In a world that’s constantly evolving, terms like crypto, Web3 and blockchain are becoming more mainstream than ever before. While you wonder why someone paid an exorbitant amount of money for a photo of an ape, know that it goes beyond that. It’s about access and the ability for anyone to acquire a stake in something they otherwise would not have been able to get. That’s where Liquid Marketplace comes in.
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Gent’s Post sat down to speak with Ryan Bahadori, the CEO and co-founder of Liquid Marketplace to learn all about this Toronto-based platform. This is the same platform that has Logan Paul promoting the ability for anyone to own a fraction of his ultra-rare 1998 Pokemon Pikachu Illustrator Holo PSA 10.
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Origin Story
It all started with collectibles. “I had a crazy collection of pogs. We would always trade them and then that spread into Pokemon, sports cards and now in my adult life I’m a collector across all asset classes,” said Bahadori. “I started seeing rare assets being acquired by incredibly wealthy people.” After sharing this with his now co-founder Amin Nikdel, Amin posed a simple question. Is there a way to purchase a fraction of an asset and capitalize on the growth in value when it’s sold without having to fork up the total value up front? Thus, the idea of Liquid Marketplace was born.
A short time later, Bahadori and Nikdel were pitching to Logan Paul who’s response was, “holy fuck, this is amazing! Make me a marketing advisor so I can market the shit out of this.” Bahadori’s response was to bring Paul onboard to help grow the platform from the ground up.
People of all demographics should be able to co-own some of the rarest and most expensive assets, not just one rich guy.
Logan Paul on liquid marketplace
Fractional Ownership
“We want to put really cool significant scare assets. Available for literally anyone, to purchase for cents.” So what does fractional ownership actually mean? “Instead of purchasing an asset worth a million dollars yourself, why don’t you along with a hundred other people purchase it together and if you ever want to sell it, you decide on it collectively through a voting page.”
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What makes this co-ownership concept unique is that anyone can get involved and almost anything can be bought and sold. “Trading cards, art, comic books, vintage shoes, rare watches, incredibly rare red diamonds. We even had someone express an interest in listing dinosaur bones.”
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Safety First
One of the biggest hurdles for Bahadori and his team was ensuring the safety and protection of these physical goods. Peace of mind for anyone who wishes to list their asset is a top priority. “We’ve partnered with a firm called PSA, the largest sports authenticator. We use their vaulting services. You send the asset to them and they verify legitimacy. It’s stored in the vault with insurance of $1 billion. That can grow to $10 billion if needed.” The company allows for traditional payment options such as credit cards.
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Future is Bright
The company raised $2 million in their seed round. They followed this up with a Series A where another $4 million was raised at a valuation of $26 million. To date the platform has onboarded 85,000 users and growing.
On the horizon is a mobile app the team is building out. They are also expanding on its suite of offerings on the platform. Further down the line, the company plans on going public in the United States.
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