internet activity, increased costs, decreased accessibility and quality of service, or increased government regulation and taxation of Internet activity. The Internet has experienced, and is expected to continue to experience, significant user and traffic growth, which has, at times, caused user frustration with slow access and download times. If Internet activity grows faster than Internet infrastructure or if the Internet infrastructure is otherwise unable to support the demands placed on it, or if hosting capacity becomes scarce, the growth of our business may be adversely affected.
Our Software may be exposed to cybersecurity threats and hacks via source code flaws, errors or security weaknesses.
As with any other computer code, flaws in the source codes related to cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto wallets have been exposed by certain malicious actors. Several errors and defects have been found and corrected, including those that disabled some or all functionality for users or exposed users’ personal information. If a similar attack were to expose a flaw in our systems it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, which could negatively affect our business prospects.
Security breaches and attacks against our systems and network, and any potentially resulting breach or failure to otherwise protect confidential and proprietary information, could damage our reputation and negatively impact our business, as well as materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Although we have employed significant resources to develop our security measures against breaches, our cybersecurity measures may not detect or prevent all attempts to compromise our systems, including distributed denial-of-service attacks, viruses, malicious software, break-ins, phishing attacks, social engineering, security breaches or other attacks and similar disruptions that may jeopardize the security of information stored in and transmitted by our systems or that we otherwise maintain. Breaches of our cybersecurity measures could result in unauthorized access to our systems, misappropriation of information or data, deletion or modification of client information, or a denial-of-service or other interruption to our business operations. As techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or sabotage systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us or our third-party service providers, we may be unable to anticipate, or implement adequate measures to protect against, these attacks. If we are unable to avert these attacks and security breaches, we could be subject to significant legal and financial liability, our reputation would be harmed and we could sustain substantial revenue loss from lost sales and customer dissatisfaction. We may not have the resources or technical sophistication to anticipate or prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks may target us, our traders or other participants, the communication infrastructure, or the e-platform on which we depend. Actual or anticipated attacks and risks may cause us to incur significantly higher costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and network protection technologies, train employees, and engage third-party experts and consultants. Cybersecurity breaches would not only harm our reputation and business, but also could materially decrease our revenue and net income.
We face the risk of fraud.
Online transactions may be subject to sophisticated schemes or collusion to defraud, launder money or other illegal activities, and there is a risk that our products may be used for those purposes either by our customers or our employees or contractors. This may be especially true when dealing with cryptocurrencies, which by design, may be difficult or impossible to trace. While we believe that our systems, both computer and procedural, afford an adequate degree of protection against fraudulent activities, if such protection is not effective in all cases, is circumvented or if we fail to implement updated controls and procedures or to counter new fraud techniques, we could lose the confidence of our customers and our reputation could be damaged. Moreover, any failure to protect ourselves and our customers from fraudulent activity, could result in reputational damage and could materially adversely affect our operations, financial performance and prospects. Failure to adequately monitor and prevent money laundering and other fraudulent activity could also result in civil or criminal liability.
We may not generate significant revenue from digital securities exchanges.
We intend to supply digital securities exchange software and operating licenses to the Company's U.S. broker-dealer customers and other global financial securities regulated entities. Some or all of the digital securities exchanges may not generate significant, or any, digital securities trading volume which could reduce the potential recurring revenue received by the Company for some or all of its digital securities exchanges.
We may not generate significant revenue from specialty digital securities exchanges.
We intend to supply numerous specialty digital securities exchange software and operating licenses to the Company's customers in the areas of sports teams, music rights and other popular sports that have large fanbases. Some or all of the teams and artists may not generate significant, or any, digital securities trading volume amongst their fans which could reduce the potential recurring revenue received by the Company for some or all of its specialty digital securities exchanges.
We may enter partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, or strategic alliances with third parties. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining strategic relationships with these third parties or if these third parties fail to deliver certain operational services, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Identifying strategic relationships with third parties and negotiating and documenting relationships with them may be time-consuming and complex and may distract management. Moreover, we may be delayed, or not be successful, in achieving the objectives that we anticipated because of such strategic relationships.
Counterparties to any strategic relationship may have economic or business interests or goals that are, or that may become, inconsistent with our business interests or goals, and may subject us to additional risks to the extent such third party becomes the subject of negative publicity, faces its own litigation or regulatory challenges, or faces other adverse circumstances.
Conflicts may arise with our strategic partners, such as the interpretation of significant terms under any agreement, which may result in litigation or arbitration which would increase our expenses and divert the attention of our management. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining strategic relationships with third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenue could be impaired and our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We currently maintain a partnership with MERJ Exchange Limited for the operation, software services and revenue sharing for Upstream. This partnership is subject to the risks described above.
Loss of a critical banking relationship could adversely impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.
We rely on bank accounts to provide certain services. Customer cash holdings on our platform are held with banking partners. Our banking partners may view us as a higher risk customer for purposes of their anti-money laundering programs. New regulations that affect our banking providers may cause increased burdens to such providers which may be passed on to customers, increase costs of compliance or cause withdrawal of certain services by such providers in the future. As a result, we may face difficulty establishing or maintaining banking relationships due to our banking partners’ policies. The loss of banking partners or the imposition of operational restrictions by banking partners may result in a disruption of business activity as well as regulatory risks.
We are exposed to transaction losses due to chargebacks, refunds or returns as a result of fraud or collectability that may adversely impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.
A portion of our products and services are paid for by electronic transfer from bank accounts which exposes us to risks associated with returns and insufficient funds. Furthermore, some of our products and services are paid for by credit and debit cards through payment processors which exposes us to risks associated with chargebacks and refunds. These claims could arise from fraud, misuse, unintentional use, settlement delay, insufficiency of funds, or other activities. Also, criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities, such as counterfeiting and fraud. If we are unable to collect such amounts from the customer, or if the customer refuses or is unable, due to bankruptcy or other reasons, to reimburse us, we bear the loss for the amount of the chargeback, refund, or return.
While we have policies and procedures to manage and mitigate these risks, we cannot be certain that such processes will be effective. Our failure to limit chargebacks and fraudulent transactions could increase the number of returns, refunds and chargebacks that we have to process. In addition, if the number of returns, refunds and chargebacks increases, card networks or our banking partners could require us to increase reserves, impose penalties on us, charge additional or higher fees, or terminate their relationships with us.
Failure to effectively manage risk and prevent fraud could increase our chargeback, refund, and return losses or cause us to incur other liabilities. Increases in chargebacks, refunds, returns, or other liabilities could have an adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.
We are a remote-first company which subjects us to heightened operational risks.
Our employees mainly work from home and we are a remote-first company. This subjects us to heightened operational risks. For example, technologies in our employees’ homes may not be as robust as in our offices and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to employees and service providers to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices.
Further, the security systems in place at our employees’ homes may be less secure than those used in our offices, and while we have implemented technical and administrative safeguards to help protect our systems as our employees and service providers work from home, we may be subject to increased cybersecurity risk, which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, and could disrupt our business operations.
There is no guarantee that the data security and privacy safeguards we have put in place will be completely effective or that we will not encounter risks associated with employees and service providers accessing company data and systems remotely. We also face challenges due to the need to operate with the remote workforce and are addressing those challenges to minimize the impact on our ability to operate.
Being a remote-first company may make it more difficult for us to preserve our corporate culture and our employees may have decreased opportunities to collaborate in meaningful ways. Further, we cannot guarantee that being a remote-first company will not have a negative impact on employee morale and productivity. Any failure to preserve our corporate culture and foster collaboration could harm our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel, innovate and operate effectively, and execute on our business strategy.
Malicious actors could manipulate distributed ledger networks and smart contract technology upon which digital assets rely and increase the vulnerability of the distributed ledger networks.
If a malicious actor, including a state-sponsored actor, is able to hack or otherwise exert unilateral control over a particular distributed ledger network, or the digital assets on such a network, that actor could attempt to divert assets from that distributed ledger or otherwise prevent the confirmation of transactions recorded on that distributed ledger.
Acceptance and/or widespread use of digital assets is uncertain.
Currently, there is a relatively small use of digital assets in the retail and commercial marketplace for goods or services. In comparison, there is relatively large use by speculators contributing to price volatility.
The relative lack of acceptance of digital assets in the retail and commercial marketplace limits the ability of end-users to use them to pay for goods and services. Such lack of acceptance or decline in acceptances would have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue this segment at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any digital assets we hold or expect to acquire for our own account.
Our business is subject to economic, market and geopolitical conditions.
Our business is subject to economic, market, public health, and geopolitical conditions which are beyond our control. The United States and other international economies have experienced cyclical downturns from time to time. Worsening economic conditions that negatively impact discretionary consumer spending and consumer demand, including inflation, slower growth, recession, and other macroeconomic conditions, including those resulting from public health outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical issues could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. In response, NATO has deployed additional military forces to Eastern Europe, including to Lithuania and the Biden administration announced certain sanctions against Russia. The invasion of Ukraine and the retaliatory measures that have been taken, or could be taken in the future, by the United States, NATO, and other countries have created global security concerns that could result in a regional conflict and otherwise have a lasting impact on regional and global economies, any or all of which could disrupt our platform, adversely affect our ability to conduct ongoing and future business, and adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products in this region. Currently, none of our platform development or business activities are conducted directly or otherwise in Russia or Ukraine. In addition, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union has caused economic and legal uncertainty in the region and may result in macroeconomic conditions that adversely affect our business.
Catastrophic events may disrupt our business.
Natural disasters, cyber-incidents, weather events, wildfires, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, public health outbreaks, failed upgrades of existing systems or migrations to new systems, acts of terrorism or other events could cause outages, disruptions and/or degradations of our infrastructure, including our or our partners’ information technology and network systems, a failure in our ability to conduct normal business operations, or the closure of public spaces in which players engage with our games and services. The health and safety of our employees, players, third-party organizations with whom we partner or regulatory agencies on which we rely could be also affected, which may prevent us from executing against our business strategies or cause a decrease in consumer demand for our products and services. System redundancy may be ineffective and our disaster recovery and business continuity planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Such failures, disruptions, closures, or inability to conduct normal business operations could also prevent access to our products, services or online stores selling our products and services, cause delay or interruption in our product or live services offerings, allow breaches of data security or result in the loss of critical data. The COVID-19 pandemic could disrupt our ability to conduct normal business operations. An event that results in the disruption or degradation of any of our critical business functions or information technology systems, harms our ability to conduct normal business operations or causes a decreased in consumer demand for our products and services could materially impact our reputation and brand, financial condition and operating results.
Risks Relating to Regulation of our Business and Industry
Our success depends on the acceptance of blockchain and offerings, listings and dual listing of digital securities by Regulators, Issuers, Markets and Investors.
The SEC, FINRA and other regulatory agencies, as well as the securities exchanges and markets are still developing regulations regarding the use of blockchain and its applications with regard to securities offerings. To date, most offerings of digital securities have been conducted as exempt offerings pursuant to Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, such that the securities issued were restricted securities and not eligible for immediate secondary trading. Recently the SEC qualified at least one offering pursuant to Regulation A promulgated under the Securities Act but, as of the date of this memorandum, we are not aware of any digital securities that have been registered for sale or resale on Form S-1. As a result, the market for our products, which relate to the issuance and trading of digital securities remains uncertain, as potential issuer companies and the service providers with whom they engage, may choose to conduct their securities offerings using more traditional methods or may engage with different platforms or providers. Further, our potential market may not be as large, or our industry may not grow as rapidly, as anticipated. With a smaller market than expected, we may have fewer customers. Success will likely be a factor of investing in the development and implementation of marketing campaigns, subsequent adoption by issuer companies as well as investors and other market participants, and favorable changes in the regulatory environment.
We operate in a regulatory environment that is evolving and uncertain.
The regulatory framework for digital securities offerings, online capital formation and blockchain is very new. There are constant discussions among legislators and regulators with respect to changing the regulatory environment in order to adapt to new technologies, such as blockchain, as well as new or novel forms of securities, such as digital securities. New laws and regulations could be adopted in the United States and abroad. Further, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would impact our operations, including how we communicate and work with investors, issuer companies, platforms and exchanges that use our products and services and the types. Moreover, certain types of securities offered utilizing new asset classes (e.g., cryptocurrencies and other digital assets) have been subjected to increased regulatory scrutiny. Any such changes would have a negative impact on our business.
We and our customers are subject to extensive government regulation that could cause us to incur significant liabilities or restrict our business activities.
Regulatory requirements could cause our customers and us to incur significant liabilities and operating expenses and could restrict our business activities. We are subject to statutes and rules regulating, among other things, the issuance and trading of securities, and the management, use and storage of customer data. Our operating expenses may be increased by governmental regulations, such as fees and taxes that may be imposed. Any delay or refusal from government agencies to grant us necessary licenses, permits, and approvals could have an adverse effect on our operations. Certain of our executive officers / directors are also registered persons with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and in such capacity have been, and may in the future, be subject to disciplinary actions by FINRA in connection with their roles as principals of an SEC registered, FINRA member firm. None of the past or present disciplinary actions result in a “bad actor” disqualification under Rule 506 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with regard to either the executive officers / directors or the Company.
Regulatory changes or actions may restrict the use of the Ethereum blockchain in a manner that adversely affects an investment in us.
Recently, there has been a significant amount of regulatory attention directed toward digital securities assets and the blockchain networks that enable their use by United States federal and state governments, foreign governments and self-regulatory agencies. For example, as cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, US Congress and certain US agencies (e.g., Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCen”), the SEC, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin users and the Bitcoin Exchange Market. Local state regulators such as the California Department of Financial Institutions and the New York State Department of Financial Services have also initiated examinations of bitcoins and the Bitcoin network, and the regulation thereof. In addition, various foreign jurisdictions either have adopted, or may adopt, laws, regulations or directives that affect a network and its users, and service providers that fall within such jurisdictions' regulatory scope. Such laws, regulations or directives may conflict with those of the United States, may negatively impact the acceptance of digital assets by users, merchants and service providers outside of the United States, and may therefore impede the growth of the digital asset economy. Since December 2013, a number of countries, including India, China, South Korea and Russia have taken a more restrictive stance toward cryptocurrencies and, thereby, have reduced the rate of expansion of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets and their use in each country. In late 2017, China prohibited Initial Coin Offerings (“ICO”) within the country and ordered all cryptocurrency exchanges to close. Governments may in the future curtail or outlaw the acquisition, use or redemption of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Ownership of, holding or trading in cryptocurrencies may then be considered illegal and subject to sanction. Governments may also take regulatory action that may increase the cost and/or subject cryptocurrency and digital asset companies to additional regulation. Although we believe our products and services are compliant with existing regulations, we cannot guarantee compliance with new rules or that new concerns may not arise. The effect of any future regulatory change on our business or the regulation of digital securities that may impact our business is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and operations, as well as the value of your investment.
We intend to be a global company in that many of our products and services will be licensed to companies located in many different locations around the world. This exposes us to the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, as well as political and economic risks.
A significant portion of our revenues and earnings will be generated internationally. In addition, a substantial amount of our products may come from sources outside the country of distribution. As a result, we are both directly and indirectly subject to the risks of doing business outside the United States, including:
● currency fluctuations, which may significantly impact our results of operations;
● political, economic and social instability;
● changes in tariffs and taxes;
● regulatory restrictions on repatriating foreign funds back to the United States; and
● differing foreign laws relating to our businesses.
The functional currency for most of our foreign operations is the applicable local currency. As a result, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates affect the results of our operations and the value of our foreign assets and liabilities, including debt, which in turn may adversely affect results of operations and cash flows and the comparability of period-to-period results of operations. For example, the June 2016 decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, also known as “Brexit”, has resulted in increased uncertainty in the economic and political environment in Europe and has caused increased fluctuations and unpredictability in foreign currency exchange rates. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates may also affect the relative prices at which we and foreign competitors sell products in the same market. Foreign policies and actions regarding currency valuation could result in actions by the United States and other countries to offset the effects of such fluctuations. Given the unpredictability and volatility of foreign currency exchange rates, ongoing or unusual volatility may adversely impact our business and financial conditions. Furthermore, even with our current global operations, we are subject to numerous domestic and foreign laws and regulations affecting our business, such as those related to labor, employment, consumer protection, import/export and anti-corruption, including but not limited to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, and the U.K. Bribery Act. Violations of these regulations could subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business.
Our reliance on our computer systems and software could expose us to material financial and reputational harm if any of our computer systems or software were subject to any material disruption or corruption.
We rely significantly on our computer systems and software to receive and properly process internal and external data and utilize such data to generate orders and other messages. A disruption or corruption of the proper functioning of our computer systems or software could cause us to make erroneous transactions, which could result in material losses or reputational harm. We cannot guarantee that our efforts to maintain competitive computer systems and software will be successful. Our computer systems and software may fail or be subject to bugs or other errors, including human error, resulting in service interruptions or other unintended consequences. If any of these risks materialize, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Capacity constraints, systems failures, malfunctions and delays could harm our business.
Our business activities are heavily dependent on the integrity and performance of the computer and communications systems supporting them. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, software bugs and errors, electronic and physical security breaches, natural disasters, power loss, utility or internet outages, computer viruses, intentional acts of vandalism, terrorism and other similar events. Extraordinary trading volumes or other events could cause our computer systems to operate in ways that we did not intend, at an unacceptably low speed or even fail. While we have invested significant amounts of capital to upgrade the capacity, reliability and scalability of our systems, there can be no assurance that our systems will always operate properly or be sufficient to handle such extraordinary trading volumes. Any disruption for any reason in the proper functioning or any corruption of our software or erroneous or corrupted data may cause our customers to make erroneous trades or suspend our services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Although our systems and infrastructure are generally designed to accommodate additional growth without redesign or replacement, we may need to make significant investments in additional Microsoft Azure cloud services and software to accommodate growth. Failure to make necessary expansions and upgrades to our systems and infrastructure could not only limit our growth and business prospects but could also cause substantial losses and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions are unpredictable, we may not be able to respond to actual events as they occur. Business disruptions can vary in their scope and significance and can affect one or more of our facilities. Further, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. Although we have employed efforts to develop, implement and maintain reasonable disaster recovery and business continuity plans, we cannot guarantee that our systems will fully recover after a significant business disruption in a timely fashion or at all. If we are prevented from using any of our systems or infrastructure, or if our business continuity operations do not work effectively, we may not have complete business continuity, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We are exposed to risks associated with our international operations and expansion and failure to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our international operations may increase costs, reduce profits, limit growth or subject us to broader liability.
We are exposed to risks and uncertainties inherent in doing business in international markets, particularly in the heavily regulated broker-dealer and financial securities industry. Such risks and uncertainties include political, economic and financial instability, unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, tariffs and other trade barriers, exchange rate fluctuations, applicable currency controls, the imposition of restrictions on currency conversion or the transfer of funds, limitations on our ability to repatriate non-U.S. earnings in a tax efficient manner and difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, including reliance on local experts. Such restrictions generally include those by imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). The FCPA is intended to prohibit bribery of foreign officials and requires companies whose securities are listed in the U.S. to keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect those companies’ transactions and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against designated foreign states, organizations and individuals. Though we have policies in place designed to comply with applicable OFAC sanctions, rules and regulations as well as the FCPA and equivalent laws and rules of other jurisdictions, if we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could be exposed to claims for damages, financial penalties, reputational harm, incarceration of employees and restrictions on our operations and cash flows.
In addition, the varying compliance requirements of these different regulatory jurisdictions and other factors may limit our ability to successfully conduct or expand our business internationally and may increase our costs of investment. Expansion into international locations involves substantial operational and execution risk. We may not be able to manage these costs or risks effectively.
We operate a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace for minting, purchasing, showcasing, and discovering non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which may further expose us to legal, regulatory, and other risks that could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.
We operate a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace that simplifies the purchasing, showcasing, and discovery of NFTs. While NFTs and digital securities are similar in that both are based on blockchain technology, unlike digital securities, which are fungible, NFTs have unique identification codes and often reference content. As NFTs are a relatively new and emerging type of digital asset, the regulatory, commercial, and legal framework governing NFTs is likely to evolve and implicates issues regarding a range of matters, including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, privacy and cybersecurity, fraud, anti-money laundering, money transmission, sanctions, and currency, commodity, and securities law compliance.
It is difficult to predict how the legal and regulatory framework around NFTs will develop and how such developments will impact our business and our NFT marketplace since the market for NFTs is relatively nascent. Regulators may apply existing or new regulations to NFT transactions. Further, NFT transactions also raise issues regarding compliance with laws of foreign jurisdictions, many of which present complex compliance issues and may conflict with one another.
We may also experience media, legislative, or regulatory scrutiny of our actions or decisions related to our content enforcement practices with respect to our NFT marketplace either as a result of our perceived failure to respond expeditiously or appropriately to the sharing of content perceived as objectionable or as a result of our decisions to remove content or suspend participation on our NFT marketplace by persons who violate our content standards and terms of service. Any such negative publicity could have an adverse effect on the size, engagement, and loyalty of our user base and demand for our NFT marketplace, which could result in decreased revenue and adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Additionally, similar to other aspects of our business, our NFT marketplace is reliant on certain third-party partners, including payment processors, payment gateways, and cloud computing services and data centers. If any of these third parties do not adequately or appropriately provide their services or perform their responsibilities to us, or our customers on our behalf, we may be unable to procure alternatives in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms, or at all, and we may be subject to business disruptions, losses or costs to remediate any of the deficiencies, customer dissatisfaction, reputational damage, legal or regulatory proceedings, or other adverse consequences which could harm our business.
The launch of our NFT marketplace also subjects us to risks similar to those associated with any new product offering, including, but not limited to, our ability to accurately anticipate market demand and acceptance, our ability to successfully launch the NFT marketplace, creator and buyer acceptance, technical issues with the operation of the NFT marketplace, and legal and regulatory risks as discussed above.
Government regulations applicable to us may negatively impact our business.
We are a global company subject to various and complex laws and regulations domestically and internationally, including laws and regulations related to consumer protection, protection of minors, content, advertising, localization, information security, intellectual property, competition and taxation, among others. Many of these laws and regulations are continuously evolving and developing, and the application to, and impact on, us is uncertain. For example, the World Health Organization recently included “gaming disorder” in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases, prompting discussion and consideration of legislation and policies aimed at mitigating the risk of overuse of, and overspending within, video games. These laws could harm our business by limiting the products and services we can offer consumers or the manner in which we offer them. The costs of compliance with these laws may increase in the future as a result of changes in applicable laws or changes to interpretation. Any failure on our part to comply with these laws or the application of these laws in an unanticipated manner may harm our business and result in penalties or significant legal liability.
Certain of our business models will be subject to new laws or regulations or evolving interpretations and application of existing laws and regulations, including those related to gambling. The growth and development of electronic commerce, virtual items and virtual currency has prompted calls for new laws and regulations and resulted in the application of existing laws or regulations that have limited or restricted the sale of our products and services in certain territories. New laws — each of which could vary significantly across jurisdictions — could subject us to additional regulation and oversight, cause us to further limit or restrict the sale of our products and services or otherwise impact our products and services, lessen the engagement with, and growth of, profitable business models, and expose us to increased compliance costs, significant liability, fines, penalties and harm to our reputation and brand.
We may be subject to laws in certain foreign countries, and adhere to industry standards in the United States, that mandate rating requirements or set other restrictions on the advertisement or distribution of interactive entertainment software based on content. In addition, certain foreign countries allow government censorship of interactive entertainment software products. Adoption of ratings systems, censorship or restrictions on distribution of interactive entertainment software based on content could harm our business by limiting the products we are able to offer to our consumers. In addition, compliance with new and possibly inconsistent regulations for different territories could be costly, delay or prevent the release of our products in those territories.
Regulatory changes or actions may restrict the use of digital assets in a manner that adversely affects an investment in us.
As digital assets have grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the CFTC, the Commission, FinCEN and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine digital assets. On March 9, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies. While the executive order did not mandate any specific regulations, it instructs various federal agencies to consider potential regulatory measures, including the evaluation of the creation of a U.S. Central Bank digital currency. Future changes to existing regulations or entirely new regulations may affect our business in ways it is not presently possible for us to predict with any reasonable degree of reliability. Digital assets currently face an uncertain regulatory landscape in not only the United States but also in such foreign jurisdictions as the European Union and China. While certain governments such as Germany, have issued guidance as to how to treat cryptocurrencies, most regulatory bodies have not issued specific policy determinations. Future changes to existing regulations or entirely new regulations may affect our business in ways it is not presently possible for us to predict with any reasonable degree of reliability, but such change could be substantial and adverse to us and could adversely affect an investment in us.
Our business will be subject to complex and prescriptive regulations regarding consumer protection and data privacy practices, and could be adversely affected if our consumer protection, data privacy and security practices are not adequate, or perceived as being inadequate.
We will be subject to global data privacy, data protection, localization, security and consumer-protection laws and regulations worldwide. These laws and regulations are emerging and evolving and the interpretation and application of these laws and regulations often are uncertain, contradictory, and changing. The failure to maintain data practices that are compliant with applicable laws and regulations, or evolving interpretations of applicable laws and regulations, could result in inquiries from enforcement agencies or direct consumer complaints, resulting in civil or criminal penalties, and could adversely impact our reputation and brand. In addition, the operational costs of compliance with these regulations are high and will likely continue to increase.
Even if we remain in strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations, consumer sensitivity to the collection and processing of their personal information continues to increase. Any real or perceived failures in maintaining acceptable data privacy practices, including allowing improper or unauthorized access, acquisition or misuse and/or uninformed disclosure of consumer, employee and other information, or a perception that we do not adequately secure this information or provide consumers with adequate notice about the information that they authorize us to collect and disclose could result in brand, reputational, or other harms to the business, result in costly remedial measures, deter current and potential customers from using our products and services and cause our financial results to be materially affected. Third party vendors and business partners receive access to certain information that we collect. These vendors and business partners may not prevent data security breaches with respect to the information we provide them or fully enforce our policies, contractual obligations and disclosures regarding the collection, use, storage, transfer and retention of personal data. A data security breach of one of our vendors or business partners could cause reputational and financial harm to them and us, negatively impact our ability to offer our products and services, and could result in legal liability, costly remedial measures, governmental and regulatory investigations, harm our profitability, reputation and brand, and cause our financial res