The collaboration will help to tip the scales in favor of retail traders over naked short sellers
By Fernanda De La Torre
This week Upstream, a MERJ Exchange market, announced its partnership with Shareholder Intelligence Services, LLC (“ShareIntel”) to help issuers combat naked short selling by dual listing their public shares on Upstream’s regulated securities exchange!
ShareIntel is the leader in investigation and due diligence services for illegal short selling. ShareIntel now counts Upstream as one of the tools they can offer to issuers in their quest for a fair-priced securities market and to give the issuer, and shareholders, the ability to fight-back against unfair market activities.
ShareIntel helps U.S issuers gather and analyze shareholder trading data through its DRIL-DownTM process, a technology platform that tracks bank, broker dealer and shareholder movement specifically to reveal suspicious, aberrant, and/or unusual trading activity. The tool aims to help identify, interpret, and communicate shareholder and broker-dealer movement to issuers. Having Upstream alongside DRIL-DownTM means shareholders can now react to manipulation, leveling the playing field.
“ShareIntel is excited to have a partner that shares in the vision of creating fair markets where investors can transact without having to be concerned with illegal short selling. Upstream can offer our clients the marketplace to list and give investors another venue to trade,” stated David Wenger, President, and Chief Executive Officer of ShareIntel.
How we combat market manipulations
Upstream is a retail trading platform enabling inter-exchange arbitrage trading opportunities for investors. Traders can buy shares on the U.S. market, and seamlessly deposit them on Upstream for secondary sale to international buyers. On Upstream there are no middlemen and there is no short selling. An issuers’ shares can now leave the U.S. ‘market makers closed loop’ and, if sold short , will eventually have to be bought-in to cover. Although we cannot prevent short selling on other markets entirely, we believe a dual listing on Upstream will make short selling more difficult and help issuers combat predatory behavior.
As an investor-driven market, Upstream has no market makers and features a transparent order book where everyone sees level-2 bids and offers. Upstream does not allow predatory manipulative activities including short selling, stock lending, wash trades, layering or spoofing that may negatively impact other capital markets. Upstream traders experience real-time trades 20 hours a day, 5 days a week, peer-to-peer, instant settlement, with no market makers, and no payment for order flow.
“Illegal short selling crushes companies, and for the benefit of just a few secretive ‘players.’ Issuers, and shareholders, deserve a fair price for shares. Here at Upstream we have removed unnecessary middlemen and we prevent all short selling. And so, to partner with ShareIntel in offering their clients a fair marketplace is very exciting indeed,” commented Brian Collins, Co-founder of Upstream.
Dual Listing on Upstream
The benefits of listing on Upstream include:
- Access a global audience who can invest with digital currency. Upstream offers investors a streamlined USDC stablecoin off-ramp back to popular cryptocurrency exchange platforms and features a public orderbook with transparency, no short selling, and no wash trading; enforced by Ethereum smart contract technology.
- Streamlined reporting. Issuers may utilize SEC or OTCQX filings to satisfy Upstream reporting requirements.
- Seamless transfer agent integrations. Upstream has U.S. transfer agent deposit and legend lift methodology in place to address common OTC/microcap share deposit and custody problems that can lead to illiquid holdings.
- Bankruptcy protection: Upstream maintains certain insurances and bankruptcy protections for cash and securities held by Upstream Members. Details here.
- Low fee structure. As a MERJ Exchange market, Upstream features all the perks of a regulated national securities exchange, but with competitive listing fees and next-generation blockchain trading features including instant settlement.
- Digital solutions on a next-gen trading app. Streamlined shareholder management using Upstream’s in-app cap. table solutions with compliant onboarding integrations, and streamlined share deposits from U.S. transfer agents, along with automated market making, in-app voting, in-app advertising, and other investor disclosure and communication tools.
- Web3 integrations. Upstream offers a streamlined bridge into Web3 to expand your digital-first community. Upstream also supports NFT minting and trading to promote fan engagement and offer digital collectibles and promotions to users which may be redeemed for products, services or experiences for added value.
- A MERJ Exchange Market. Upstream is a MERJ Exchange Market. MERJ is an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges. As a fully regulated overseas stock exchange, not a mini-market like an ATS or MTF, qualified issuers may cross-list Upstream securities in other global markets.
Conclusion
Upstream is actively accepting dual-listing applications from NASDAQ, NYSE, OTC Markets & international issuers that are seeking to offer their shares to a modern-day investor pool that accepts USDC cryptocurrency and traditional payments. Learn more at: https://upstream.exchange/GetListed or reach the team at hello@upstream.exchange.
Read the full press release here.
Disclaimers:
This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation is not permitted.
Commemorative NFTs are for utility, collection, and display only.
Redeemable NFTs and Commemorative NFTs are not securities and may be bought and sold globally, including by U.S. and Canadian persons.
U.S. and Canadian persons are not permitted to purchase Upstream-listed securities but are permitted to sell securities they currently own, that have been listed on Upstream, for liquidation purposes only.
If funding Upstream with an ACH or wire bank payment, users must complete Upstream’s in-app KYC process to get their new, Upstream U.S. bank account details via email. Upstream maintains certain insurances and bankruptcy protections for cash and securities held by Upstream Members. Details here. Users may then initiate a funds-transfer from their bank or financial institution to this new U.S. Dollar bank account. If you haven’t completed KYC yet or didn’t select ‘Bank’ as the ‘Deposit From’ option when you completed the process initially, then please go through KYC again selecting the ‘Bank’ payment method. Users may complete the simple KYC process by tapping the settings icon and the KYC option inside the Upstream app.
Upstream is a MERJ Exchange market. MERJ Exchange is a licensed Securities Exchange, an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges, and a full member of ANNA. MERJ supports global issuers of traditional and digital securities through the entire asset life cycle from issuance to trading, clearing, settlement, and registry. It operates a fair and transparent marketplace in line with international best practices and principles of operations of financial markets. Upstream does not endorse or recommend any public or private securities bought or sold on its app. Upstream does not offer investment advice or recommendations of any kind. All services offered by Upstream are intended for self-directed clients who make their own investment decisions without aid or assistance from Upstream. All customers are subject to the rules and regulations of their jurisdiction. By accessing the site or app, you agreed to be bound by its terms of use and privacy policy. Company and security listings on Upstream are only suitable for investors who are familiar with and willing to accept the high risk associated with speculative investments, often in early and development stage companies. There can be no assurance the valuation of any particular company’s securities is accurate or in agreement with the market or industry comparative valuations. Investors must be able to afford market volatility and afford the loss of their investment. Companies listed on Upstream are subject to significant ongoing corporate obligations including, but not limited to disclosure, filings, and notification requirements, as well as compliance with applicable quantitative and qualitative listing standards.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This communication contains “forward-looking statements.” Such statements may be preceded by the words “intends,” “may,” “will,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “predicts,” “estimates,” “aims,” “believes,” “hopes,” “potential,” or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions, and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, and cannot be predicted or quantified, and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) difficulties in obtaining financing on commercially reasonable terms; (ii) changes in the size and nature of our competition; (iii) loss of one or more key executives or brand ambassadors; and (iv) changes in legal or regulatory requirements in the markets in which we operate. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.