Newly-formed NFT investment fund is already planning an IPO in London 🚨 This article is 4 years old...
Newly-formed NFT investment fund is already planning an IPO in London
NFTs have taken the world by storm and have surged to a multibillion-dollar market cap. And one fund is sensing opportunity.
2 min read
Updated: Apr. 2, 2021 at 10:39 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Jonathan Bixby and Mike Edwards, two enterprising individuals, are planning something the world’s never seen before: an initial public offering on a London-based stock exchange…for a fund whose business is investing in NFTs.
NFT investment firm set for London IPO https://t.co/83BQlZIGLw
— Financial News (@FinancialNews) April 1, 2021
Taking NFTs to public markets
NFT Investments, their firm that invests solely in NFTs, is planning an IPO this year on the Aquis Stock Exchange in London, noted financial outlet Bloomberg this morning.
The duo has previously founded and taken public companies involved in cryptocurrency mining, esports, and cannabis, and is now turning their attention towards NFTs.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short, are cryptographic representations of tangible or intangible assets on a blockchain. They tie the ownership of the underlying asset to whoever holds them and can be used to represent crypto art, virtual land, blockchain collectibles, or even real estate.
The sector has gone from a $200 million niche to an ecosystem of over $20 billion in under a year. NFTs have captured the world of memes, music, and artists alike, and have seen huge adoption in the past months from both small-time artists looking to make a living to big-name players like Beeple selling over $69 million worth of (a single) artwork.
People like Bixby and Edwards are capitalizing on that. As per a statement, the IPO deal will value the company at nearly $35 million and would create the first-ever listed firm in the sector.
Money games
NFT Investments would raise over $12 million before expenses by placing 200 million shares at 5 pence each, and the stock is expected to start trading later this month.
“The company intends to invest in collectibles, infrastructure, like marketplaces for NFT trading, and creators’ digital rights,” Bixby said, adding it would raise more capital in the coming months.
Meanwhile, not everyone is sold on the promise of NFTs. “The tokens are interesting for some applications, particularly in the art space, but are not investible at this moment in time for the broad investment community,” said Ulrich Urbahn, head of multi-asset strategy and research at Berenberg Bank.
First Sentinel Corporate Finance is the corporate adviser for NFT Investments. Novum Securities and Tennyson Securities are joint brokers.
