5 Important Announcements Video Message From Our CEO
Dear Wealth Builders and BF Members,
We wanted to bring to your attention a recent video message from our CEO, Simon Dixon, in which he covers a range of significant updates and decisions that will impact you as a BF member or prospective investor.
In the video, Simon provides key insights into several critical topics, including:
– New regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US and what they mean for our platform;
– Service updates for our US investors;
– Our application for additional licences to take on retail investors;
– Update on raising finance for companies on our platform;
– Our focus on building the best Bitcoin-centered Wealth Building Solutions;
– Opportunities for High Net Worth (HNW) investors;
– A message for Wealth Builders who are not yet HNW;
– Our upcoming 2023 Annual Wealth Building Master Class.
We highly recommend that you watch this video to stay up to date on the latest developments at BF and learn how they may impact your investments and opportunities.
Best regards,
The BF Team
Involved In A Crypto Chapter 11 Case Like Celsius, Voyager, FTX or BlockFi? Read This…
With Voyager, Celsius, FTX and now BlockFi all filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, 2022 has been a tough year for equity investors. As Celsius was a portfolio company on Bnk To The Future, our team has been working hard to support creditors as equity tends to get wiped out in Chapter 11 and some of our investors are now Celsius creditors as well as shareholders. We have learnt a lot about Chapter 11 and have been engaging with creditors, debtors, the Unsecured Creditor Committees (UCC) and participating in Chapter 11 auctions as well as court hearings to maximize recoveries for Chapter 11 creditors.
At Bnk To The Future we have a long history supporting portfolio companies and investors with effective recovery plans. As early investors in Kraken, in 2015 we experienced first hand utilizing their technology to support Mt. Gox creditors after the exchange shut down. In the 2016 Bitfinex hack recovery, we supported creditors with the world’s first security token that took their recovery from a low of $0.30 on the dollar to a peak of $16 for every dollar owed to creditors after their hack. We also participated in the 2019 Tether recovery. In each case we used financial innovation to support creditors.
Now with millions of creditors in our sector involved in at least one Chapter 11 case, the team at Bnk To The Future have been working very hard to bring to you a new feature right within your Bnk To The Future account, which allows you to display your Chapter 11 claims and in future releases use them as the Chapter 11 process continues.
The first initial beta feature allows you to import your claim and have it displayed conveniently within your account. As your Chapter 11 case evolves you will be able to have a voice in the major crypto Chapter 11 processes. We are starting with Celsius and will add support for Voyager, FTX and BlockFi as the cases progress. In future releases we intend to add the ability to track likely recoveries, trade your claims with other investors and invest in bidder, debtor and creditor financing.
You can test out this feature now and see your Celsius claim within your account. You can get your account ready and we will notify you as soon as we go live with Voyager, FTX and BlockFi. Get your account ready in preparation using the following guide:
This Blog will show you how to get started with your claim. Let’s get started…
Step 1: You will need to have an account with Bnk To The Future that is verified. If you do not have an account, please hit the Join Us green button on the top right corner of the website and follow all instructions.
NOTE: You must use the same name on your account as your claim. You can create an individual or organizational account.
If/when you have a verified account on Bnk To The Future, then please continue the following steps:
Step 2:Login to your Bnk To The Future account. Once you are logged in you will see the option on one of the tabs that reads – Chapter 11 Claims (see image screenshot below). Click on this link. Please note that in the future this option will have a drop down menu list where you will see Chapter 11 Claims you would like to apply for e.g. FTX, Voyager, BlockFi etc. For now, this will take you to Celsius Chapter 11 Claim.
Step 3: Read The Instructions & Supply Any Additional information if needed – this is the part where you are required to submit proof of your account balance e.g. log into your Celsius app and take a screenshot of your account balance. Hit the submit button when you have uploaded your screenshot.
NOTE: If your verified name is unique to the Chapter 11 claim we will match you up automatically with no need to provide additional evidence.
Step 4: You’ve hit the submit button – wait about 48 hours to check back in as we begin verifying your request – Our dedicated team will check everything within 48 hours. If what you have submitted has been rejected, you will see a rejection explanation on the Chapter 11 Claim page. You can then re-submit your screenshot
Whilst you wait, please check out the FAQ section as shown below.
To Learn More About The Chapter 11 Process our CEO Simon Dixon created this useful guide on Exiting Chapter 11 with a quick demo of these features at the end.
We look forward to supporting you through your Chapter 11 journey and to help make a tough situation a lot easier for you.
It’s important to note: Bnk To The Future displays your claim by finding your full name in the public schedule of asset list. If you have a unique match your request will automatically be accepted. If there are multiple matches, we will ask you for more details so that we can find the exact match.
IMPORTANT: This feature is for informational purposes only. There may be inaccuracies in the source data or the data import process. Under no circumstances is the importing of data anything more than a data import. No legal transfer of claim is being performed when the data is imported.
If you choose to connect your Chapter 11 claim information to your Bank to the Future account, you will not be agreeing or committing to vote your claim in favour of a plan of reorganization or other transaction supported by Bank to the Future or to otherwise support such a plan or transaction. Bank to the Future is not now soliciting support for any such plan or transaction from Chapter 11 creditors. Such a solicitation would only be made based on a Disclosure Statement which has been approved by the Bankruptcy Court as containing adequate information or another order of the Bankruptcy Court which expressly permits such solicitation.
Bnk To The Future Announces Termination of LOI with SALT Blockchain, Inc.
November 15, 2022 – Bnk To The Future (the “Company”) announces that its previously announced non-binding letter of intent with SALT Blockchain, Inc. (SALT) has terminated due to SALT’s position with FTX and for failing Bnk To The Future’s Due Diligence and that the transactions contemplated thereby will not proceed.
Bnk To The Future has not been impacted from neither SALT nor FTX as Bnk To The Future has no direct or indirect connection with SALT or FTX, and that all client funds are fully segregated and uninvested.
For more information on the letter of intent and the transactions contemplated thereby, please see the Company’s news release dated September 6, 2022.
About Bnk To The Future Bnk To The Future is a global Online Investment Platform allowing qualifying investors to build their investment portfolio in the equity of Crypto; FinTech companies, security tokens and other new alternative financial products like Bitcoin centered retirement plans. Bnk To The Future was the very first securities business in the crypto market, beginning shortly after Bitcoin in 2010 and now has a community of over 150,000+ qualified investors from all over the world who have invested over US$1bn in funding rounds listed on its online investment platform. US residents register with BMI Capital International LLC, a registered US broker-dealer with FINRA and member of SIPC. Bnk To The Future portfolio companies include Coinbase, Circle, Blockchain.com, Kraken, BitStamp, BitFinex, ShapeShift, BitPay, Ripple Labs and over 100 others.
Ethereum The Merge
We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that Bnk To The Future is fully prepared for the Ethereum The Merge. The current estimated time for the Ethereum Merge is 2022-09-15 at 01:30 (UTC).
It’s happening in just a few hours from now.
There are some uncertainty about how the Ethereum Network will handle transactions during The Merge. To avoid unnecessary risk, while The Merge is happening, we will not be processing Ethereum transactions from 14/09/200 to 15/09/2022. This will also include all deposits, payments, and withdrawals. Other protocols will continue to be available, and we will resume the ability to send Ethereum transactions after The Merge.
It is expected that gas fees and other parameters of the network might be unstable during that period. We strongly suggest that you carry out any urgent transactions before The Merge, or wait until after it has happened.
Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Thanks.
P.S. Last week Wednesday 7th September 2022, we streamed #BFLIVE Episode 101 – The Future of Crypto Lending via our YouTube channel. If you missed it, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN1xtijGc18&t=5s
Bnk To The Future To Acquire Crypto Lender SALT
Bnk To The Future To Acquire Crypto Lender SALT In A Bid To Reshape Crypto Lending
Bnk To The Future has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire SALT. The move will combine the world’s first Bitcoin and crypto securities business with the first crypto lending platform. Bnk To The Future and SALT have operated advanced securities and lending technology for over a decade combined and have extensive experience in their respective fields. The transactions described in the letter of intent are contingent upon signing definitive agreements and obtaining regulatory approvals.
The primary objective is to develop what we believe to be a regulatory compliant solution for customers impacted by the current crypto lending crisis. “We want to offer an option for distressed lending companies that may not be able to come out of bankruptcy due to regulatory issues. We have prior experience supporting our sector to recover swiftly with our involvement in the Bitfinex exchange hack recovery in 2016”, said Simon Dixon, CEO & Co-Founder of Bnk To The Future. “Mt Gox took 8 years to resolve and depositors are just now seeing light at the end of the tunnel, whilst Bitfinex was recovered from disaster in less than a year after working on a recovery plan with Bnk To The Future. By combining securities and lending we believe we can attempt the same for distressed lending companies.”
Having launched in 2016, SALT was among the first platforms to offer loans to holders of Bitcoin and has since been focused on securing additional lending licenses, and optimizing its lending technology and risk management operations. Over the last few years, the Company has built a full stack loan management and risk platform that manages complex crypto loans.
Shawn Owen, Interim SALT CEO and board member added, “Never has the importance of leadership, regulations and over collateralization been more relevant in the crypto industry than right now, given the painful lessons of 2022’s collapse. We see a time-sensitive threat to our sector, which could be an opportunity to help bring trust and hope back to so many who have been devastated by recent events, and a clear path towards a compliant business that we have been working on since late 2016.
This announcement may be the first in a series of announcements in which we aim to further Bnk To The Future’s mission to offer investors access to financial innovation and alternative financial products in a compliant way. “We launched the first Bitcoin Bond in 2014. We launched Bitcoin mining backed securities in 2015. We participated in funding rounds and brought investments in shares of Kraken, BitStamp, Coinbase, Circle, Blockchain.com, Robinhood and many others to our investors. Now is the time for us to offer solutions to distressed lending platforms in compliance with securities and lending laws. Together we can continue to set the standard for registered crypto securities and lending platforms.” concluded Dixon.
The main points that will be discussed are:
– Crypto lending after the collapse
– Combing Equity and Lending For The Future of Crypto Lending
– How to manage risks when lending your crypto for yield.
For those who would like to join Simon Dixon for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, you will be able to head over to Simon’s Twitter Space where you can ask your questions in real time. Here’s the link for you to join: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1vOxwMlkrYPGB?s=20
About Bnk To The Future Bnk To The Future is a global Online Investment Platform allowing qualifying investors to build their investment portfolio in the equity of Crypto & FinTech companies, security tokens and other new alternative financial products like Bitcoin centered retirement plans. Bnk To The Future was the very first securities business in the crypto market, beginning shortly after Bitcoin in 2010 and now has a community of over 150,000+ qualified investors from all over the world who have invested over US$1bn in funding rounds listed on its online investment platform. US residents register with BMI Capital International LLC, a registered US broker-dealer with FINRA and member of SIPC. Bnk To The Future portfolio companies include Coinbase, Circle, Blockchain.com, Kraken, BitStamp, BitFinex, ShapeShift, BitPay, Ripple Labs and over 100 others. For more info visit https://BnkToTheFuture.com
About SALT Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Denver, SALT is the pioneer of crypto-backed lending. SALT’s mission is to build and enable simple, familiar and novel crypto financial products that increase access to financial opportunities and give consumers more control over their ability to generate long-term wealth.
SALT’s crypto lending products enable its users to seamlessly access credit against their crypto portfolios – while the Company’s B2B Embedded Crypto Lending Service enables 3rd party platforms to offer these products to their users. For more information, visit www.saltlending.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Medium
Important Please Read This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding consummation of the proposed acquisition and expected benefits of the acquisition. Actual results could differ materially from those projected or forecast in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: the parties may not enter into a definitive agreement on the terms expected or at all, the conditions to the completion of the transaction may not be satisfied, or the regulatory approvals required for the transaction may not be obtained on the terms expected, on the anticipated schedule, or at all; closing of the transaction may not occur or may be delayed, either as a result of litigation related to the transaction or otherwise; the parties may be unable to achieve the anticipated benefits of the transaction; revenues following the transaction may be lower than expected; the duration and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any recurrence, may affect the results of operations; operating costs, customer loss, and business disruption (including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, partners, and commercial counterparties) may be greater than expected; the parties may assume unexpected risks and liabilities; negotiating and completing the transaction may distract the parties’ management from other important matters; and with respect to SALT the other factors discussed in “Risk Factors” in Salt’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and in Salt’s other filings with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. The parties assume no obligation to update the information in this press release, except as otherwise required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.
Celsius Recovery Plan – A Statement From Simon Dixon And Bnk To The Future
At Bnk To The Future, we have 1,039 of our investors that own shares in the Celsius Network SPV. Our CEO and Co-Founder, Simon Dixon, drafted a message for both the Celsius community and our investor community in light of the recent suspension of withdrawals at Celsius:
“Since 2011 I’ve seen Mt. Gox collapse the market, ICOs collapse the market and now leverage collapse the market. In each cycle we innovate solutions using new technologies. Celsius and their CEO Alex Mashinsky have been live every week sharing their journey and building a community. I hope he will find the right solution like our industry always has when financial innovation goes wrong. It’s a bottom up movement and I have always used bottom up solutions to recover from disasters in our sector.
As a Celsius shareholder, lender and Bitcoin evangelist and due to the short-term systemic impact on those that own Bitcoin, I am keen to support Celsius with a recovery plan. As one of the first investors in Bitcoin companies I have worked with many of them in their times of need. In 2016, Bitfinex needed a plan to recover from their hack and the company I co-founded, BnkToTheFuture.com, supported them and executed a recovery that involved security tokens, debt and equity and gave investors a very high return for the high risk they took.
I commit to supporting Celsius in any way that is useful. They have built a community that believes in bottom up and we have a platform and experienced team that can help Celsius bottom up.
It will be a hit for a small portion of my total wealth that I have lent out through Celsius if they go down, but it will not impact my finances or Bnk To The Future in any meaningful way. I am more concerned for community members that may have a chance at preserving a larger percentage of their wealth through a recovery plus an education in risk management.
I believe traditional finance will not have a timely solution for Celsius as we saw in the past with Mt. Gox that still remains unresolved 10 years later. I believe that this can only be solved with a solution using financial innovation like we did with Bitfinex that was resolved within 9 months and worked out very well for depositors. It’s not my place to reveal information before Alex and the Celsius board are ready, it’s my position to offer solutions as we have the experience, licences and technology to do so. Our industry has come back stronger from every disaster and now is the time for us to offer support in a bottom up way in compliance with the regulations we have always followed”
BF LIVE 100th Episode – UST Luna Meltdown: What Happened & What Does It Mean For Bitcoin?
The Terra ecosystem, including Luna, UST, and the anchor protocol, recently crashed.
Join our CEO, Simon Dixon, for BF LIVE 100th Episode as he discusses the UST Luna Meltdown.
Simon Dixon was streamed live on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022, and during the 1-hour live stream, he discussed the following points:
– A post-mortem on the UST LUNA systemic crash.
– The biggest week for Bitcoin & how to profit from it.
– Protecting your portfolio from future crashes.
Simon Dixon discussed the following during the 1-hour Livestream (The second segment of the show Simon Dixon answered questions in AMA – Ask Me Anything – format):
– How to survive the Bitcoin bear market;
– Investing during a Bitcoin bear market;
– Protecting your wealth in a bear market.
How to get certified as HNW (Tier 4)
Below is our step-by-step instructions on how to get your BF account certified to invest in securities known as a Tier 4 account. This guide will comprehensively lead you through the process of certifying your BF account, a necessary step to enable you to invest in securities.
Whilst investors are welcome to invest in virtual assets such as Bitcoin, ETH and Stablecoins using our registered virtual asset service provider without certifying their net worth, regulatory restrictions require Bnk To The Future to only accept High Net Worth investors when investing in securities for now.
Anticipating the evolving landscape, we have proactively secured an additional licence to extend securities offerings to qualifying non-high net worth investors in the future. Hence, we encourage you to prepare your account accordingly, regardless of your current high net worth status.
Outlined below are step-by-step instructions for obtaining certification for investing in securities, a classification known as a Tier 4 account.
STEP 2: Go to your profile menu in the top-right corner, then select ‘Identity’ from the drop-down.
STEP 3: First check if your account has been verified and is approved. If your account hasn’t been approved or if the verification has expired, you should proceed with the Verification process by uploading the necessary identity and proof of address documents. If your verification is successfully approved, you’ll be all set for the next phase.
STEP 4: Navigate to the “Provide Suitability Information” section and initiate the process by clicking on the “Start Process” link to provide the necessary Suitability information.
STEP 5: Carefully review all the provided information and make sure to indicate that your net worth is $1 million or more. This step will unlock the High Net Worth investor certification process. If your net worth is less than $1 million, you will be directed through the non-high-net-worth investor certification process, which will then ensure you are only able to invest in securities that match with your suitability information.
STEP 6: Choose one or more of the provided statements that are applicable to your situation. To ensure suitability for long-term investing in securities, we require an understanding of your experience and investment time horizon.
STEP 7: In the ‘Financial Risk Assessment’ section, you’ll be prompted to select the types of services, transactions, and regulated investments that you are familiar with by ticking the respective boxes.
The next section asks you about your Investment time horizon.
Once you have submitted all suitability information and selected that you have a net worth of $1m or greater, you are ready to complete the High Net Worth Certification Process.
STEP 8: Proceed to complete the ‘Certification Quiz.’ Successfully passing the certification quiz is required to progress. If any of your answers are incorrect, you will be prompted to retake the quiz until you can demonstrate a clear understanding of private equity securities.
STEP 9: Once you’ve passed the Quiz, you’ll be redirected to a summary page displaying all your answers. On the subsequent page, you’ll be asked to agree to our terms and risk warnings before proceeding to the ‘Full Certification’ page.
STEP 10: In order to access exclusive investments in securities available to High Net Worth investors, the following page will offer you a selection of certification options based on the document(s) you intend to submit.
Evidence of Net Worth Option
In order to certify as High Net Worth, please upload one or more documents confirming that your net worth exceeds $1M (USD). Please find below the different options possible:
Note: Your net worth can be a combination of several options listed below (for instance $600k bank statement + $500k crypto statement in custody). In that case, please upload the different statements.
Net worth consists of assets-liabilities (debt). You have four options to prove your assets listed below.
Proof 1 – Proof of Assets
When it comes to certifying your net worth, you have the flexibility to choose from four distinct options, allowing you to select the one that aligns best with your preferences.
Third Party Letter Option
If you selected the option to have a third party authenticate your net worth instead then you will need to upload a third party authentication letter instead of providing proof of assets and liabilities to us. You can use an official third party (public certified accountant, licensed attorney, regulated finance professional) in order to certify the total assets of your entity and upload this letter.
STEP 11: Once submitted, our team will review your proof of net worth documents and notify you once completed. In case additional information or documents are needed you will receive an email. Please make sure to follow the on-screen instructions for the verification and certification process in order to avoid having to repeat the process causing delays in your certification.
Build Your Wealth In The Age Of Bitcoin | BF LIVE #98
– 7 Bitcoin Investing Principles – How to avoid FOMO & FUD – New deals, updates & live Q&A
IMPORTANT REMINDERS – We’ve been busy rebuilding our online investment platform to scale the secondary market so we can launch a lot more deals by the end of this year. – Last weeks BF LIVE #97, our CEO Simon Dixon announced that 2 major companies will be listed on BnkToTheFuture.com this month. They are Celsius and FV Bank. – If you have not logged in for a while and have not yet updated the information requested on BF Identity, then you want to do that now so you don’t miss the next deals that will be going live in the next few days! – To meet our regulatory requirements you have to verify your account and certify your account and upgrade to one of the four tiers that are displayed when you login to your account on BnkToTheFuture.com. – For now the next few deals will only be open to those that certify their accounts as High-Net-Worth (HNW) and prove that they have a net worth of $1m or more. You can still invest as little as $1,000 in each deal to diversify widely, but you will need to certify your account when you login. Time to do that now so you don’t miss the next deal which we believe will be oversubscribed. – If you don’t have $1m of net worth in either crypto or traditional assets, then complete the process anyway as we are actively applying for three more licences that allow us to open up our primary and secondary markets to non-High Net Worth investors in the future. This requires us securing new licences and we will update you on that journey. Any deals you miss, we will aim to make them available to you on our secondary market as soon as the licences are secured. – So don’t wait, get your account ready to see if you qualify to invest as soon as those new licences come in. – If you are HNW, login and start now as the next deal is a big one and right around the corner this month.
