Merit Circle is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on maximizing yields across play-to-earn (p2e) games and other metaverse activations. Originally 420 Axie, a dedicated scholarship initiative for the Axie Infinity ecosystem, Merit Circle has expanded its scope post rebrand, exploring other gaming opportunities, including collaboration efforts with Yield Guild Games, Sipher, UFO, Vulcan Forged, Nyan Heroes, and more.

MC is an ERC-20 utility token compliant with the Ethereum network. It is the governance token for Merit Circle, and its public offering was held as an auction on the Balancer liquidity bootstrapping pool at an initial price of USD1.00. Decision-making is undertaken through voting by MC token holders. 

Merit Circle was founded in 2021 by Marco van den Heuvel and Tommy. Merit Circle has partnered with companies including DeFiance Capital, Spartan Group, and Yield Guild Games, with all partners, as well as a number of angel investors, supporting the company during its seed round, helping it raise $4.5 million.

Risks of MC

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in MC. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in MC is subject to the following specific risks:

• Any potential success associated with MC is dependent on its rate of adoption by users, the value that Merit Circle ecosystem engages with, and growth of the Web3 gaming ecosystem. 
• Any potential success associated with MC depends on a number of external factors, including the growth and increased adoption of the metaverse, and the continued popularity of Web3 gaming.

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with MC. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The MC community and Merit Circle DAO are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of MC have no recourse to the MC community, Merit Circle DAO, or Uphold if MC declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing MC on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on MC and determined that MC is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of MC, including ensuring the source code being open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of MC.
• Marketing materials put forward by the MC social team including, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with MC, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning MC and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with MC, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of MC.