The CryptoNewsAudio Podcast

CryptoCurrencyWire’s latest audio production features Mark Elenowitz, Co-Founder of Upstream, a revolutionary exchange and trading app for digital securities and NFTs. MERJ Exchange (MERJ) operates Upstream as a fully regulated and licensed integrated securities exchange, clearing system and depository for digital and non-digital securities. MERJ is an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), recognized by HM Revenue and Customs UK, a full member of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and a Qualifying Foreign Exchange for OTC Markets in the US. MERJ is also a member of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative.

 

To begin the interview, Elenowitz provided an introduction to Upstream and highlighted the transparency benefits it offers over more traditional exchanges.

 

Upstream is operated as part of MERJ Exchange, which is a fully regulated national securities exchange. “We’re the only exchange in the world that’s built using blockchain,” Elenowitz said. “We’re also an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges. This is a group that includes nearly every major stock exchange from around the world. We are combining the best available technology with the highest standards of traditional investor protections.”

 

“What makes us really exciting is that we’re powered by the blockchain. We’re an ethereum-based marketplace that allows investors to have an immutable and transparent experience where all transactions are out on the blockchain. Everyone has the opportunity to be able to see it, so there’s no gameplaying or manipulation, making it a much more level playing field for all participants.”

 

Elenowitz then provided some background on his journey to co-founding the company.

 

“My experience from the capital markets is what led to the creation of Upstream. As a U.S. investment banker, I helped create some of the methodology around Title IV of the JOBS Act. Our firm was able to create the methodology and the process to have Reg A+ trade on a National Securities Exchange,” he continued. “I worked with the New York Stock Exchange and created that path to make [Reg A] IPOs look, act, and feel like a traditional IPO and be able to trade on the NYSE and Nasdaq… That type of process – allowing individual investors to have access to equities and be able to then trade and have liquidity – is what inspired me to help create Upstream.

 

“I wanted to give issuers the opportunity to raise capital from investors around the world… and have a marketplace to facilitate secondary trading. One of the things about this type of asset is that investors now have the opportunity to buy them; but, in a crowdfunded situation, they really don’t have the opportunity to sell… We at Upstream now are able to facilitate that.”

 

Join IBN’s Jonathan Keim and Upstream’s Mark Elenowitz as they discuss the liquidity advantages Upstream offers global investors interested in trading across international markets.

 

To view disclaimers and the original announcement, visit:  https://ibn.fm/UpstreamPodcastAnnouncement