• Linqto has revamped its brand identity and has rolled out new capabilities to enable investors to buy and sell their holdings in real time.
• The new feature comes after a recent bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee revamped the list of accredited investor certifications.
• This marks the company’s second rebrand, after it first pivoted in 2020 to serve individual investors.

Investment platform Linqto has rolled out a two-fold announcement today. Not only has the California-based company has revamped its brand, but it has also added new capabilities to enable investors to buy and sell their holdings.

At its core, Linqto helps accredited users invest in unicorns before they go public. The platform opens up a ground floor opportunity, with the minimum investment starting at $5,000. The expanded capabilities launched today transforms Linqto into a more holistic platform, allowing users to control and manage their assets in real-time.

“The first generation of Linqto’s platform made private equity investing simple and accessible for accredited investors, and we are now entering a new phase which also makes these investments liquid,” said Linqto Chief Product Officer Patty Brewer. “The expanded platform allows accredited investors to cost-effectively build and manage their own diversified portfolio of private equity investments. Linqto is demystifying the private markets by providing endless opportunities to achieve financial goals.”

Today’s announcement comes after a recent bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee revamped the list of accredited investor certifications. The update further democratizes access to the private market.

“Now we’re doubling down on our core mission of helping accredited investors identify the private companies and industries they’re most interested in and providing real-time liquidity as a bonus,” said Linqto CEO Bill Sarris.

The rebrand marks the second change in the company’s brand identity since it was founded in 2010 as a digital banking technology company that provided software-as-a-service to fintechs. In 2020, two years after Linqto acquired investment trading platform PrimaryMarkets for $33 million, the company pivoted to serve as a direct-to-consumer investment platform.

Since then, Linqto has amassed 150,000 members across 110 countries and has facilitated $220 million in investments across almost 50+ portfolio companies.

Photo by Leif Bergerson

• Linqto has acquired Trustline, a platform that offers decentralized financial services.
• “We acquired Trustline for its advanced blockchain technology and IP including $200,000 worth of XRP grants issued from the XRPL Grants Program,” said Linqto Founder and CEO Bill Sarris.
• Linqto plans to leverage Trustline to continue developing its decentralized exchange for private market securities.

Private investing firm Linqto has solidified its interest in the blockchain this week with the acquisition of Trustline, a platform that offers decentralized financial services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Trustline leverages the XRP Ledger to offer payments, trading, and lending to accredited investors. Because Trustline run on XRP, it is able to offer its financial services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than traditional firms.

“We acquired Trustline for its advanced blockchain technology and IP including $200,000 worth of XRP grants issued from the XRPL Grants Program,” said Linqto Founder and CEO Bill Sarris. “Trustline will help us build on our vision to provide access, affordability and liquidity to accredited investors. But the most valuable asset we acquired is the new association with Matt Rosendin, a progressive thinker and leader in the global blockchain community.”

Linqto plans to leverage Trustline to continue developing its decentralized exchange for private market securities. Using Trustline’s proprietary technology, Linqto’s exchange will be auditable, publicly transparent, and 100% on blockchain.

The acquisition comes shortly after Trustline abandoned plans for its stablecoins, Aurei and Phi, due to regulatory conflicts with the SEC, which viewed the coins as securities. “Trustline is thrilled to join the innovative and groundbreaking work that Linqto is doing in making private investing simple for individual investors who have been shut out of traditional private equity asset class,” said Trustline CEO Matt Rosendin. “Our two companies are perfectly aligned to democratize private markets investing for qualified investors.”

Rosendin is now VP of Ledger at Linqto.

Linqto, which now counts more than 100,000 accredited investors in its global network, enables users to invest in a range of pre-IPO startups, including Upgrade, Uphold, Ripple, SoFi, Blockchain Coinvestors, Kraken, and even in its own company. Linqto’s will demo its newest innovation at FinovateFall next month in New York. Register today to secure your spot.

Photo by Maria Lysenko on Unsplash